Our 10th Wedding Anniversary - a trip to Maui, HI
David and I go away {alone!} for our anniversary every year but hadn't done so since Nolan was born four years ago. Because it had been so long, because this year we are celebrating our 10th anniversary, and because Gram was able to fly out and be with the kids, we decided to go big and go to Hawaii. For ten days!
After months and months of research (friends, family, online travel forums!), we settled on staying on the island of Maui at The Fairmont Kea Lani resort. I'm not sure saying what I'm about to say even does this life experience justice: this was, by far, the best vacation I have ever been on in my life!
You can see our entire trip in sequence (I shared on Instagram and Facebook as things were happening) by visiting this link: Maui 2015
The suite we stayed in and it's view, the 5-star service of The Fairmont, the peace & quiet of Wailea, the adventures, the food, the time alone with just my husband, the late night swims, the road trips, sleeping-in until noon, the spa, the ocean, and knowing my kids were well taken care of all combined made this the trip of a lifetime.
If it's been written about as a must-do on Maui, we did it in the car we rented for the 10 days:
We hiked Haleakala in the middle of the night to catch the sunrise at 10,000ft elevation.
We took a sailboat off the Kaanapali Coast to watch the sunset.
We had cocktails on the beach. Lots and lots of cocktails. In case you were wondering, the best Mai Tai on Maui is at MonkeyPod restaurant in Wailea. Hands down. Oh, and they have them on Happy Hour!
We spent a day in Kaanapali, exploring the town and walking the 3-mile beach, and even watched people dive from the Black Rocks.
We ate Hawaiian shaved ice and Hula Pie. YUM!
We drove all the way around the West Coast, visiting Kapalua where we had drinks with our closest friends, The Burds, DT Fleming Beach, the 800ft tall red rock cliffs, and around to the Nekele Blowhole.
We road horses on the beach.
We laid by the pool all day, eating and drinking Mai Tai's until we fell asleep.
We drove up and hiked through Iao Valley.
We toured a lavender farm where we found some Jackson Chameleons - David's favorite!
We walked down to our own private-ish beach, splashing through the surf at sunset nearly every evening. Talk about magical!
We marveled at the local ocean life.
We experienced a luau- that's the very first photo of us, up top.
We watched big wave surfers and snorkelers at Hoiokipa Beach.
We explored historic Lahaina including the amazing Banyan Tree.
We got up close and personal with green sea turtles!
We spent two days on The Road to Hana, hiking water falls and arboretums.
We ate and ate and ate and ate! Leoda's Pie Shop, Nick's Fishmarket, MonkeyPod, Merriman's, Mama's Fish House, and Coconut's Fish Cafe and were just a few of our very favorites where we had many meals.
The only thing I would do differently is fly first class.
The plane we took from SFO direct to Maui was HUGE, there were so many people that service suffered and it was crowded and it was a long nearly six hours. I saw those lucky folks up front being serviced before we even stat down! And they had their own bathroom. Enough said. Looking back, it absolutely would've been worth the money!
Seriously, that's it!
I wouldn't change anything about what we did nor where we stayed and I cannot wait to bring the kids back to Hawaii in 2017 for Grams's big 60th birthday!
After months and months of research (friends, family, online travel forums!), we settled on staying on the island of Maui at The Fairmont Kea Lani resort. I'm not sure saying what I'm about to say even does this life experience justice: this was, by far, the best vacation I have ever been on in my life!
You can see our entire trip in sequence (I shared on Instagram and Facebook as things were happening) by visiting this link: Maui 2015
The suite we stayed in and it's view, the 5-star service of The Fairmont, the peace & quiet of Wailea, the adventures, the food, the time alone with just my husband, the late night swims, the road trips, sleeping-in until noon, the spa, the ocean, and knowing my kids were well taken care of all combined made this the trip of a lifetime.
If it's been written about as a must-do on Maui, we did it in the car we rented for the 10 days:
We hiked Haleakala in the middle of the night to catch the sunrise at 10,000ft elevation.
We took a sailboat off the Kaanapali Coast to watch the sunset.
We had cocktails on the beach. Lots and lots of cocktails. In case you were wondering, the best Mai Tai on Maui is at MonkeyPod restaurant in Wailea. Hands down. Oh, and they have them on Happy Hour!
We spent a day in Kaanapali, exploring the town and walking the 3-mile beach, and even watched people dive from the Black Rocks.
We ate Hawaiian shaved ice and Hula Pie. YUM!
We drove all the way around the West Coast, visiting Kapalua where we had drinks with our closest friends, The Burds, DT Fleming Beach, the 800ft tall red rock cliffs, and around to the Nekele Blowhole.
We road horses on the beach.
We laid by the pool all day, eating and drinking Mai Tai's until we fell asleep.
We drove up and hiked through Iao Valley.
We toured a lavender farm where we found some Jackson Chameleons - David's favorite!
We walked down to our own private-ish beach, splashing through the surf at sunset nearly every evening. Talk about magical!
We marveled at the local ocean life.
We experienced a luau- that's the very first photo of us, up top.
We watched big wave surfers and snorkelers at Hoiokipa Beach.
We explored historic Lahaina including the amazing Banyan Tree.
We got up close and personal with green sea turtles!
We spent two days on The Road to Hana, hiking water falls and arboretums.
We ate and ate and ate and ate! Leoda's Pie Shop, Nick's Fishmarket, MonkeyPod, Merriman's, Mama's Fish House, and Coconut's Fish Cafe and were just a few of our very favorites where we had many meals.
The only thing I would do differently is fly first class.
The plane we took from SFO direct to Maui was HUGE, there were so many people that service suffered and it was crowded and it was a long nearly six hours. I saw those lucky folks up front being serviced before we even stat down! And they had their own bathroom. Enough said. Looking back, it absolutely would've been worth the money!
Seriously, that's it!
I wouldn't change anything about what we did nor where we stayed and I cannot wait to bring the kids back to Hawaii in 2017 for Grams's big 60th birthday!
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