Hiking boots and bikinis: Maui July 2014

Pina Colada in a pineapple

Lahiana, Maui Mini-Vacation July 2014

So it began with a phone call from my dear friend, "Hey we are going to Maui for 5 days." Yes.
We stayed at the Royal Lahaina Hotel. We had an ocean front view and it was amazing! We even saw manta rays from our hotel room, how amazing is that? We could see the island of Lanai to our left and the island of Molokai to our right. The adventure booking counter was extremely helpful and helped us get a two tank scuba dive, a sunset dinner cruise, and a helicopter tour booked. The hotel bar makes a signature pina colada...in a pineapple. Clearly you need alcohol in a pineapple to truly feel like you are on holiday. Cheers!

Hotel room view

Lahaina is wonderful! I highly recommend those who want to experience all the great things of Maui should stay in Lahaina/Kaanapali. This gorgeous town got its start as a whaling town in the 19th century. Lahaina means "cruel sun" in Hawaiian due to its lack of rainfall...this is good for us beach bums. My most favorite area of Lahaina is front street. You'll find adorable shops (but really. I mean adorable), breathtaking art work, and amazing food (did I mention food??). On the Fourth of July we went to front street to see the spectacular fireworks display. AMAZING! So much fun. Lahaina is great. Go there.

Fireworks in Lahaina

And then we explored Haleakala (which is a National Park so those of you who are active duty military can get in FO FREE). Haleakala means "house of the sun" in Hawaiian. So fun facts time; Haleakala is a dormant shield volcano and makes up 75% of Maui! Haleakala is 10,023 feet in elevation and man do you feel it at the top! First of all I was not properly dressed...I wore a flowy sundress and sandals...because thats ok right? Wrong. I was cold and the wind decided that the volcano needed to see what was under my dress...wear shorts. However, I was too distracted by the amazing beauty of the volcano to notice that I was freezing cold. This is a must!

View from one of the hidden lookouts

Map map map

From one of the lookouts

Haleakala from the ocean

So amazing!

Afterwards we checked out the AKL farm (Ali'i Kula Lavendar). While I was expecting fields of purple, this lavender farm is quite adorable and has a wonderful gift shop. I highly recommend trying the lavender tea and lavender scone (with lavender honey).

We moved on to find lunch. After consulting my iPhone we decided on a random place in the town of Kula, Maui called the Kula Bistro. I was so happily surprised by how SERIOUSLY delicious the food was for being kind of in the middle of nowhere. Probably the best place I had lunch on the entire island. Seriously. Amazing.

Then it was time to relax on the beach in Lahaina...hard life I know. That evening we went on a lovely sunset dinner cruise. Pacific Whale Foundation offers an awesome dinner cruise. I was pleasantly surprised by the actual boat we were on, the live music, and the very friendly waitress. The drinks were good, the food was good, and was a great experience overall. Also, check out this sunset...seriously.