Adventures in Paradise - Part 1

We returned Tuesday morning from nearly three weeks in Hawaii. 

Paradise is as beautiful as ever—with a few disappointments. (I’ll write about those later.) However, I had been ill for several weeks prior to the trip. My doctor had prescribed an antibiotic. When it didn’t help after two weeks, she prescribed another plus cough medicine (which was useless, BTW).

So I left on the trip confident that I was on the way back to health. Well, I was—for a few days.

Fortunately, we spent the first five days in Maui with our good friend, Suzi O. She and Larry attended high school together, and I was a couple of years behind them. We have been in touch for many years, and she often makes our house her headquarters when she visits So. Cal. She has been after us to stay with her for several years. This time, it worked out perfectly.

We arrived late on Thursday evening, October 1. Suzi already had a full schedule planned for us.

After breakfast on Friday morning, we took a walk on the boardwalk in Kihei. My knee was feeling better, so I really enjoyed the visit. The walk of about a mile contains information about the local flora and fauna plus a terrific view of the ocean.

We followed the visit with a drive to the end of the road in Wailea with lunch at Cheeseburger at The Shops at Wailea. We had eaten here when we attended the old Maui Writers Conference (sadly, now defunct). The place did not disappoint. Good food at reasonable prices.

We returned to Suzi’s house for a rest before venturing out again to First Friday in Wailuku. Several blocks are reduced to pedestrian traffic for the evening. A great Hawaiian/reggae group played for dancers at one end. In the middle, a combo provided the music, while a rock band accompanied dancing at the other end. In between, lots of vendors had set up stalls. Many of them sold food along with local crafts and other products. After we scoped out the choices, we settled for delicious pork served in soft rice rolls. Then Larry went in search of desserts. He found several—all very good.

It was here that I discovered Suzi knows everyone on the island. She published a newspaper there several years ago, and in the process met lots of people. We couldn’t move three feet without someone greeting her. She’s a very popular lady!

As the evening wore down, we returned for a good night’s sleep in Suzi’s lovely guest room with a great king-size bed.

After breakfast on Saturday, we headed for the Maui Swap Meet at the college.  It was HOT with high humidity and no trade winds. We bought a few t-shirts and I found a really nice long dress. But we spent most of our time getting ice water. Larry bought a couple of fresh juice popsicles to keep cool.

When we left, we drove to Paia to see the big waves, with a stop at Café Mombo for lunch.
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Suzi had gotten us tickets to see the play Noises Off at the Iao Theater for our anniversary. We joined several of her friends for dinner at the Arias Restaurant, about a half block from the theater. Good food and delightful company.

The play was wonderful. We had seen it on stage and had also seen the movie version with Carol Burnett. We had thoroughly enjoyed both versions. This was a romp with a great cast. We laughed the entire time.

We discussed going to church on Sunday morning, and Suzi had located several in the area. She said she had attended the Unity church, and we decided to go there with her. What a wonderful morning! The service began with the blowing of the conch shell and a chant. The music was fabulous, and they also had a terrific hula presentation. At the end, Suzi signed “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” and then the whole congregation sang the chorus of “Aloha’Oe” in Hawaiian. The whole experience was absolutely perfect.

We ate lunch at the Kahili Restaurant at the golf course. Gorgeous views of the ocean (between rain showers), and great food. Then we drove by the Frank Lloyd Wright house (also known as the Marilyn Monroe house). Great architecture. It’s a spectacular building, now used as a clubhouse and for civic events.

Monday was party day! More about it next week.