The color of Green!!!

Last summer was the first summer I planted veggies and we hit the jackpot when it came to tomatoes but for some reason nothing else did well.  

So when it came to plant again this year, I planted the following

3 tomato plants

1 squash

2 cucumber

3 basil

1 Oregano

We love gazpacho so that is why we did the cucumbers this year.

At first I was not optimistic but over the last two weeks it is amazing...

The plans are starting to take over my backyard!

So far we have a couple of cucumber that are almost ready to be picked

Squash that needs a couple for days, and lots of green tomatoes!

 

The herbs are also out of control =0)

Home made basil will be added to my list of recipes I will be trying

 

Day 6th

After the best day ever,  I was on a high which continued on our 6th day.  We decided to sleep in because we did not get back from the Luau the previous night until midnight.  So we woke up worked out, had an early lunch and decided to do some shopping for a couple of little gifts I had to get people. 

We then headed to Black Rock, another beach in Ka'appalia and saw an amazing sea turtle while snorkeling. 

It was bigger than Joe!!

So cool!!!!

That night we decided to end our trip with a dinner at Mama's Fish House for our anniversary. 

We always do something for our anniversary, each year we have a nice dinner

Napa- Anjela

Greece- Dinner Cruise

So Hawaii was Mama's.  

Mama's is in Paia and is world renown for their food. 

We were seated next to Joakin Noah at dinner, who Joe immediately recognized while I was completely clueless other than that fact he was two of me tall.  

To say the food was excellent would be an understatement. 

  Lobster Crab Guacamole

 Joe had the Fish

 I had the Fish Stew

 Chocolate Pearl for dessert!

Happy Last Night in Hawaii!

Happy 3rd!

 While in Hawaii, we celebrated our 3^rd Anniversary!

It is so crazy for me to think that we have been today for 7 years and married for 3…

Because really it does not feel like it! 

Wedding Date- May 30^th!!!!!

1^st Anniversary in Napa Valley, CA

2^nd Anniversary in Greece!

3^rd Anniversary in Maui, Hawaii

We have had an amazing three years !

You have taught me so much, and I know that I am a better person because you are here.

You ground me in so many ways, and encourage me to fly at the same time.

You support me in every decision that I have made!

Basically…. You ROCK!

Here is to our 4^th anniversary- May it Rock even more!

Day 5- The Bestest Day Ever

 Our 5th day on the island was by far my favorite. 

I have wanted to Jet ski ever since Joe and I have been together, but we always find a reason not to do it.

It was not available were we honeymooned or in Greece, was too expensive in Florida, etc. 

So we decided to bite the bullet and do it. 

$120 for a double person jet ski for 1 hour. 

I actually thought this price was very reasonable!

We headed out to the place and Joe hopped on in front and me in back. 

I was scared shitless!

So Joe let me drive it so I could see what it felt like- AMAZING. 

I truly had the time of my life, and all I could hear was Joe cracking up behind me because I was cussing when we went airborne.  He referred to be as his potty mouth Elmo because my screaming apparently is high pitched like Elmo!  Not only was it fun but the water was amazing and so were the views!

After jet skiing we headed back for another Shaved Ice =0)

Then headed back to the room for naps before we headed off to the Luau.

I did A LOT of researched prior to booking our Luau.  I have heard that you have to do a Luau but people always tell me about how bad the food was or how they could not even see the show or the drinks were watered down and I just knew that would not work for Joe and I since apparently we are kinda of food snobs. 

Things I did not want from a Luau

1) I did not want to pay all this money to have to wait in a mass buffet line with crappy food and drinks

2) I did not want to be surround by children.  Not that I have anything against children, but the fact that I am around crying babies all day I just wanted a night free of that.

3) I did not want to be sat at some mass table when I had to carry out conversations with people I will never meet.  I know this is very antisocial of me, but oh well.

After doing all my research I found the only Luau that met all three criteria was the Feast at LeLe in Lahina. 

It got pretty good reviews on trip ad visor and was more of a grown up Luau with excellent menu and drinks served to your personal table.  Me being the planner that I am- I booked it literally the month after we booked the trip and stated that it was our anniversary. 

It was pricey at $100 per person but as you will see it was way worth it!

To give you some background the Feast of LeLe is a Polynesian Luau and have 4 different island represented thru out the night.  A course of food (ie a massive feast) was served to coincide with each island followed by a dance from each island.

Loved the organization!

So that evening, we walked up to Luau and checked in.  We were given a ticket with our table assignment on it and asked to wait until 6 pm to be seated.  At 6 pm they announced they were seating and we were greeted with drinks, Joe had a Mai Ti and I had a Hawaiian Beer (most excellent), and then escorted to our table.  So we walked in expected to be placed at one of the tables in the back, but we ushered to the front table.  "I got a well played" look from my hubby to let me know that he was impressed!!!

Followed by a "Nobody puts baby in the corner" reference which made me laugh! 

Then had Evan our waiter come by and take an additional drink order!  All the waiters were dressed in traditional Hawaii outfits which added to the atmosphere. 

The host then came on and explained how the evening would flow...

 

And then the food started!!!!!!

There were 4 islands that were represented.  

Each island had a menu followed by a performance. 

At the end of the night we were given a dessert that said "Happy Anniversary"

This was truly an amazing experience done in the most elegant fashion and the food was amazing! 

Yes it was pricey but we would do it again in a heart beat.  Considering it was more than a 3 hour show with more food and good drinks that anyone could eat, it really was a bargain by Hawaii standards.

Cost of the Day  $320

Keep in mind that $200 of that had already been pre-paid months in advance.

We got back to the hotel at 1130pm and crashed!

Day 3 Venturing out

After all the hiking we did the day before, the next day was my day to just relax!

So we work us and had breakfast on the patio, followed by some pool/beach time.

Then decided to hit the gym prior to lunch.

After lunch we ventured out to Honulaua Bay for some Snorkeling.  While they did have a decedent amount of fish and coral, I kind of felt the beach was a little crowded!

Afterward we went for Shaved Ice In Lahina at Ululani's

$8 spent for two Ices- most excellent!

Then back to the room for showers followed by a 2 mile walk to the Whaler's Village to watch the sunset and then a walk back.  

Decided to eat in that night late with a homemade shrimp pasta dish and wine. 

Perfect relaxing day!

Cost of the Day  $8 on Frozen Ice

Day 2- Survival of the Monsters

  Every Trip we take, Joe picks to do something that involves trying to kill me and test our marriage.

=0) 

In Madeira it was the cable car ride- yes I hate heights, Greece the three mile mountainous walk to Oia, and in Hawaii it was the Road to Hana followed by 4 mile walk to a 400 foot waterfall!

The road to Hana is the crazy windy road which spans down to the southern most region of Maui.  It is breath taking and terrifying at the same time because the roads are so narrow and so windy that you could easy get killed.  Thank you Joe! 

 

 

It took us three hours to do the road to Hana from our Hotel which is average from what I have heard.  We then stopped at     State Park and paid our $10 to get in.  We decided to eat a small bite to eat and then start hiking.  I thankfully had packed our collapsible water bottle which came in handy during our walk.

Then my husband tried to kill me again! 

2 mile walk up the mountains to a 400 foot waterfall which was amazing. 

The first part of the walk was all up hill, which was not fun because it was hot and humid (Two thing that laura does not do), but then something kind of cool happened.  It kind of maid me feel like we were in Elf the movie because we walked thru this amazing bamboo forest which made it so the temperature so cool because we were completely blocked from the sun.  The bamboo forest finished at this 400 foot waterfall - AMAZING!!!

Joe went in the water and we just stopped on the rock and admired all the beauty!

Then headed back down to the 7 Sacred Pool which was cool, but not the same as a 400 foot waterfall. 

After almost 3 hours of hiking, we headed back on the road to Hana to our condo.

Exhausted!  Decided to eat in the night and just relax and have a movie night.

We watched the "Other Guys" which was actually hilarious!!

Cost of Whole Day:  $10 (Park Admission Fee)

Day 4... Our Failure

One of the things that was on our list to do while in Maui was Ocean Kayak.  

We thought this would be something easy to do after reading two travel guides.

Boy were we wrong.

We tried to have the concierge at the hotel set Kayak rental up for us but most places only do tours. 

The prices for a 2-3 hour tour was $60-80 per person. 

I hate tours, in fact I detest them because most of the time you overpay for what you get and I HATE being on someone else s schedule during vacation! Most importantly, if we did a tour it limited what else we could do on our budget. 

So we headed out to a place we were told that rented Kayak by the hour, after driving 15 minutes- Failure!

Nope they only do tours, and by the way all their tours start at 7 am- NO THANK YOU!!!

So after a frustrating morning, we headed to Kapala Bay for some Snorkeling.  Kapala is where Oprah and Tiger Woods have their Maui Houses- it is gorgeous. 

The beach was also nice, quite and pretty good snorkeling.  There were more kinds of fish and coral to see.

After a frustrating morning, we decided to head down to the restaurant in the hotel, Duke's, and have appetizers and drinks as our dinner.  It was a great atmosphere on the water, watching the sunset and the food was excellent.  

Appetizers-  Coconut Shrimp and Crab Wontons

Total Cost $45 including tip!

We then walked along the beach and just relaxed watching the sunset. 

Total cost of the day : $45