Maui Day 1 - Whales...And Eating Like One

We woke up early Monday (January 27th).  This was actually quite easy, as 5:00am felt like 8:00am to me.  We had booked a whale watching trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation.  We were very excited as we had decided to go with a raft instead of a big ship so we could be closer to the action.  Unfortunately, PWF cancelled the raft expedition because of the rain.  (Italicized for emphases on the jack-ass nature of said rain.)  Instead, we went on one of their larger ships.  We drove to Lahaina and wandered around the town before-hand.  We checked out the huge Banyan tree in the middle of the town.  This picture of Bryce shows the tree in the background.  It really is all just one tree.  Amazing.

We hopped aboard the ship and rushed for a seat in the front to best see the action. 

We rode out and began to see the whales.  The ship had a photographer on board, so we simply sat and observed - without having to hold our camera ready to go at a given moment.  It was incredible.   

This last photo, which is hard to see, is actually a mama whale (on the left), and a newborn whale (on the right).  You can just make out their dorsal fins.  The baby whale's fin is still tilted a little, which our guide indicated meant it was under a week old.  Soooo cute! 

After our tour, the sun began to peak out a bit.  We walked down the main strip of shops and restaurants in Lahaina. 

For lunch, we stopped at Burger in Paradise and had the most amazing burgers.  Mine had pineapple and teriyaki sauce.  Bryce's had pulled pork.  They were so delicious.  I also discovered my new favorite drink - a lava flow.  It's a pina colada with strawberry syrup.  Heaven.

We returned to the hotel and relaxed for a bit.  We then got adventurous and decided to take a road along the north side of the island to see some tidal pools.  I firmly believe this is the one and only poor decision we made the whole trip.  What started as a nice smooth road turned into a one-laner that clung to the edge of the coast and wound in and out of crevices.  Every turn made me sweat in fear that someone would be coming the other way.  Because of the rain, the road became flooded with water and mud.  Plus, we were so absorbed in driving, we completely missed the tidal pools.  We did stop in a little tiny village and pick up some banana bread from this little store with a tree growing through it.  Knowing how I feel about bananas, you can imagine how worth it I felt that was.

By the end of the road, we had driven almost down to Wailea - on the other side of the island.  We made a well-deserved stop at Big Beach, and enjoyed the waves and sand for a bit. 

We returned to our hotel and snacked on crackers and treats from the hotel's small store.  This was the first of many nights that we made a late-night trip to the hot tubs, which definitely helped us forget about our crazy afternoon in the car.