| Hawaii Diary 2000 | |
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The drive from the airport to the main west coast resorts north of Lahaina takes about 30-45 minutes. It's a pleasant drive past sugar cane fields in central Maui and then past some of the most lovely beaches in the world as you travel north along Maui's west shore.
In addition to great hotels and resorts, west Maui offers a large number of condominium rentals. We're staying at a condo owned by a business associate of my wife. The advantage of a condo over a hotel is that you have your own kitchen, washer and drier and much more space to spread out and relax. If you want to save some serious money on food, consider renting a condo. You can eat as many or as few meals in your condo as you prefer.
After taking some time to settle in this afternoon, we headed off to Lahaina for a late afternoon meal. We decided to eat at one of Maui's most famous restaurants and multiple award winner, Longhi's.
Longhi's offers menus outside the restaurant, but once you're seated the menu is verbal, meaning that your server will explain, in detail, the items available on the menu.
We elected to try two of Longhi's signature dishes. Eileen had Shrimp Longhi. I chose to have Ahi Torino. Ahi is a yellow tuna found in the Pacific. Both of our selections were delicious and beautifully presented.
After dinner, we decided to take a walk along Front Street in Maui which is filled with shops of all kinds, ranging from expensive art galleries and jewelry stores to quite inexpensive stores like your standard ABC Store.
Photo by John Fischer
We learned that our visit to Maui coincides with a festival called "In Celebration of Canoes 2000," which will be highlighted on Friday evening by a parade and then a free Hawaiian music concert under the stars featuring top Hawaiian music artists Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom and Willie K, Eddie Kamae and The Sons of Hawaii, and my favorite Hawaiian female artist, Robi Kahakalau.
We know where we will be on Friday evening.
Tomorrow we're off to explore the north shore of West Maui. We'll also be exploring the area around the Iao Valley near Wailuku. In the evening we have a reservation to attend what we consider to be Hawaii's best luau, the Old Lahaina Luau. It's going to be a busy day. See you tomorrow.
