Sunday was our anniversary, and one of the main reasons we organize this trip for February. We were lucky enough to have Mom with us, and we had a busy day planned including checking out Lahaina, whale watching and a special dinner at Merriman’s to wrap it all up. There’s lots to share!
In one of the more interesting quirks of my life, Justine ad I got married on the same day (February 26th) as Mom and Dad. So despite the fact that this year’s anniversary is touch with sadness, it was still a day for all three of us to celebrate, and it was really nice that Mom was there to share the special day with us. To honour Dad’s memory, Mom wanted us to go out for breakfast on Sunday morning. Dad really loved going out for breakfast, so it seemed like the perfect thing to do.
Our fun breakfast spot on the beach.
Fortunately, across the road from our condo was the Beach House Bar and Grill which had a pretty comprehensive breakfast menu. And it was right on the beach, with a great view of the ocean - perfect. The food was pretty good, and the servings were huge! I had some excellent pancakes and we all had a nice start to our day. The gardens outside the restaurant were bursting with color with flowers in bloom.
We had a very busy day ahead of us, with whale watching booked for 2:15 p.m. and dinner at 6:45. Our morning started nicely and we still had lots of time. As Mom had not been before, we thought we’d spend the time before whale watching exploring Lahaina.
Yet another rainbow in our week filled with them.
We drove into town and found a good spot to park for the day. From there we spent a few hours walking up and down the quaint main street, checking out the shops and galleries. Mom was looking for ideas on things to bring back for people, and this was the perfect place to find them. I think the highlight was a cool shop called CocoNene that had all local-made art. It had some unique things and great ideas. Justine and I saw a number of things that we might like to have. Mom found a few things to buy, but we figured we’d be back before the week was out.
One of the cool things to see in Lahaina is the banyan tree in the center of town. The thing is huge - spanning 1.94 acres—over the length of a city block—and rising more than 60 feet in the air, Lahaina’s famed banyan tree is a quarter of a mile in circumference and possesses 16 trunks, making it the largest banyan tree not only in Hawaii but also in the United States (and one of the most massive in the world). The tree, called paniana in Hawaiian, was a mere 8-foot sapling when Lahaina’s then-mayor William Owen Smith—a Kauai native and the attorney general of the Republic of Hawaii—planted it in the heart of the village. The year was 1873. Photos don’t really do it justice.
A papaya tree in the center of town.
We eventually needed some food, so we had a light, late lunch and a drink at the Dirty Monkey, a bar that Justine and I had stopped at before. As breakfast had been so huge, we didn’t need a lot, but we also didn’t want to end up hungry during whale watching!
After lunch, we didn’t have a lot of time and eventually made our way over to the harbor to meet our whale watching charter. I had booked us on a different one than we had used in the past, so we were not sure what they would be like.
I had chosen an operator that ran a small zodiak - only 12 passengers. We don’t like the idea of the huge charters with hundreds of people. Even if they are cheaper, the experience just isn’t the same. The small boat is way better. The downside is that a small boat can be a problem if the weather is rough, and it had been blowing pretty good all week.
We were a bit early for the start, so we sat in the harbor and watched the people go by. We didn’t have to wait long, and soon we were on board and breifed and ready to go!
Downtown Lahaina from the boat on the way out of the harbor.
After leaving the harbor, they headed straight out towards Lanai. It wasn’t a long trip - 15 minutes maybe, but I don’t think they found what they were expecting. We hung about for a while, then eventually had a good encounter with a mother and calf with a male escort. We got a bit of heads above water, a couple of tails and some backs, but not the good breaching action we were hoping for. Maybe we’ve been spoiled… The best part was when mom and calf went directly under the boat - you could see them clearly in the water. That was pretty cool.
Whale face!
Tail slapping!
Looking back towards Maui.
As we were out on the open ocean, we did have one cool bird encounter as a Brown Booby flew by. This was a new life list addition for us.
After this encounter, the boat headed back towards Lahaina. The captain had gotten word of something going on quite close to the harbor. We zoomed over that way and had our second encounter of the day. This one was a bit better, as we had three males all battling it out. They were a lot more aggressive, bashing into each other. Sadly I missed the big one, when one launched out of the water to crash into one of the others. But still, it was a much better show! And at one point we had rainbows and whales at the same time!.
After that, our 2 1/2 hours were up and we needed to head back to the harbor. It was a pretty good show - maybe not the best we had, but it is always great to get out on the water and see the whales close up. Next time we might book more than one day.
We still had out big dinner ahead of us, so there was not a lot of time to spare! We had to do a quick turn-around - shower and change and head out for dinner!
Dinner was book at Merriman’s, one of the nicer restaurants on Maui. We took an Uber up rather than driving so we all could enjoy the evening. Merriman’s overloops Kapalua Bay and the beach we got married on, and was the location of our post-ceremony celebration 11 years ago. How the time flies.
Merriman’s restaurant, overlooking Kapalua Beach.
We had arrived a little bit early (it was a quick turn-around) and so with our 6:45 reservation, we had time to enjoy the sunset. And this evening we did get the sunset and none of the rainstorms that had chased us most of the week. We walked up to the point at the far end of the beach and watch the sun set into the ocean.
Eventually, our table was ready and it was time to head inside. They were doing a prix fixe menu, but there were still some tough decisions to be made. As I had mentioned our anniversaries, they brought us some sparkling wine to start the evening off right! The food was amazing, there was great live music playing and we had an amazing night! To cap it off, they fancied up our deserts to celebrate the occasion.
What an amazing day! We really packed in the experiences and had a fabulous time.