Halfway Round the Planet, Part 2

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.

We asked one of the bartenders last night where to watch the games. He mentioned a place our AirBnB host also told us about. His description of Dollies – a dive sports bar that can get pretty rowdy. We drove by on our way back from coffee and people were already lined up! They opened the doors at 10:00 and by 10:01 all the seats were taken. The atmosphere was just what we were hoping for, too bad the early game did not live up to the hype.

Between games we decided to drive up the coast, around Kapalua. It was still raining but we found a pull out with an ominous sign.

We walked down the road to watch the surfers. You need to be an experienced surfer, apparently not everyone is, because there is no where to “land”. There is no sand along the shore, just cliffs and lava rock. It’s at least a 50 ft “hike” down to the water on a really steep treacherous path.

After watching the surfers for awhile I’m convinced they mainly just float in the water on their surf boards and wait for the perfect wave. They never seem to actually surf that much.

We caught the end of the Cincy Kansas City game back at our condo. That’s the game we should’ve watched in the bar with Bengals and Chiefs fans. I bet it was rowdier than the earlier game.

The sun peaked out just in time for sunset. Not sure this happens every night but some guys next door blew the conch just as the sun was setting.

We canceled our trip to Lanai for tomorrow. We are still in this surface trough and did not think it would be fun to tour the island in the rain. It might not be sunny but it’s warm. We’re still walking around in shorts and sandals! Plan B… purely Hawaiian activities are planned for tomorrow.

The rain continues! The entire island is under a flash flood warning. There are currently three roads closed due to flooding. Luckily they were’t the ones we needed to use to get to Moana Glass. Although we did drive through a lot of standing water. The ocean was brown in many places from the runoff from Haleakala. It’s one of the reason we haven’t gone snorkeling. Once you’re in the ocean it wouldn’t matter if it’s raining – you’re wet! But the runoff is making the water murky and affecting the visibility.

Jon’s lesson at Moana Glass was a lot of fun. Gage, his instructor, was by his side the entire time. It took about 1/2 hour to make the fish. Jon was able to spin the glass in the glory hole, add the color, sculpt the fins, use a blow torch to create eyes and knock it off the punty. He’s hooked! He wants to find a glass studio back home to take lessons. We have to go back to the studio on our way to the airport to pick it up. It has to cool in a special oven overnight.

Since it was still raining we stopped in Old Town Lahaina after glass blowing. It’s the harbor where the cruise ships dock. As luck would have it, there were no ships in port. We’ve been here a twice before and never really saw the appeal. However we never went bar hopping. That’s the way to enjoy this town!

Jon’s main birthday wish was to be somewhere warm, not freezing in Minnesota! He got his wish. It’s been in the 70’s – definitely shorts and t-shirt weather. I just wish he would’ve wished for warmth and sunshine. Apparently Maui is in experiencing a surface trough. It’s been raining since we arrived and the sun isn’t expected to come out until Tuesday. There’s a flash flood warning for the entire island. Roads near Kihei have already washed out and swept a firefighter into a storm sewer; he’s in critical condition. Needless to say our plans are ever changing.

But yesterday was Jon’s birthday! And it was a big one!

I had a few surprises up my sleeve…

Maui has very little light pollution making it a great place to stargaze. The Hyatt in Kaanapali has an Astro photography workshop. They will let you take pictures with their big telescopes. Since we are so far south the night sky has constellations we don’t see in Minnesota. Sounded like a perfect birthday present for Jon so I booked it. They only allow 3 people so we were likely to have the telescopes to ourselves. But being the planner that I am, I had read the forecast before leaving home. I knew I needed a backup plan. Plan B… a private glass blowing lesson at Moana Glass. Good no matter the weather or skies. After Jon “opened” his gifts we needed to head up the road about 5 minutes to pick up his cake. I refer to the baker as Maui’s version of the baker who made all of Jason and Erin’s cakes for their wedding. We emailed back and forth to come up with the design and I choose her Hawaiian signature flavor – guava cake with lilikoi frosting. We drove to her house to pick it up. Not only was it beautiful, it was delicious.

Jon wanted a massage on his birthday. He couldn’t decide if he wanted one on the beach or in the spa. Given the weather, luckily he booked one in the spa at the Hyatt. We’ve never been to a true spa before. The facilities were spectacular. They encourage you to arrive 30-60 minutes early to relax in their hot tub, sauna or steam room before your treatment. After the massage they escort you to the relaxation room where you can spend as much time as you want. It’s on the second floor, overlooking the ocean. I loved it! I was finally able to stay relaxed after a massage without having to leave right away. The sound of the crashing waves almost put me to sleep.

Although the forecast was 90% chance of rain we were able to enjoy Kaanapali Beach after our massage. The sun peaked out off and on. When it did rain it was more of a drizzle – the kind that makes rainbows.

Since you only turn 60 once, you need a special dinner to celebrate. We had reservations at the Banyan Tree at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua, about 10 minutes from our condo. The view was specular, even with the rain. I’m sure the sunset would’ve been beautiful. The service was the best we’ve ever had. The food was amazing.

Bonus

Thursday night we went to the Pacific Coastal Trail for sunset hoping for something similar to the one we watched driving from the airport. It was drizzling on and off so we weren’t sure what we’d see but we packed our rain jackets at the last minute so we took a chance.

Our flight to paradise was long and uneventful. Although splurging for 1st class would definitely be worth it – our plane had the full recline seats in 1st class – we have been very fortunate. We were sitting in the middle section with 4 seats across. I was next to a mom and her 6-7 year old daughter. As soon as we got to cruising altitude they moved and we had the whole row to ourselves!

We landed in Maui shortly before sunset. It was cloudy so we weren’t expecting much. As we drove around the island to our condo, much to our surprise, the sunset was spectacular. It started out with the edge of Lan’ai looking like it was on fire. As it set the clouds went from pink to purple to orange. It seemed to last forever. We could only take mental photos since there was no place to pull out for a real one.

Our condo is further up the beach from black rock and Kaanapali. It’s an older building, built in the 70’s. The inside has recently been remodeled and is perfect for Jon and I. But it’s greatest appeal and the reason we chose it, it’s 50 feet from the ocean. The crashing waves are so loud we almost can’t hear each other talk. We are on the 1st floor. Last night we walked out our sliding glass door, with glasses of wine in hand, to watch the stars and the moon while we toasted the start of our vacation.

Since we are still on Minnesota time we were up early, very early! Our condo is about 10 minutes away from The Gazebo. A restaurant with a view that has excellent breakfast and long lines if you don’t get there before they open. We got there right when they opened which wasn’t quite soon enough so we had to wait. It was worth the wait. We had the sampler pancakes – mac nut, pineapple and banana with coconut syrup and fried rice with bacon, sausage and ham. Jon declared it the best fried rice ever and the best breakfast view ever. I might agree… although the breakfast view we had in Lucerne was also pretty spectacular.

The weather today is psychotic! One minutes it’s raining, the next the sun is out. This has been going on all day. Well it’s only 1:30 and since we’ve been up since 4am it feels like all day. After shopping for some food to have at the condo, we are relaxing on the lanai, tucked under the roof so we won’t get wet when it decides to pour. Yet we are shorts scanning the horizon for whales. Not a bad way to spend the day!

Same spot 10 minutes later, turned just about 90 degrees.

A rare occurrence today… rain! People did not know what to do. Apparently they don’t own umbrellas around here. Even the barista commented on how prepared I was because I had on my raincoat. Most people at the conference arrived with wet hair. And even though it was sunny by evening, they still closed the rooftop bar at our hotel “due to weather”

NBC news was at the conference today to cover major results of a study I worked on. This is the study that sent me to Amsterdam for a conference/training. Aaron Kelly is the co-director of the Center I work at. He is the one they interviewed in the link below. He is one of the authors of the results paper that appears in today’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/weight-loss-drug-helped-teens-obesity-lower-bmi-study-finds-rcna55270

If I were to plan this trip again I’d attend the conference first and extend my stay. Instead we came early so I’ve been “waiting” for the conference to start. Not a fun “waiting”, in the back of my mind I always knew it was coming.

The Presidential Plenary started at 5pm so we had most of the day before I had to be back to work. We spent it walking around Balboa Park. It is one of the oldest recreational areas in the US – it was set aside in 1835. It hosted the Panama-California Expo in 1915-16 so has many historical buildings that are now museums. Some you need to pay for, some you do not. It also has many beautiful, if not unusual gardens. The famous Botanical Building was undergoing renovation – boo! But we did enjoy walking through the cactus garden, palm garden, Globe Theater (a replica of the one we saw in London) and the Spanish Village Art Center. Since the food is the typical high price-low quality kind that you’d find in such places, we headed back to the Gaslamp District for a late lunch.

La Puerta’s claim to fame is that it was chosen as one of the top 10 taco places in the US by Fodor’s. It was every bit as good as the tacos we had from the Taco Stand in La Jolla.

Time to get back to work… Jon walked me to the convention center. While I sat in my conference Jon walked around the waterfront.

Jon probably had more fun down by the waterfront.

Before heading out the door we stopped by the front desk for a coffee recommendation. There’s a Starbuck’s on the next block but who wants that!

After fueling up we headed to the Navy Pier. San Diego is the principal home port of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. We could see two aircraft carriers docked at the base across the bay – USS Lincoln and USS Carl Vinson. You can’t tour those but you can tour the USS Midway. The aircraft carrier was decommissioned and opened for tours in 2004. They call it a floating city for a reason. It is massive! We were there for 4 hours and didn’t even see the whole thing. It was overwhelming but so fascinating. It is everything you learn about when watching Top Gun and so much more. Speaking of Top Gun, apparently Tom Cruise rented the entire ship for the premier of Maverick. He even landed a helicopter on the flight deck. He had a special showing at the naval base where many of the men became pilots after watching Top Gun. That’s the story that came from one of the many docents stationed throughout the ship.

Next up… the ferry to Coronado Island. It’s about a 20 minute trip across the harbor and we were right next to the ferry landing. Sounded like a fun place to explore and have a late lunch/early dinner. We wanted to see the famous Hotel del Coronado, which was on the other side of the island. I walked a respectable 25,285 steps today but it was worth it!

We walked along the boardwalk but never reached the end before we decided to turn back to watch the sunset.

On the way back to the ferry landing we walked along side all the kids, parents and dogs who were out trick or treating. We spotted Coronado Brewing along the road and stopped for a beer while we waited for the ferry. A nice way to end a great day.

Although we planned out the trip to La Jolla using the public transportation we ditched it in the end. It would’ve taken 1.5 hours to get there. Our Uber driver got us there in 15 minutes! There’s something to be said for saving time – plus we still haven’t spent the $55/day, which is what it would be costing us to park the car each night.

Many people told us to go to La Jolla. It’s where you live if you have money, lots of money. I don’t even want to guess at the price of all the houses up on the hills with a gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean. It feels like the entire town over looks the ocean.

After grabbing some delicious coffee we set off on the Coastal Trail. It’s 2.5 miles along the edge of the ocean. It reminded me a bit of hiking through Cinque Terre in Italy. The views were spectacular. The weather was perfect. It is San Diego after all – it’s always 72 degrees and sunny.

All that hiking, watching sea lions and the surfers made us hungry. We needed lunch. We heard great things about The Taco Stand – still trying to figure out if it really has a Michelin rating. Didn’t matter to us – it was excellent! As the name implies you do a lot of standing. There is always a long line out the door waiting for their tacos and burritos on homemade tortillas. We went with the highly rated mahi mahi taco, Sonora taco and California burrito – which has French fries instead of rice. OMG, I might dream about them. Super tasty and for this area, inexpensive.

After lunch we ubered to La Jolla Shores and the Scripps Pier on the UCSD campus of Oceanography. Another beautiful beach with views of the cliffs of Torrey Pines. Also quieter than La Jolla Cove and a great spot to surf. We’ve never been to Southern California. Never had the opportunity to see the beautiful beaches, the spectacular weather. We could live here but our Uber driver told us a 1-bedroom apartment goes for $2500/month and gas is $6-7.00/gallon. Ouch! No wonder Tesla’s are as common as Camry’s back home.

We ended the night at The Fields – a recommendation from the guy at the hotel desk. It’s an Irish Pub. An authentic Irish Pub – the owners had a pub in Ireland shipped here, piece by piece. It was just what we needed after a full day in the sun. The Guinness was cold and the Champ was delicious.

I’d like to say our flight was smooth sailing but… first of all they keep changing Jon’s seat. We were sitting together when we booked our flights (although I had to book my through work) but when we checked in Jon was not next to me anymore so he changed his. On our way to the airport his boarding pass was updated – no longer by me. Once at the airport we talked to a real live Delta ticketing agent. Now he’s next to me! Sitting by the gate, waiting for our plane to arrive, he gets another notification that his boarding pass and seat assignment have changed. What is going on! Went back to talk with the same ticketing agent, she decides to move me this time. We ended up having a room to ourselves in Comfort + Although our plane was delayed leaving by 30 minutes and we sat on the tarmac for another 20 minutes once we landed it, we arrived at ~1:45.

We decided to stay at one of the conference hotels for our entire trip. It’s a short walk to the convention center. We can see Petco Park from our hotel. We even would’ve been able to watch the game from the rooftop bar had the Padres made it to the World Series. Plus it’s in the Gaslamp District, which is where all the cool bars and restaurant are located. The only negative… $55/night to park a car. So we decided to travel like we do in Europe and rely on our feet, public transportion and Uber.

After we checked into our hotel, we ubered to Old Towne for the Dia de los Muertos festival. Has anyone seen the movie Coco? It was very similar to that. They blocked off the streets, there were vendors, live music and a beer garden. Many places had altars honoring departed family and friends. Although each one is different, they each have traditional elements. Always pictures of the departed, always candles and skulls which are symbolic and always multi-tiered. But the one I liked the most… they always had a bottle of the departed’s favorite booze.

After dinner we headed to the Gaslamp District. It was crazy! Packed with people – our Uber driver told us it always packed on the weekends. Again they block off the streets and let people roam. Tonight was a zombie crawl. So many costumes… Old Town was a family friendly event. I would not bring my kids to the Gaslamp District – lots of “sexy” costumes. We grabbed a table outside the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop and did some serious people watching.