Thursday, July 27, or I Guess We Live in Airports Now
3:30 predictably came and went and we scrambled out of bed around 4:15 to hop in a quick shower and make it down to the lobby for our 5am shuttle. An easy trip through Dulles check-in and security, and soon we were on a five-hour flight to Salt Lake City.
Our flight was on an updated aircraft, and the seat-back entertainment selection was diverse and impressive. There were hundreds of movies, including large sections devoted to sci-fi and action, which is prefect for Rick since I loathe watching those movies (emphasis on sci-fi) and often feel, as a result, I deprive him of indulging in his movie watching pleasure. We made it to Salt Lake City on time (and got a great view of the lake on descent!) –a big sigh of relief since our connection there was less than an hour – and after a brief delay were on our short and sweet flight to LAX. By the time we landed in LA, it was hour 10 of traveling and we were both starting to show some signs of fatigue. The terminal was also under construction and the airport was busy, so - in brief - we were not in the best moods. After surveying our limited options, we waited in a long line to pay $14 for a burger and hot dog from Shake Shack, and scarfed down our lunch-dinner as fuel for our last leg, a 5.5-hour flight to Maui.
Departing a bit early from LAX, the flight to Maui was… well, long. Rick, who had eyed the Star Wars movie Rogue One: Skeleton Invasion (pretty sure that’s the name) on our earlier cross-country flight, was planning on saving it for the Maui leg, but alas it was not meant to be. The on-board entertainment system was down, so we were left with an old-fashioned, entertain-yourself go of it. Running on just about 4 hours of sleep from the night before (maybe not the best idea), we were both starting to fade. As soon as we landed in Maui though, and saw the stunning aerial landscape from above as we flew in, we both got a bit of a second wind.. The baggage claim was al fresco, so we got our first whiff of tropical air. Surprisingly (or not surprisingly if you are familiar with DC summers), it was less hot and humid than back home with a beautiful breeze gently blowing through the terminal. Picking up our bags was quick and easy, and we were the first on the shuttle to Budget Rental Car to pick up our compact car.
Months before, I booked a car rental reservation through Costco (I find Costco often has the best rates), and because it doesn’t require a credit card to reserve, I checked back every day for a drop in rates to re-book as necessary. My first reservation was booked for an 8-day rental for $370, but we ended up with a reservation for the same car for $241 by monitoring and re-booking. We had signed up for the Budget Fastbreak program to avert any lines, though it wasn’t necessary – there were maybe 3 other people there. The Budget agent was very friendly and helpful, and offered us a free (and yes we confirmed free) upgrade to a red mustang. As someone nearly allergic to public attention, this car is wayyy too flash for me, but the choice being cramped-and-tiny compact car vs. mustang…. well, we were soon on our way vrooming out of the parking lot.
Our first stop? Costco, obviously. (I already feel like this blog is turning into a running commercial for Costco, but we really are all about that #costscolife.) It was just down the road from the airport, so an easy drive, and we wanted to stock up on some non-perishables (namely beer, wine, and snacks – the trifecta of fun) and do a quick tour to see what was different (poke was, unsurprisingly, 50% cheaper!). After loading up the mustang with beer (we’re so cool), we took off toward Lahaina town on the West side of Maui.
As I hear is common with first-time Hawaii visitors, we had trouble keeping our eyes off the beautiful West Maui mountains, which were lying just to the northwest of us. The landscape jutted out in rolling hills and ridges that stretched so far to the sky it seemed as though the clouds and mist that surrounded the tops nestled there permanently. Rick said they reminded him of old men, because they all had permanent white cloud facial hair. Geriatric hairy men or not, they were captivating, especially for two East Coasters who were mostly running on coffee and adrenaline. The drive over to the West side was relaxing and reinforced to us that 18 hours of travel was worth it. We had the ocean to our left and the mountains on our right, so we both started settling into vacation quite nicely, thank you very much.
After a brief slowdown into Lahaina, we made our way to home for the night: the Pioneer Inn.
Simple, understated and fronting the Lahaina harbor, the Inn was the only hotel in West Maui from its opening in 1901 to the early 1960s. The full history of the Inn is fascinating, and definitely worth a read from their website. Now owned and operated by Best Western, it clearly still retains all its charm as a historic hotel without sacrificing modern amenities (I didn’t feel like I was sleeping in the Hawaiian version of Casper’s castle, for example). There was a beautiful open courtyard, complete with a dirty-mouthed, loquacious parrot and a small pool. Our room opened up onto Front Street, Lahaina’s main drag. I realize many people may not have enjoyed being smack in the center of West Maui’s only nightlife hub, but we are both city people at heart, and loved it. When I opened the door of our lanai (Hawaiian word for porch or balcony), I was greeted by the hum of ukuleles from a concert about a block away. Rocking along in the lanai chairs with every turn of rhythm, I had found my heaven. As we walked back to our room from breakfast the next morning, Rick noted that he regretted only having one night there and wished we had more time at the Pioneer Inn – something we both knew would be a common refrain throughout the trip.
Check-in was a breeze (ocean puns FTW) and once we had dropped our stuff and freshened up a bit (and were able to tear ourselves away from the lanai) we were ready for a good, hearty meal and settled on Cool Cat Cafe, located catty corner from the hotel. Lahaina itself was more bustling that we anticipated, and Front Street had a bevy of interesting shops and restaurants to peruse. The ancient capital of Maui, Lahaina also served for a short time in the 19th century as the capital of Hawaii. It was also the center of the whaling industry and is dotted with dozens of historic sites, vestiges of its old prominence in the sugar plantation history of Maui. Wikipedia tells me Lahaina has a year-round population of about 10,000, but that can swell to four times that number during the summer. I think at least a quarter of the population was walking while we made our way to the Cool Cat Café.
We arrived at about 7pm (1am EST #partytime) and were lucky to be seated immediately at one of the best tables in the house – a tall bar table overlooking a railing on top of Front Street. Cool Cat stylizes itself as a retro ‘50s throwback diner, and boasted an impressive menu of burgers and milkshakes to prove their theme. We salivated over the milkshake menu (presented as a drink menu, a respect I think we can all agree milkshakes deserve) and ordered the Sha-boom (an open faced burger topped with chili, cheese and sweet Maui onions) for Rick and the Frisco (cheese burger on grilled sourdough) for me, as well as a couple of local beers. It hit the spot well as a perfect punctuation to a day of airport food. An acoustic live music set began around 7:30, playing mostly 90s alt-rock and classic rock covers, and that – combined with the superb people watching our table provided - set the scene for a wonderful wind-down for our first night on the island. We got back to the room around 8:15 and promptly fell sound asleep. Zzzzzzzzzz.....
