You know that feeling when you drag your feet all the way to wherever you’re going, you have bloodshot eyes that sting with the tinge of sleeplessness, and your headache never goes away? That my friends is how I was feeling–it was time for a vacation. So, when the hour came to hop on a plane and fly over the Pacific to the sweet Island of Maui, I could not have been more excited. It had been an exhausting year and vacation set in Maui was the perfect way to say Congratulations, you’re still alive. Actually, Maui was perfect for a lot of reasons. It was the honeymoon that we never got to take, the ocean that we so desperately needed, and an impeccable combination of relaxation and adventure. While on the dreamy island, I compiled a list of items to remember:
1.
Do the Road to Hana. Yes, it’s a long drive, but it’s
so worth it! You don’t want to miss all of the lush green forest up in the mountains–it is breathtaking. We did the black sand beaches and the bamboo forest hike and both were incredible. One thing that you do want to be conscious of is making sure to take the northern most road the
way up and back down. The backside is honestly a nightmare (rusting railings/steep cliff combo), and we learned the hard way. Apparently you’re
not supposed to drive your rental car on the backside, but nobody told us that… So, steer clear of the backside and you will have a blast.
2.
Spend some time in Lahaina. The town of Lahaina is so quaint and an absolutely enjoyable time. We walked down the strip quite a bit and found some really fun shops. There is this AMAZING gelato place called
Ono’s. Wow, just wow. And for all you history buffs, there is a delightful little shop that sells prints of various old maps from around the world. We spent spent over an hour exploring!
3.
Eat at Star Noodle. If you like asian infused cuisine with a little spin on the ordinary, you will absolutely love this place. It is some of the best food I have ever had–period. I consistently crave it. If I had to narrow down only a handful of places to eat for the rest of my life, Star Noodle would be on the list.
4.
Do something adventurous. My husband and I decided to try out Snuba, I know, it doesn’t sound like I real thing, but it is. Snuba us a combination of scuba diving and snorkeling–amazing right? It’s the best of both worlds. You get the comfort of being attached to an air tank that floats above you, but you still get to swim ten feet down and feel like you are really diving. It’s a nice way to ease into getting comfortable breathing under water. We booked ours through
Aqua Adventures and it was a great time.
5.
Don’t buy fruit from the roadside stands. Unfortunately, again, this is something that we learned the hard way. My personal belief is that eating delectable fruit is half the fun of being on a tropical island. So, naturally on our first day in town, I was drawn to a luscious fruit stand on the side of the rode. We pulled over and I could feel my mouth watering. Fresh mangoes, pineapples, lychees, coconuts–I thought I was in heaven! After spending a sizable amount of money on fruit, we retired back to our hotel and later went to the local grocery store. The grocery store had a vast produce section with all of the succulent fruit that we had previously purchased at the fruit stand. We quickly realized that we had been duped. We paid $8.99 per lb for a pineapple on the roadside when the grocery store sold the same pineapples for $1.99 per lb. I know, rookie mistake. Lesson learned–don’t buy roadside fruit.
Shop my look:
ASOS Swimsuit, Forever 21 Sunglasses
