The Gratts and Nick on Maui: Last day

We woke up at 6:30 and relaxed in our condo as long as we could. We ate up some of our leftover breakfast stuff, straightened up and packed. I enjoyed the view from the lanai one last time and tried to soak up every inch of Maui that I could!

My idea for today was to drive to the Maui Tropical Plantation and eat lunch at the restaurant onsite, the Mill House. I didn't know much about either place but I knew people on Yelp liked it and I thought it would be a nice way to kill a few hours before we had to be at the airport. 

We got there about 11:45 am and found out the regular menu didn't begin until noon so we sat at the bar and had a drink. I got a mimosa.

Once lunch started, we picked out a few appetizers to share. For our entrees, the boys got the burger and I got the carne asada tacos. 

Everything was absolutely delicious, this was by far the best meal of the trip and one of the best we've had on our three trips to Maui.

After lunch we walked the grounds which were beautiful and lush. Everywhere I looked was a picture opportunity.  

We could see the farm in the back where they grow most of the food that they serve.

This was a great way to spend our last day.

We made it to the airport, dropped off the car and had one more lava flow for the road.

We had a wonderful time as always. We got to try some new places and revisit some old ones. We stayed in a condo for the first time and had a view I'll never forget. And for the first time, we never missed a sunset!

Ben and I have tentatively planned a trip to Kauai and Maui for our 10-year anniversary in 2019 so hopefully we will be back to Maui then. We have a few other vacations planned before then that we are looking forward to.  For now, it’s not goodbye, it’s “Aloha Maui, a hui hou” (until we meet again).

The Gratts and Nick on Maui: Day 8

Sadly, our last full day was finally here. We woke up at 6:20 but lounged in bed until 7:30. We had all agreed that we were just going to relax today and then go back to happy hour at Merriman's. We read our check out instructions for the next day and got a head start on packing. 

For breakfast, we went back to the Sea House. Ben got the Thai omelet and a lava flow and I had the traditional breakfast. 

Back at the condo, I had lava flows and the boys had beers on the balcony. 

Around 11:00, I took a beach chair that was at the condo and a book and spent 2 hours in a shady spot on the beach by the condo while the boys went to Maui Brewing.

I loved just sitting down there watching the ocean and reading and at times I had the beach practically all to myself. 

Around 1:30, Ben came to see what I was up to and since the shade was running out by then, I went back to the condo to shower and get ready for happy hour at Merriman's. This was the one night I put on makeup and I wore the new dress I had brought. But when we got to Merriman's, it was closed for a private event. I was so bummed but glad we had gotten to go once. 

We went to the Sea House for happy hour drinks and pupus (appetizers). 

On the way home, we were still hungry so we stopped at Fish Market Maui for takeout and ate it back at the condo.

After dinner, Ben and I watched our last sunset alone on the balcony, not going inside until it was completely dark.

The Gratts and Nick on Maui: Day 7

We woke up to another beautiful Maui rainbow!

Today we were taking the ferry to spend the day on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. I packed a huge beach bag with everything I could think of, including a new coverup that I could wear since after the beach, we planned to have lunch at the Four Seasons on Lanai. 

We ate breakfast at the condo and left at 8:00 am and drove to Lahaina. We had reserved our tickets by phone and stood in line to get them boarding the 9:15 ferry. The ride was pretty bumpy even that early. It made me wonder what we would be in for on the ride home as the ocean would become much rougher as it got later in the day and we weren’t planning to come back until the 4:30 ferry. 

Lanai coming into view.

The walk to Hulopo‘e Beach Park at Manele Bay was about 10 minutes from the ferry.

We arrived at the beach and got set up-thanks to Trip Advisor, I knew to bring a sheet to lay out on since we decided we did not want to bring our chairs. This worked great and kept our towels from getting sandy.

I got us set up under a shade tree and then went to check out the snorkeling conditions. Lanai can have wonderful, calm snorkeling conditions but right away I could see today was not one of those days.  Ben was able to go out and he saw some fish although the conditions weren't the greatest. 

I got in the water to watch Ben snorkel since there weren't a ton of other people in the water with him. I thought the beach was really pretty here.

I also walked the beach and took pictures.

Around 12:30, we were all hungry so we packed up and washed up and I put on my new coverup and we walked over to the Four Seasons. 

We looked around the grounds a bit and then went to the Sports Bar and Grill for lunch. The boys each split the ahi tuna burger and the regular burger and I got the surfer grilled cheese which came with a garden salad.

I also had a lava flow. The lava flows we made at the condo were so much better!

We then went down to the bar by the pool where we sat and had a few drinks. 

There was a worker with two beautiful birds and he let me take pictures of them and let Ben hold one of them. 

I walked around the grounds and took pictures.

Before we knew it, it was 4:00 and we had to rush to make it back in time for the 4:30 ferry. The ride back was very bumpy and although I was fine, the boys got pretty woozy since they ate and drank more than I did! 

Back at the car, we agreed we just wanted to go back to the condo and clean up and maybe have a bite to eat. We showered and changed and decided to go to a nearby sushi place. But it was packed so I went back to the condo and had a hot dog and the rest of the Maui onion chips and the boys went to McDonald's so Ben could try the saimin noodles--I told him he probably picked the worst place possible to try them but he wanted to anyway!

We were treated to one of the best sunsets all week.

After sunset, it was an early night for all of us, and we were asleep before 9:00 pm.