Back at the end of January, thanks to the generous child-minding
support of grandparental units, Kate and I were gifted the chance to go to
Maui, Hawaii, for an entire week… BY OURSELVES!
In the almost-12 years of having kids, we’ve only truly gotten
away as a couple on two other occasions: once a few winters ago for a whirlwind
few days in New York city, and prior to that, we flew across the Atlantic to
the UK to visit friends and family. We may have ditched our own kids,
but we ended visiting friends and family with their kids… so we didn’t
exactly hit the mark for a kid-free trip.
This, however, was the first time in 14 years of marriage
(and just about ‘ever’) that we travelled somewhere just for ourselves. No
kids, no pets, no friends or family to visit, and no schedule at all. Just a
glorious week of exploring a place we had never been before. A carry-on
suitcase (flippers and snorkel mask included) was all we needed.
We intentionally laid out absolutely no itinerary for
ourselves. We had a few items on the list of places we wanted to go and things
to see, but we didn’t block out specific times or days to do any of it. It was
MAGIC. Get up early and go for a beach walk? Sure. Get up late, grab a coffee and
some fruit, then head out for some snorkelling or boogie boarding? Sounds good.
Plan to go kayaking in an afternoon but go window shopping instead? Perfect.
We hit up some of the biggies: sunset at Haleakala (we
thought about sunrise, but A) hadn’t pre-booked a reservation and that’s a requirement
and B) why get up at 3:00 a.m. when we can drive up in the middle of the day
when we’re not exhausted, hike around, then find a nice spot for the sunset
show instead? ), a visit to the Nakalele blowhole, driving the road to Hana
(with lots of stops there and back), whale watching (last minute, but awesome,
decision), and spent plenty of time in the water otherwise, and went for nice
walks.
The weather was ideal all week. 28 degrees and sunny, with some
cloud cover coming along on the last couple of days of the trip, but the nice
temperatures kept right along. It was made extra-sweet knowing that it was POUNDING
with rain back home in Vancouver!
One of the smart things to do when you’re in a new place is
to chat with a local about ‘what’s good.’ There’s no shortage of info about
popular tourist spots, but the people that live there will surely come up with
something slightly less known. To that end, if you’re headed to Maui in the
future, look up a little place called ‘Alchemy’ in Lahaina. It’s not in the old
townsite; it’s up the slope, across the highway, tucked into a corner location
of an industrial area.
We were flopping around in the surf on boogie boards one
day (incidentally, Snorkel Bob's was a great deal. 3o bucks for a week's rental of a great board), and we started chatting with a guy who has lived on the island for a
couple of years. He asked us what we’ve managed to do, and we asked him if he
had any recommendations for places to eat. Alchemy was one of his
recommendations. They bake these incredible take-away loaves of black salt
crusted sourdough, make awesome sandwiches, and—as is the fad these days—brew a
bunch of flavours of kombucha.
I would go back to Maui for the sourdough from this place alone. It’s fresh from the oven at 11 am when they open. Long, narrow loaves ready to take away. They also make sandwiches with the same bread, and they don’t mess around with their portion sizes. They produce a good selection of veggie options, helpful for us vegetarians, as well as meat (the pastrami seemed popular!), and all their food is local and non-GMO.
The bread didn’t stand a chance. It was like an extra on The
Walking Dead. We tore the loaf apart, wolfing down big hunks of fresh, warm,
tangy and salty sourdough. Washed down with the kombucha, it was delightful.
We went back again a second time and it was just as good.
But enough about bread. You want more Maui. Here it is. The video has jump links in the description, so if you want to see a particular section, just click there! https://youtu.be/F04I8Zz9iAY
At the end of the week, we headed home feeling refreshed, relaxed and grateful for the time away. And yes, in case you’re wondering, we brought back a king’s ransom in Macadamia nuts to be able to spread the Aloha once we got back home, like any good tourist should :)
