So i took a ton of pics, but im not gonna bore the faithful TWC readers with the usual boring tourist crap, and ill just post some of the better pics. (which are probably still boring tourist crap photos to anyone that wasnt actually there with me, which is all of you, but too bad, im posting em anyway.)
So this is the view from our 7th story condo balcony. Just cropped out of the bottom of the pic is the pool. It was nice being a 6 second elevator ride away from the pool, and a 10 second walk from the beach.
Also from the balcony. (subsequently, i lost those sunglasses, which were my favorite, on the first or second day when a damn dirty hawaii wave knocked me on my ass from behind when i wasnt paying attention. It took me under for a second, stole my sunglasses and replaced my beer with a green bottle full of saltwater. Yes, i held onto the beer, and lost the glasses off my face, wtf?)
This dude was like 15 feet from me one morning trimming the trees...
...thats him too.
We did a whole lot of this...walking the beach with a drink and taking in the beauty.
The only touristy "activity" we did was drive to Hana (the famous black sand beach). Ill let the pics do the talking... (but i will say the beach is MUCH smaller than i thought. I could have thrown a football the entire width of the black sand portion)
So after we spent some time at Hana, we were ready to embark on the 2.5 hour drive back to the condo...but the state of Hawaii Dept of Transportation (or agriculture maybe, who knows) decided it was a good time to trim the vines and shrubbery and all that other nonsense that hangs off the cliffs above the tiny windy road. SO...they shut down the entire road, the only one we could take, for an hour and a half.
Cars got pretty far backed up, causing a few cranky tourists, but most people were pretty laid back about it. My lady and myself made the best of it, ate a picnic lunch she had made that we didnt have at the beach, and laid down in the middle of the highway to take in some sun. (i never would have thought id ever sunbathe in the middle of a highway, go figure)
If youre gonna be stuck somewhere for an hour and a half though, THIS is the kind of view id like to enjoy every time...
So the last night we were there we got all fancied up (she did, i dont really do it very well) and went to a nice dinner.
This was the view we had for dinner, from the open air restaurant.
Then we headed back to the condo for a couple more drinks and a nightcap smoke. (for me)
Me, enjoying my good friend Sailor Jerry.
So that was about it, i summerized the hell out of it, but really all we did was lay on the beach, have happy hour every day, and eat good dinners. Life is rough.
A few things i thought id share though, just in general, about the trip:
1. A beat to hell 2002 Nissan Sentra is a hell of a lot of fun to drive around hawaii as a rental car. especially when the dude who rents it to you tells you "i know its pretty dinged up, just dont drive it off a cliff or anything."
2. Costco is a must for visiting hawaii. A HALF GALLON of Captain Morgans is $20. Not a FIFTH, but a half gallon.
3. I learned that in 12 days i have no problem putting away a case of Heineken, a half gallon of Captain's, and a fifth of Sailor Jerry on my own. Not sure how i feel about that.
4. If you ask me "No Smoking on the Lanai (balcony) is really just a suggestion, in my personal opinion.
5. Dont buy TOO much food at Costco, you always end up eating out more than you think you will.
6. Think about gettin a room\condo with cable tv. Unless you WANT to watch 24-7 coverage of Michael Jacksons death, as if he was the president of the world or something.
7. Even if you think you wont need it, bring your laptop.
8. Dont bring socks. They only take up space in your luggage. You wont wear them.
9. Always hunt down a local brewery\brew pub. Maui Brewing is great, we went twice.
10. Do whatever your lady wants to do. (this is not to suggest that we had issues, cause my usual plan for vacations is to do whatever she wants anyway. It works well for us)
...Im sure ill think of more, but this is already a long ass blog post for me.
Posts
fuck my life.
I just got back from 8 days of Miami, it was a blast but im glad to be home. While i was there i went to the new W hotel on south beach, while i was there i had a design epiphany. but thats another story for another day. Glad u had fun
Rolli - FYL indeed.
Jason - Im gonna need to hear about this epiphany. The only conclusion i came too was that i either A.) work too hard
or
B.)I need to work harder to i can go to places like Maui more often.
I definitely came to conclusion B after my last vacation.
Nice pics, place looks like it has everything that I require when I travel.
I need to step my game up. Helicopter flights and beach trips... green under-bills and shit.
I can't keep up.
On a side note, when I went to Hawaii when I was 15 we did the road to Hana... shit was incredibly long. I didn't think it was worth it... couldn't believe how tiny the beach was.
Nick, we were told it was like 2.5 hours each way. So when we were 30 miles away and had only been driving for like an hour i was like "these people have no idea what theyre talking about". then i realized that the last 30 miles are so windy it takes about an hour and a half, i was heated. And the lady was driving cause she was worried shed get carsick, so it was quite an ordeal.
We made it though. I was shocked at how small it was too. But in the end i think it was worth it, the scenery was ridiculous. I took SO many pictures, and im not really a big picture taker usually.