Aloha Maui

The Gazebo restaurant

We began our last full day in Maui by saying farewell to Mitch (brother-in-law) and Jaimie (niece) who left that morning. The day before we said goodbye to Martin (brother-in-law) and Traci (wife) and then Jon (nephew) and Kelsey (girlfriend). So our group was slowly shrinking. 14 of us plus a baby decided to drive to Napili for brunch at The Gazebo. This is a pretty famous breakfast/lunch place that seats about 40 people. You sit under a large gazebo right on the edge of the beach. There is always a long line, and we waited in line for about 45 minutes. When we got to the head of the line, we had to break into smaller groups as tables were available, so we sat at tables of  4, 2, 2, 4, and 2. We enjoyed quickly served meals of banana & macadamia pancakes, macadamia and white chocolate chip, big kahuna omelets, and eggs benedict. After brunch, we walked down and explored the tide pools formed by the lava rocks while deciding what to do next. 

Davidn and Grandma relaxing outside the Baldwin House

Two cars decided to drive back to the Villa. Joe joined that group. Marc's car went searching for a good snorkeling area, and my car drove back to Lahaina to do some shopping and explore some of the historic sites. Zach was in the snorkeling group with his cousins and they found a great cove where they swam with the turtles and saw hundreds of fish.

My car had Grandma Linda, Uncle Mike, and David, and we spent about 1.5 hours looking through some shops and learning a little history. I read placards and visited the Baldwin House which was fun. Lahaina has a varied history. It was a central spot for missionaries and the Baldwin House was the home of one of those missionaries, Dr. Baldwin and his wife. Their son, Henry Baldwin became one of the entrepreneurs who brought the sugar industry to the island which we learned about at the Sugar Museum earlier in the week. Lahaina was also the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom when King Kamehameha united the islands, and a popular stopping point for whalers.

We had some successful shopping. David found a gift for his friend, Kimmie. Grandma bought a bracelet and Uncle Mike picked up a new pair of sunglasses. I was excited because I was able to purchase a 1966 Hawaiian license plate for my ballroom wall. I also got a Christmas tree ornament and an awesome t-shirt that describes the Road to Hana perfectly. It starts with, "Directions to Hana: Turn right. Turn left. Repeat 617 times."

On our various trips back and forth to different activities and locations, we kept passing a large marshy pond with a long boardwalk, so after we dropped Grandma and Uncle Mike off, we picked up Aunt Jackie and drove over to check it out. It was a bird sanctuary with a small selection of birds. We walked the length of the boardwalk and were able to identify the different birds described on the placards. Our favorite bird was the ae'o. It was a cute little black and white bird with long stilt-like orange legs. It would run around in circles, and then put its beak into the water and move its head back and forth. It also had a crazy squawk that sounded like a dog's chew toy. When we got to the end of the boardwalk, we walked through an access point onto the beach and walked along the beach. On our walk, we saw a turtle in the water, but he didn't come on to shore.

Final Hawaiian sunset

It was just about time for the parking area to close, so we went back to the Villa for leftovers and a view of our last Hawaiian sunset. Each day, one of the family groups had prepared dinner. Now we had an abundant supply of food. So everyone was able to prepare their own culinary creation. After a quick bite to eat, David and I took Matt to the airport. He had a redeye that was leaving at 9:30 p.m. We stopped at a Walmart so David could buy a new suitcase and also the ABC Store for some last minute souvenir shopping. When we returned, we found that Zach, Alex, and Ian had walked to a local brewery and were now out hunting Pokémon using the new augmented reality app. They came back briefly to pick up Cata and I am told they were out until 2:00 a.m. and walked 6 miles around town hunting Pokémon.

Because I now had the bedroom to myself, I turned off the air conditioning, opened the huge sliding glass door that disappeared into the wall, pulled the screen across and fell asleep to the sound of the ocean and a cool breeze. I woke up to birds singing and calling to each other and one final gorgeous view before packing up for the airport.

As I finish this blog post while flying back to San Diego, I am remembering the fun things I did with my sons, and the special time we spent as an extended family. We all commented on how great it was that all five McKay sons came for this 60th anniversary celebration. Every grandchild was in attendance too along with the one great grandchild, so we had four generations of McKays at this very special event. Happy Anniversary to Russ and Linda, and Mahalo for finding such a beautiful venue for our family gathering.

Aloha!

For another perspective, read my son David's blog here: http://favoritesonsspiels.blogspot.com/