Maui Vacation 2011

Just had breakfast at LuLu’s.  We opted for the Loco Moco which is kind of an island version of country fried streak… Fried rice topped with a beef patty, then eggs and topped with brown gravy.  It was heavy and more than we could finish but it sure was tasty!

Saturday morning we got up and decided to head in to Kihei.  The drive to Kihei is kind of weird for  any type of tourist attractions like shopping and eating as most of the places along the road are little strip malls.  We weren’t seeing much for food along the way so Susanne busted out some of the awesome banana bread we got the day before.

As we continued south, however, we did find a really cool area which I believe is actually Kihei proper.  There are three big public beaches in a row surrounded by all kinds of island vendors, bars and restaurants.  We parked and got out to explore.  First we found awesome new underwear at The Love Shack

Afterwards we headed right next door to a place called The South Shore Tiki Lounge which served up tasty concoctions at reasonable prices. We also tried their happy hour special; a bean and bacon tostada, which was quite good.

We tooled around the little shops and things that were there, checked out a tattoo shop and had a stroll down S Kihei Rd before returning to where we parked.  The tostada hadn’t filled us up so we decided to share some lunch from Fat Daddy’s BBQ which is apparently “Maui’s Only True BBQ.”  I can’t tell you if their claims are true but I can tell you the food was good.  Delicious pulled pork, creamy slaw and rich mac-n-cheese.

We also spotted an interesting little vehicle in the parking lot.  I might just have to check this out because it looks too fun to be true.

We had made plans to meet our friend Darren Elske to meet some of his crew, watch the Seahawks game and chat about activities but by the time we had finished lunch we were still a ways out from our arranged meeting time so we continued heading South to checkout The Shops at Waileah.  This was a strange experience.  The shops are actually set in among what seemed like several golf courses and fancy housing developments.  Not really our style of shopping but we went in anyhow.  We took a stroll through the various courtyards and stopped in at places such as Tiffany & Co.  and Rolex, you know, just to see what the rich folks were up to…

By this time it was time to go meetup with Darren & Co.  We had arranged to meet at Oceans Bar but when we got there Darren was nowhere to be found.  We texted him and it turns out that there was a UFC fight about to go start and Oceans was charging a cover so they chanced venues to Life’s A Beach.  We arrived and got to catch up with Darren and meet his friends Dianne, Becky and ???.  It seemed the girls were quickly bored with Life’s A Beach so we changed venues once again to LuLu’s just down the street.  This place was great.  They had $3 happy hour Mai-Tai and Margarita, food, the football game and a killer atmosphere.  The bar is a nice open-air setting, shady and lots of ceiling fans.  It’s also right across the street from a crazy ever-breaking wave pool thing which was fun to watch.  The kids that play there are masters of surfing in-place.  I found out later this is called a wave machine (http://youtu.be/sGDg0yDkMCI).

We eventually got tired of watching the Seahawks loose so we made plans for dinner.  Susanne and I wanted to get in a swim so we left Darren and the crew to go have a dip and meet up with them later on for dinner.  I’m pretty sure the beach we swam at was Kamaole Beach Park II.  It’s a cool little beach, wasn’t too crowded.  There is also bathroom/changing room and outdoor shower here which is great.  We bobbed around for an hour or so then got ourselves ready for dinner.  The outdoor shower proved very handy for getting sand off our feet.  We put on new outfits we had bought earlier in the morning and headed back towards dinner.

Dinner was at a little spot called the 808 Bistro.  This place is now officially on our Maui recommended list.  The food was amazing and the restaurant itself is quaint and offers a great open-air dining experience.  Susanne had a lovely take on Pork and Beans while I opted for the Maui Cordon Bleu.  Both were delicious and it was nice to share the meal in the company of friends new and old.  This is also where we learned about one of Maui’s best rules ever.  Basically, if a food establishment does not have a liquor license, you can BYOB!  We had several lovely bottles of wine with dinner, all of which we got at the grocery store for a fraction of the price and there is no corkage fee!!!

All in all it was another lovely day on Maui where we set out with no particular plans but ended up having an action-packed day full of fun and friends.  We’re doin’ it right.