We Found Our "Little Grass Shack"...
Mar 3rd, 2011 | 12:22 PM
#42
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,738
Likes: 0
"There's nothing more relaxing than sitting on a large ocean front deck drinking Kona coffee, scanning the horizon waitng and hoping for the next whale to surface".
This should be the title of the book you will write ..
We used to have an album someone gave us - The Songs of the Humpback Whale. We would play it and our dog would run around the house howling. Never could figure that out ... I want to hear them too .. in real life... Will there be photos of the little grass shack ?
I remembered where I had heard that phrase .. I think .. I learned to hula when I was a little girl living in Hawaii. I think that was the song they teach you to hula to
This should be the title of the book you will write ..
We used to have an album someone gave us - The Songs of the Humpback Whale. We would play it and our dog would run around the house howling. Never could figure that out ... I want to hear them too .. in real life... Will there be photos of the little grass shack ?
I remembered where I had heard that phrase .. I think .. I learned to hula when I was a little girl living in Hawaii. I think that was the song they teach you to hula to
Mar 3rd, 2011 | 01:00 PM
#43
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 8,798
Likes: 0
Ahh...food! Yes, we ate quite well.
But first...The Ultimate Light Show
The weather pattern for south Maui is fairly predictable this time of year. Calm in the mornings, with the trade winds from the Windward (east) picking up in the afternoon. Makena is pretty far south, so it can get pretty windy there in the afternoon. There are the big puffy clouds drifting by with the occasional passing shower, but not a lot of rain falls and the temps tend to be pretty high(84/65).
This year the weather pattern seemed a little unsettled and different from what I remember in the past. Generally it seemed cooler, cloudier and the winds seemed to be coming from different directions. Don't get me wrong, it was still gorgeous weather, and it was nice having the clouds cool things down a bit, but it just seemed different. Maybe island residents can explain what happened, but the weather forecasters started predicting thunder and lightning storms due to some phenomena happening over on the Big Island. We didn't pay much notice to what was being said as we were too busy relaxing. That is until one evening as we were driving home from dinner in Kihei, Martin and I saw a HUGE flash of lightning that seemed to be coming from upcountry or even higher up Haleakala. This thing lit up the sky like it was daytime! I have never seen lightning so bright before. Of course, I am from Northern California and we don't get lightning storms that often, so maybe those of you that live in the mid west or the south wouldn't have been that impressed, but I was! An odd thing...we heard no thunder and there was no rain. The lightning continued all the way back down Highway 31 as we drove home. Sometimes we could see the bolts and sometimes it was just a huge, bright FLASH. As I am driving, I am thinking, "Oh man, I can't wait to get home and watch the show!" Our place not only had a great view out to sea, but the front yard had a killer view up Haleakala, so we'd be able to see the lightning from there as well.
As soon as we got home we settled ourselves on the deck and watched the show. And what a show it was! The lightning was coming from behind us mostly and when it hit, the ocean was lit up like a Christmas tree and you could see Molokini like it was daytime! Every 10 seconds or so there would be a bright burst then darkness. I was amazed at how quickly the strikes came. This ebbed and flowed. Then off in the distance around West Maui and Lanai there was another light show brewing. The clouds were lit up from the inside by the lightning. It looked like light bulbs were going off from inside the clouds. So we were getting it from both sides, front and back so to speak. We moved around to the front of the house and looked at the lightning coming from up the mountain. The bolts were welll defined and beautiful. Staring into the lightning was a bit hard on my eyes so I moved around to the back of the house.
A natural wonder!
Martin was woken up around midnight by the wind. It was whipping up a storm. Palm fronds were flying through the air and so were the beach towels that we had hung on the deck! He ran around and picked everything up and brought it in while I of course slept through it. The rain started around 2 am and that woke me up. Both of us stood by the window and watched as the deluge came. I love watching storms and this one was a doozy! What a treat!
The weather remained a little hinky for another day, but then things seemed to settle back into a normal pattern of puffy clouds, cooling breezes and warm sun. Paradise.
But first...The Ultimate Light Show
The weather pattern for south Maui is fairly predictable this time of year. Calm in the mornings, with the trade winds from the Windward (east) picking up in the afternoon. Makena is pretty far south, so it can get pretty windy there in the afternoon. There are the big puffy clouds drifting by with the occasional passing shower, but not a lot of rain falls and the temps tend to be pretty high(84/65).
This year the weather pattern seemed a little unsettled and different from what I remember in the past. Generally it seemed cooler, cloudier and the winds seemed to be coming from different directions. Don't get me wrong, it was still gorgeous weather, and it was nice having the clouds cool things down a bit, but it just seemed different. Maybe island residents can explain what happened, but the weather forecasters started predicting thunder and lightning storms due to some phenomena happening over on the Big Island. We didn't pay much notice to what was being said as we were too busy relaxing. That is until one evening as we were driving home from dinner in Kihei, Martin and I saw a HUGE flash of lightning that seemed to be coming from upcountry or even higher up Haleakala. This thing lit up the sky like it was daytime! I have never seen lightning so bright before. Of course, I am from Northern California and we don't get lightning storms that often, so maybe those of you that live in the mid west or the south wouldn't have been that impressed, but I was! An odd thing...we heard no thunder and there was no rain. The lightning continued all the way back down Highway 31 as we drove home. Sometimes we could see the bolts and sometimes it was just a huge, bright FLASH. As I am driving, I am thinking, "Oh man, I can't wait to get home and watch the show!" Our place not only had a great view out to sea, but the front yard had a killer view up Haleakala, so we'd be able to see the lightning from there as well.
As soon as we got home we settled ourselves on the deck and watched the show. And what a show it was! The lightning was coming from behind us mostly and when it hit, the ocean was lit up like a Christmas tree and you could see Molokini like it was daytime! Every 10 seconds or so there would be a bright burst then darkness. I was amazed at how quickly the strikes came. This ebbed and flowed. Then off in the distance around West Maui and Lanai there was another light show brewing. The clouds were lit up from the inside by the lightning. It looked like light bulbs were going off from inside the clouds. So we were getting it from both sides, front and back so to speak. We moved around to the front of the house and looked at the lightning coming from up the mountain. The bolts were welll defined and beautiful. Staring into the lightning was a bit hard on my eyes so I moved around to the back of the house.
A natural wonder!
Martin was woken up around midnight by the wind. It was whipping up a storm. Palm fronds were flying through the air and so were the beach towels that we had hung on the deck! He ran around and picked everything up and brought it in while I of course slept through it. The rain started around 2 am and that woke me up. Both of us stood by the window and watched as the deluge came. I love watching storms and this one was a doozy! What a treat!
The weather remained a little hinky for another day, but then things seemed to settle back into a normal pattern of puffy clouds, cooling breezes and warm sun. Paradise.
Mar 3rd, 2011 | 01:11 PM
#44
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 8,798
Likes: 0
Scarlett, I brought my ipod with a gazillion Hawaiian songs on it and the "Little Grass Shack" song is on it. My favorite though is this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdLLS...eature=related
more later...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdLLS...eature=related
more later...
Mar 3rd, 2011 | 04:22 PM
#46
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,106
Likes: 0
I'm loving your report. The whales and lightning sound wonderful -- as does coffee on the deck.
I'M JEALOUS!!!
So ... how does Maui compare to Kauai??? There will come a day when I can drag myself away from Kauai and find out for myself, but in the meantime, I'm interested in your thoughts.
I'M JEALOUS!!!
So ... how does Maui compare to Kauai??? There will come a day when I can drag myself away from Kauai and find out for myself, but in the meantime, I'm interested in your thoughts.
Mar 5th, 2011 | 07:01 AM
#57
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 8,798
Likes: 0
Good eats on Maui!
I started this thread before going to check on a few places I had been looking into and we ended up eating at many of them.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ts-on-maui.cfm
We ate at:
Sansei in Kihei. We had a fantastic meal here! The butterfish was seared perfectly and the texture was firm, yet tender. The ahi sushi is good. The crispy shrimp cake is die for and try to order at least one of the nightly specials as they are great too, We ordered a shrimp tempura roll that was a work of art and had little dollops of a delicious crab salad on each section of the roll. The fried udon noodles were also a hit. Even if you're not a sushi fan, this place should be on your radar screen. They serve fantastic fresh fish preparations as well as a wide variety of rice and noodle dishes and tempura. They open at 5:30 and there are two lines that have been forming since 5:00, One for those woth reservations and those without. We made a reservation and I would suggest that route. The apple dessert is not to be missed. Great service in such a busy and bustling place was a nice surprise. Our server was a real sweetie. $89 with mandatory 17%service added on.
On our way back from Hookipia Beach we stopped in Wailuku to eat at the Main Street Bistro. Wailuku is off the tourist map mostly, but it has some great places to eat. We had some good Thai food there last time. The Main Street Bistro is a quirky sort of place that serves "tapas". They are open from 11 to 3 for lunch and 3 to 7 for dinner, Monday through Friday. The owner/chef who has been a mainstay on Maui for years is a real character who knows how to cook up some interesting dishes that we really enjoyed. Different, but good. We started with some onion rings. The onions were super thin sliced, almost shaved, well battered, perfectly salted and not your garden variety chunky rings. I loved them, M was not too impressed as he likes his OR thick, well battered and substantial. Next were the Ahi Cones. Pieces of raw ahi were stuffed into "cones" made of flats of fried parmesan cheese. There was a healthy stuffing of garden greens inside with a little too much balsmaic vinegar. They were huge and good and the ahi was fresh and tasty, but the "cones" were more like a burrito. Good, but different. Next was the butterfish that was prepared unlike you will get at a Japanese restaurant. There was a whole filet that had been lightly sauteed and served with a ragout of vegetables and surrouned in some sort of reduction sauce with cream. The portion size was huge and the fish was good, but it was our least favorite dish. Our favorite and the one I'd go back for just to eat was the grilled poblano pepper! Wow. This was amazing. Stuffed with real white grits, Jack cheese and LOTS of spicy chorizo sausage, this pepper was packed with flavor, texture and zip. The pepper was gigantic. For those of us who are used to tapas being more on the petite size...forget about that here! Portions are huge. As the owner told us "The locals saw the samll portions and went "eh"? So now he makes things large to appeal to the local taste buds. I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to get out of their resort for something real and different. Don't be put off by Wailuku, it is the real Maui. The burger menu looked real interesting and we'll focus on that next time.
The meal was a great value at $64 including a 20% tip.
Before I forget...one of our great food finds this time was the Green Dragon Farmers Market in Kahului. We ate breakfast and lunch in for the most part and we always try to shop the farmer's markets when on island. This market was amazing! So many stall filled with so many wonderful things. We wandered around in a daze for a while before settling on which vendors and what to get. We focused mostly on the afforementioned apple bananas, papayas, pineapples and limes. Had we wanted to do more cooking at home, we would have been in heaven. Fresh corn, tomatoes, all sorts of beans and greens and things I have never seen before. If we lived on island (hmmmm...), this is where we would shop for our produce for sure. Prices were very low. 4 lovely and large papaya for $5 sounds good to me anytime. The hours are strange and change by the season. When we were here they were open from 7 to 4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I was told that they would soon be open everyday with longer hours, cooking demonstrations and live entertainment. This is a must do if you like fresh fruits and veggies sold by real local producers, and if open would be a great place to stop on the way from airport to your digs. Even a hotel mini-frig would hold enough items to make this worth a stop.
Next up: Star Noodles, a GTG and more!
I started this thread before going to check on a few places I had been looking into and we ended up eating at many of them.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ts-on-maui.cfm
We ate at:
Sansei in Kihei. We had a fantastic meal here! The butterfish was seared perfectly and the texture was firm, yet tender. The ahi sushi is good. The crispy shrimp cake is die for and try to order at least one of the nightly specials as they are great too, We ordered a shrimp tempura roll that was a work of art and had little dollops of a delicious crab salad on each section of the roll. The fried udon noodles were also a hit. Even if you're not a sushi fan, this place should be on your radar screen. They serve fantastic fresh fish preparations as well as a wide variety of rice and noodle dishes and tempura. They open at 5:30 and there are two lines that have been forming since 5:00, One for those woth reservations and those without. We made a reservation and I would suggest that route. The apple dessert is not to be missed. Great service in such a busy and bustling place was a nice surprise. Our server was a real sweetie. $89 with mandatory 17%service added on.
On our way back from Hookipia Beach we stopped in Wailuku to eat at the Main Street Bistro. Wailuku is off the tourist map mostly, but it has some great places to eat. We had some good Thai food there last time. The Main Street Bistro is a quirky sort of place that serves "tapas". They are open from 11 to 3 for lunch and 3 to 7 for dinner, Monday through Friday. The owner/chef who has been a mainstay on Maui for years is a real character who knows how to cook up some interesting dishes that we really enjoyed. Different, but good. We started with some onion rings. The onions were super thin sliced, almost shaved, well battered, perfectly salted and not your garden variety chunky rings. I loved them, M was not too impressed as he likes his OR thick, well battered and substantial. Next were the Ahi Cones. Pieces of raw ahi were stuffed into "cones" made of flats of fried parmesan cheese. There was a healthy stuffing of garden greens inside with a little too much balsmaic vinegar. They were huge and good and the ahi was fresh and tasty, but the "cones" were more like a burrito. Good, but different. Next was the butterfish that was prepared unlike you will get at a Japanese restaurant. There was a whole filet that had been lightly sauteed and served with a ragout of vegetables and surrouned in some sort of reduction sauce with cream. The portion size was huge and the fish was good, but it was our least favorite dish. Our favorite and the one I'd go back for just to eat was the grilled poblano pepper! Wow. This was amazing. Stuffed with real white grits, Jack cheese and LOTS of spicy chorizo sausage, this pepper was packed with flavor, texture and zip. The pepper was gigantic. For those of us who are used to tapas being more on the petite size...forget about that here! Portions are huge. As the owner told us "The locals saw the samll portions and went "eh"? So now he makes things large to appeal to the local taste buds. I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to get out of their resort for something real and different. Don't be put off by Wailuku, it is the real Maui. The burger menu looked real interesting and we'll focus on that next time.
The meal was a great value at $64 including a 20% tip.Before I forget...one of our great food finds this time was the Green Dragon Farmers Market in Kahului. We ate breakfast and lunch in for the most part and we always try to shop the farmer's markets when on island. This market was amazing! So many stall filled with so many wonderful things. We wandered around in a daze for a while before settling on which vendors and what to get. We focused mostly on the afforementioned apple bananas, papayas, pineapples and limes. Had we wanted to do more cooking at home, we would have been in heaven. Fresh corn, tomatoes, all sorts of beans and greens and things I have never seen before. If we lived on island (hmmmm...), this is where we would shop for our produce for sure. Prices were very low. 4 lovely and large papaya for $5 sounds good to me anytime. The hours are strange and change by the season. When we were here they were open from 7 to 4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but I was told that they would soon be open everyday with longer hours, cooking demonstrations and live entertainment. This is a must do if you like fresh fruits and veggies sold by real local producers, and if open would be a great place to stop on the way from airport to your digs. Even a hotel mini-frig would hold enough items to make this worth a stop.
Next up: Star Noodles, a GTG and more!
Mar 5th, 2011 | 09:42 AM
#58
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,798
Likes: 0
mmmmm - Sansei and tapas and farmers markets oh my!!!
all this banana talk has my head spinning and my stomach thinking banana fana. . .shirley, billy, marteen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2HBFdO7W0Q
all this banana talk has my head spinning and my stomach thinking banana fana. . .shirley, billy, marteen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2HBFdO7W0Q
Mar 5th, 2011 | 11:20 AM
#59
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 5,309
Likes: 0
Ahhh, love the lightening storm story. It seems you and Martln are treated to magical moments on your travels. I remember the whale breaching story from your previous trip. I wonder if some people are privy to those special events or more likely in my thinking, that some people have a bigger capacity to see the beauty in life. I think some people's take on the storm would have been "we had crappy weather for a couple of days while we were on Maui!"
Mar 5th, 2011 | 11:46 AM
#60
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 8,798
Likes: 0
LOL SeeHag! I was wondering and thinking the same thing about the attitude one takes regarding things that happen while traveling.
However, we've been fortunate to often be at the right place at the right time, but then again there was that time in New York where 10 seconds after I sat down on a bench, a bird flying overhead took a HUGE crap that landed right smack dab on my head.
That was not a moment to be savored, but Martin couldn't stop laughing and that helped me to get over it too.
However, we've been fortunate to often be at the right place at the right time, but then again there was that time in New York where 10 seconds after I sat down on a bench, a bird flying overhead took a HUGE crap that landed right smack dab on my head.
That was not a moment to be savored, but Martin couldn't stop laughing and that helped me to get over it too.
