Maui - Day 4

    Prior to arriving in Maui, when people would ask me what I was most excited about, I would reply swimming with the sea turtles and seeing whales.  Of course, this was in addition to spending all the quality time with my hot handsome husband!

    Wednesday morning, we woke up early and drove down to Maalaea Marina to board the Pride of Maui.  From there we were heading to Molokini Crater and Turtle Town for some snorkeling and hopefully seeing some whales along the way!

a beautiful sunrise to start the day

Molokini Crater

    

    Both snorkeling sites were beautiful.  Unfortunately, I have not developed my underwater camera yet but I'm sure hoping I snapped some decent pictures.  We enjoyed seeing all the different colored fish and coral.  I, however, did not enjoy the boat ride.  Yes that's right, I managed to get sea sick, not once but twice. The only thing that made the boat ride tolerable was all the whale sightings!!  We saw over 6 - 8 whale pods!!  I was one happy girl.  I wasn't able to snap any decent pictures (they were just too fast and my camera was too slow) but the memory is embedded in my mind forever.

that blob there is a whale

hoping my big sunglasses covers up the fact that I was seasick

    Once we were on solid ground, I was feeling much better.  We headed back to the hotel for a quick power nap and to get ready for the Old Lahaina Luau.  The luau was absolutely fabulous.   We were each greeted with a fresh flower lei and Mai Tai's. I was also given a fresh flower for my hair.  For the first hour, we walked around to different stations to learn about Hawaiian culture and took a few pictures by the water.

  Next, we gathered around the traditional Hawaiian underground oven and watched as the kalua pig was unearthed from the imu.

    Dinner included a buffet of traditional Hawaiian cuisine.  I enjoyed trying new foods that I would not normally eat.  My favorite part was the banana bread spread with guava honey butter.  Dessert was a close second.

    After dinner, the entertainment started.  We watched a traditional Hawaiian luau and learned lots of history.  I found the entire night to be interesting and entertaining and would recommend the Old Lahaina Luau to anyone going to Maui.

    Turtles! Whales! Getting dolled up for my hot handsome hubby! Traditional Hawaiian hula and feast! Day 4 may have been my favorite day in Maui!

Maui - Day 3 (Christmas)

    Originally, my hot handsome husband and I had planned to spend Christmas sipping Mai Tai's by the pool, building sandcastles on the beach and posting pictures to Facebook to make everyone back home jealous.  However, when we woke up Christmas morning it was cloudy out and the forecast predicted a 80% chance of rain (or something crazy like that).  It didn't seem like a good day to soak up the sun so we decided to switch up our plans and head to northern Maui to do some explorer.

    Like every good tourist, we busted out our guidebook and hit the road.  Our first stop was a bust.  We were looking for some hiking trails and the guidebook led us to a "coastal trail" that was more like a sidewalk through a ritzy neighborhood.  After walking for 15 minutes or so we decided to stop wasting our time and look for more exciting hikes.  On our walk back to the car, we saw a man riding a bike that I swear was Patrick Dempsey.  I have tried to stalk google him and find out where he was on Christmas but couldn't come up with any answers.  My boy, Pat did post a picture on twitter that looks like it could have been taken in Maui but it also could have been in another tropical/beachy place.  I seriously think it was him.  After all, cycling is now his new "thing."  My hot handsome hubby thinks we should just tell everyone we saw Mr. Dempsey but I need to know the facts! Does anyone know how Patrick Dempsey spent his Christmas?!

picture posted by Dempsey on Christmas

    

    After our "celebrity encounter," we attempted to find another trail discussed in our guidebook and struck out yet again.  This time the directions were too vague and we were unable to find it.  Instead, we stumbled on a trail that led us to these gorgeous views...

Froehlich Christmas Picture 2012??

   
    My hot handsome husband found me a piece of coral that had washed up onto shore.  Shhh, don't tell anyone but we smuggled it back to the mainland! My hubby always finds me a seashell or rock whenever we go to the beach (local or tropical) and I treasure them!  He also found a souvenir for himself, a piece of a surfboard that washed up onto the rocks.  And yes, we smuggled that back, too!

    We decided to give our guidebook one last chance and success (finally)! We found the trail through the Acid War Zone to the Nakalele Blowhole. The views were stunning!

beautiful sea arch with a pool above

close up of the pool

     About half way into our hike, we came across "an alien landscape that looks like a war zone fought with acid."  Spray from the ocean has literally carved out the rocks.  It looks like you are on another planet. It was an amazing site to see!

            The Nakalele Blowhole was awesome!  First we viewed it from up on a cliff where I was able to snap tons of pictures.  The bigger the wave, the bigger the spray.  It looked exactly like a whale's blowhole.

    After admiring the view from a distance, we decided to climb down to get a closer look.  We were definitely in the "splash zone."  Blowhole, Seaworld reference, anyone?!  But seriously, I needed to get a picture of us in front of the blowhole and after that I guarded my camera with my life!

Froehlich Christmas Picture 2012, take 2!

heart etched into the rock

we saw this sign when we were climbing back up, oops!

 
    After our hike, it was time to head back towards civilization because 1. it was past my lunchtime and 2. the twisting roads were starting to make me carsick (true story).

    For dinner, we decided to head down to Front St. in Lahaina to see what was open (after all, it was Christmas).  I was really craving pizza and read great reviews about the Lahaina Pizza Co. but of course they were closed. How dare they?! I don't even remember where we ate but I ate a "nothing special" cheeseburger. So much for a Christmas feast!

    After dinner, we walked along Front St.  Most of the shops and restaurants were closed and the streets weren't crowed with people.  We actually enjoyed it!  We stumbled across the Banyan Tree Park, which was decorated with Christmas lights. The Banyan tree is a big beautiful tree with a complex structure and extensive branching.

    Our hotel (the Westin) was also beautifully decorated both inside and out.  It as the only hotel in the area that decorated their outside! The driveway was lined with Christmas light embellished banyan trees.

Froehlich Christmas Picture 2012
third time is a charm!

   

    I would say that Christmas 2012 was a success.  It is definitely one that we will never forget.  I hope yours was just as memorable.

Mele Kalikimaka!

PS - It never did rain on Christmas! So much for 80% chance!

Maui - Day 2

    Our second day in paradise started much too early.  We woke up at 1:30 AM and drove to Haleakala Bike Co. where we were fitted for bikes and helmets.  Then we jumped in a van and drove up to Haleakala's summit at 10,023 feet.  The roads were steep with sharp corners.  I kept wondering how I was going to make it down on a bike, alive!

    We arrived at the peak a little over an hour before sunrise. It was dark and cold! Very cold! The temperature was around 40 degrees but with the wind chill it was almost unbearable at times.  It was all worth it though!  We didn't get to see the sun fully rise because there were so many clouds on this particular morning but the light show was unbelievable.

the start of the light show

thinking warm thoughts

view into the crater

it looks like lava!

    After watching the sun rise and freezing our butts off, we jumped back into the van and drove down to 6,5000 feet where we began our 23 mile bike ride.  Most of the ride was downhill but there were at least 6 - 8 uphills that I was not anticipating.  I even had to lift my butt from the seat to make it up a few of the hills! No worries though, those 3 spin classes I took before our vacation totally prepared me for this bike ride!  

    I was hesitant at first (aka I was scared!) whenever we came upon a sharp turn (and there were lots of them!) but after a few miles I became more comfortable on the steep slopes and sharp turns.    The only thing that did continue to freak me out a little bit was when a car drove a little to close for comfort. Hello people?! Can't you see I'm riding a bicycle down the side of a volcano?!  

    We made lots of stops for some photo ops!  Oh, side note! I somehow managed to take 736 pictures with my fancy Nikon, 45 pictures on my old smaller camera (I took this the day we were on a boat, I didn't want to risk my fancy camera getting ruined) and 29 pictures with my phone. That's 810 photos total! Craziness! I have since gone through and deleted the bad photos and duplicates and narrowed it down to 500 photos! I will not be posting them all but if you're ever in SC, come on over and I'll gladly show all of them to you!

view on our bike ride down Haleakala

our view when we stopped for lunch

I made sure to wear all bright yellow gear
so that my hubby wouldn't lose me!

we had to stop not for a photo op but because my
hubby's butt hurt, so I made my own photo op!

 
    We thoroughly enjoyed our entire 23 mile self guided bike ride.  As we started to get closer to the bike shop, I kept saying, "but I don't want it to end!"

    It was about an hour drive back to the hotel and during the daylight, there was much more to see.  We drove by this little gem...

    After all that cardio (okay so it was 98% downhill), I decided to treat myself to a slice of Hula Pie.  Prior to arriving in Maui, I had researched some restaurants for us to try.  I read that the Hula Pie from Leilani's (remember the place from my last post) was to die for.  And if you know me at all, you can imagine my excitement when I realized we were only a short walk away from this lovely treat!

a little slice of heaven

   
    We ended our night by taking a walk along the beach, enjoying the beautiful sunset and watching the Black Rock Cliff Dive ceremony.  A Hawaiian warrior runs onto Ka'anapali Beach carrying a torch.  He climbs up Black Rock and lights the torches along the way.  He offers his lei to the Hawaiian gods and dives into the ocean from the top of Black Rock.

 
    And so ends another successful day in paradise!

Maui - Day 1

    After traveling for what seemed like forever, we arrived in Maui around 3:30 PM Hawaii time.  Hello 5 hour time difference!  The views were absolutely gorgeous, even right outside the airport.

    I was so happy to finally be on my dream honeymoon that I caught myself almost crying on several different occasions throughout our vacation.  Maui is stunning! We cannot wait to go back!

testing out my camera

hot handsome husband excited to be in Maui
(and to be driving a convertible for the whole week)

    

    When we arrived at our hotel (the Westin), we were more than satisfied.  The lobby was beautiful, there were 5 pools (including an adult pool where we spent most of our time), a water slide (that was much faster than I anticipated) and our room had a beautiful view of the ocean.

    After quickly freshening up, we went to explore the hotel grounds and the surrounding area.  To our surprise, our hotel was right next to an outdoor shopping center with several restaurants.  We actually became "regulars" at Leilani's On the Beach, hitting up their happy hour at least 4 of the days we were in Maui. Talk about the perfect location!

Santa arrived by boat

    After doing some exploring and enjoying some delicious fish tacos (from Leilani's), the two of us were fighting to stay conscious.  We called it a night at around 8:30 but that is totally acceptable because we had an early morning/big day ahead of us.