Maui Vibes

Today was the day we were supposed to go to Lanai. Normally you can see it very clearly from our condo but the rain has made it difficult to see. The other island usually visible is Molokai. I just read that Molokai received 23.61 inches of rain. Not sure about the rainfall on Lanai but Maui received anywhere from 5-15 inches. These are totals from the past 3 days! Someone the other day told us Maui was in the middle of a drought. It hadn’t rained here since January 2022 so it’s hard to complain when they so desperately need the rain. Although I think they (and we) would’ve preferred it spread out a bit more.

We decided to do things exclusive to Maui today. Although not the sunshine we were hoping for there’s a few things you can only do on Maui. Touring and tasting at the Maui Gold plantation is one of them. It’s located on the hills of Haleakala with stunning views down to the ocean. It was stunning even with the gray skies. Did you know it takes ~18 months to grow 1 pineapple? Or that you can only get Maui Gold pineapples in Maui? You will not find them on the mainland so don’t bother looking. We sampled some right in the field next to where they were harvesting. I forgot just how sweet and delicious they are.

The hills of Haleakala are farm country. There was another “farm” we wanted to see that’s exclusive to Maui – Ocean Vodka. They offer tastings with a tour since it’s illegal in Maui to only do a tasting. They make other spirits under the Kula label. We tried toasted coconut rum (OMG – my favorite!), dark rum, rum, gin and of course vodka. The tasting is outside with even more stunning views than Maui Gold. They also have a farm-to-table cafe and bar onsite. They try to grow everything they make, including all the mixers for the drinks. During the tasting our host raved about the Lilikoi Crush – some delightful concoction made with the toasted coconut rum, lilikoi purée, pineapple and Thai basil syrup. She also highly recommend another drink made with their gin. Since it wasn’t raining and the location was beautiful we pulled up two chairs, ordered those two drinks and enjoyed the view.

Although not exclusive to Maui we often don’t have them in Minnesota and if we do they are not usually mahi mahi ones. I’m talking about fish tacos and we haven’t had them nearly enough on this trip. We heard great things about Monkeypod – the food and apparently they have the best MaiTai on the island plus it was on our way home. They don’t take reservations but it was only going to be ~1 hour wait. I say only because it’s right on the beach and the sun was setting. Yes it came out again for sunset and although not spectacular, it was still beautiful.

Last but not least… we had bonus Maui vibes this morning. This one we didn’t plan. We just happened to be sitting on our lanai when the whales put on a show. Tails slapping, breaching and fin waving in the ocean right in front of us.

Today was mostly cloudy, very little rain and warm. We hope the weather is turning the corner. The forecast for tomorrow is some sun in the morning and back to possible rain in the afternoon.