Ahhh…Sunday, June 27th. a drive to the airport. Ok, so that wasn’t the most exciting part of the day. I will say, though, that any drive to the airport (or the other side of the island) that doesn’t involve a wildfire is almost relaxing. Mike is off to Vegas, so Max is outnumber 4:1 in the estrogen department. I think he’s looking forward to even more being spoiled than before!

While I was out cruisin’ the island, the kids and Gs took the Sugarcane Train. No pics and no comments – other than if seniors and kids don’t like it, that’s probably a bad sign for everyone else. Sensing the need for some action – not too much though – we took a 5 minute drive to Whaler’s Village. It’s pretty much an upscale outdoor mall (think Plaza or Town Center for our friends in KC) near the beach between the Westin and Sheraton (coincidence? I think not!). In addition to Coach, Brighton, Tommy Bahama, Louis Vuitton – and our favorite – Red Dirt Shirt Company!, there are a couple of restaurants overlooking the ocean as well as a museum.

First stop is the museum. It’s fairly small – which is really how I prefer my museums – but nicely done. Great history of whaling in general and then also how it relates to Hawaiian history (and Ma’alaea Harbor specifically).

By then we were starving…only to have it be 6 p.m. and facing an hour wait at our first choice. But you know what they say about necessity (and me being hungry!)…as we were leaving, I popped into a newer, very nice restaurant at Whaler’s called Cane & Taro. We got seated immediately…and had an awesome meal. I had my first sushi of the trip (I do NOT count that turntable stuff at Genko Sushi), and it was awesome. Ahi and salmon with avocado…mmmmmm!

The kids then did their turn at the sunset photo op from the beach and got some great pics with the sailboats. Ahhhh….I can feel the evening breeze now. Where’s my mai tai to go along with it?

Aloha!

Jennifer