In our attempt to experience Maui, especially our West Maui
neighborhood, from a more local point of view, we opted to only get a rental
car for the first week. We knew we
would want to cruise around the island, stock up on groceries and get some
running around out of our system the first week. Now that we are car-less, we’ve enjoyed short walks to the
farmer’s market and local restaurants.
Everything we need is in less than a mile radius of the condo. But this afternoon we wanted to seek
out some entertainment for the evening.
I had managed my morning run and despite some rather large surf our daily
snorkeling was already under our belt.
We could have opted for a quiet evening at home but I convinced Greg that
a trip to Lahaina was in order.
So we decided to try the bus system. A bus stop just a 1-
minute walk from our front door would take us to Whaler’s village where a half
hour later a bus would come to take us to Lahaina. Sounded easy enough.
In fact it was, though the bus was a few minutes late in arriving it
actually got us to Whaler’s Village where the transfer bus (also behind
schedule) was waiting, so no bus layover was necessary. We arrived in Lahaina 3-hours before
the concert we wanted to attend but not to worry, there is plenty to do and see
in Lahaina.
Our bus stop was the Wharf Cinema, none of the films playing
struck our fancy but we enjoyed looking at the shops in the center. Among the businesses nearby, was one
called Dan’s Greenhouse. At first
I walked past it, I had seen the sign, but couldn’t find an entrance. As we backtracked, we found a funky
staircase that led to a musty shop with a dozen or so birds on perches, bonsai
trees and one teeny tiny adorable pig in the corner. It was a very strange store, but entertaining! Back down stairs we walked past the
Banyan tree, more shops, and several restaurants advertising happy hour. We decide to try one called Sugar Cane
because their upstairs balcony looked right out at Lahaina harbor which was
producing some pretty nice sized waves and the surfers were having tons of fun
with them. I had a coconut passion
fruit margarita and Greg had the Lahaina Tea we shared a platter of pupus and
watch the surfers shred. After
dinner we grabbed some gelato, macadamia coffee crunch, and walked a half-mile
to a neighborhood near the cemetery.
Here we found the Jodo Mission, a Buddhist Temple, which was the venue
for another free concert.
The Guitar Extravaganza at the college that we had gone to
see last week, had another concert in their series. Another great chance to
hear guitar and ukulele! We took
off our shoes and shuffled into the tiny temple, sitting in the pews, fans
spinning, humid air forcing all occupants of the small room to sweat
furiously. Though we were very
damp, we enjoyed the music. The
temple was also very beautiful, with a Koa wood and golden altar at the front
and a wood paneled ceiling with botanicals hand painted on each frame.
After the concert, we took a short 5-minute walk to the
Lahaina Cannery Mall. We browsed
some more shops and then headed to the bus stop for the last bus of the evening
back to Whaler’s Village. The bus
doesn’t run back to our neighborhood at night, we knew this in advance, so
after exploring Whaler’s Village for a bit, we started out on the beach path
toward home. It was a nice walk in
the evening, comfortable air temperature, not at all crowded, with excellent stargazing. Greg and I had a nice chance to chat,
as we walked but close to two miles in, he was eager for a little break. We found some lounge chairs outside of
Duke’s Restaurant and sat for a few minutes looking at the stars and cooling
our heals. Soon we were back in
our neighborhood. Walking back from Whaler’s had taken us 75 minutes, which
struck me as odd because I had run there in 30. No matter, we made it and found that we have options when it
comes to traveling beyond our little neighborhood.
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