Maui Memories - Day 2

Because of the time change, despite going to bed around 8pm, we knew we'd be up early just as we always have when first arriving in Hawaii. We took advantage of it, got up early and headed to Haleakala National Park to see the sunrise. I'm sure it was much harder for Adam and Noah to get up, but they were great sports about it. NOTE: If this is something you want to do, you need to visit the National Park Service site to reserve your spot because it's a very popular thing to do on Maui. I don't think you need to reserve a spot for sunset though. It only costs $1 for the reservation, but it will be $25 to get into the park. If you don't have a reservation, you won't be allowed into the park until 7:00am (well after sunrise). If you are in the military/have a military ID, they waive the entrance fee.

We were up ~3:45am and out the door by 4:15am. We arrived with about 10 min to spare before the sun came up around 6:30am. It was a beautiful sight and an experience you should make time for if you get to Maui.

As you can see from the photos, it does get cold up there because of the high elevation. As the sun rises, it gets warmer, but you should definitely bundle up with a warm coat, hat and gloves until the sun comes up. You can see us and others in our gear as a testament to the chilly temps.

Since we had already driven quite far, we decided to go ahead and cram in another "touristy" thing to do and that was the Road to Hana. After a fast food fueling at a nearby McDonald's, we started our adventure. Here's what you need to know. You should do it. It's beautiful! However, you should allocate an entire day instead of cramming too much in like we did. Then, you'll enjoy it even more if you go about it in a more leisurely way.

The Road to Hana takes you along the northern coast of Maui. You can enjoy the beauty of the island with lush greenery on one side and the beautiful Pacific Ocean on the other. Along the way, you'll also see many waterfalls, picturesque scenes and have the opportunity to stop at scattered shops, restaurants and stands along the way.

If you get to stop for fresh pineapple or local dishes from food trucks, you should! It's a nice break in the long journey (50+ miles). Here's what you need to know.

*The entire drive is very twisty with many switchbacks and narrow roads. We did have a mid-size SUV and Mark did a fantastic job of navigating, but if you're not a solid driver, don't feel comfortable in the vehicle you're driving or are prone to vertigo/have issues with heights, you may want to take a tour bus. When we stopped for some food along the way, it was to stretch our legs, but also to shake off a little car sickness that was just starting, especially for those of us in the backseat.

*There are close to 60 bridges to cross, but they are one-lane bridges. That is, drivers have to yield to one another to cross over coming from opposite directions.

*As a tourist, pay attention to drivers that may be locals. It's greatly appreciated if you let them pass you when you have an opportunity. It's most likely that they aren't "enjoying" the Road to Hana like you and are trying to get somewhere. Usually you can spot the locals because they maybe driving the switchbacks with more speed and confidence.

When you actually get to Hana, it's kind of a let down if truth be told. There's not much to it.  The Road to Hana is LITERALLY about the drive to get there. However, if you have additional time, you should continue on to visit the Seven Sacred Pools at Ohe'o. It's not much farther and worth it, especially if you want the opportunity to do some hiking and swimming in the falls. It's another 15-ish one-way bridges. Entry to the park is $25, but waived for military with ID.

So, here's what I didn't know...Once you get to Hana/Ohe'o, you have to drive it back...you can't just loop back to where you started coming from the West. Doh! To prepare for the trek back, we grabbed dinner at Charley's in Paia. That was probably my least favorite restaurant, but it was still decent for fast, bar food.

To help with the drive, we counted all the one-lane bridges on the way back. We came up with 75, but that was going back from the Ohe'o pools, not the Road to Hana which online sites say have 55-65 bridges. If you make this trip, let us know how many you count!

It was an exhausting, but fun day! The whole time, Noah and Keira were most interested in getting back to swim in the hotel pool. We got back about 6:00pm, caught a gorgeous sunset and let the kiddos swim for a little while before we headed in, washed up and went to bed. We were asleep by 8:30pm. Zzz...

Maui Memories - Day 1

It sadly already feels like a distant memory, but from what I recall, Mark, Keira and I had an incredible spring break in Maui late last month. It was Keira's first time on this Hawaiian island and just about 13 years for Mark and me. The last time we were there, I was a maid of honor in a friend's wedding, but it was just a couple of months after my mom passed away. Between grief and the frenzy of weddings, I don't remember much other than having difficulty finding a place to eat at one point. If it wasn't for photos, I'd be left thinking I had never been there.

Anyway, we received a phenomenal offer ($798 + taxes and fees) to stay at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas and our only obligation was to attend a 90-min presentation to become "owners". Before you roll your eyes, I highly recommend going this route if you don't mind giving up 90 minutes of your vacation to stay at an amazing resort for a fraction of the cost, especially places like Maui where it's more expensive than most places. You also need to be very comfortable saying, "No." While the sales folks didn't apply pressure and were very nice and energetic, they were also skilled at trying to turn your "no" into a "maybe if". Thank goodness Mark was there to give them a firm, "No," when I almost said, "Well, maybe." Ha! Anyway, if you get a similar offer for this particular property, or if you're fortunate enough to afford staying here, you should! The property and proximity to the beach, town, etc. were phenomenal!

But, let's rewind back to Day 1 which was mostly a travel day. If you didn't already know, it's nearly 3,900 miles from MN to Maui. The Hawaiian islands are 5 hours behind and it takes roughly 8-9 hours on a plane to get from here to there. What I'm trying to say is, if you go to Hawaii, take the time to enjoy it because quite a bit of your time will be eaten up getting to and from, it's not an easy adjustment to the time difference and there's so much to see and do!

We had a bumpy start the day before we left. Mark and I both worked a full day and Keira went to school. We frantically packed when we got home knowing we had to get up and out the door by 4:45am. Yuck. On top of that, we had a moment of panic when I received a call from United airlines 12 ours before our flight to tell me they were proactively reaching out to customers to see if we'd be willing to opt for a direct flight with Delta which would delay us by several hours, but we'd be compensated for the change. Because of the grounding of the Boeing Air Max planes, United had to bring in "spare" planes (um, what? you are going to put my family on a "spare" plane - you just have them sitting around?) and these spares couldn't accommodate the same number of passengers, so they were now oversold. Gah! After vetting the options, we decided to stick with our original itinerary and hoped we wouldn't be turned away nor canceled upon. 

Fortunately, that was the worst of our travel hiccups. We got to MSP by 5am and sailed through security thanks to TSA pre-check (spending $100 or about that much on Global Entry which comes w/TSA pre-check is one of the best investments I've ever made). At the airport I ran into a guy I worked with at BBY and we also ran into our neighbors. Small world! We flew from MSP to SFO, had a 2-hour layover there, flew to OGG (Kahului, Maui) and arrived about 3pm Maui time (8pm CST). Our friends Adam and Noah flew in from Honolulu to join us for the first part of our trip. We were definitely on island time -- by the time we got our luggage, got our rental car and drove the 45 minutes to our villas, we didn't arrive until 6pm. Whenever I first arrive, the slow pace and lackadaisical approach drive me crazy. But by the next day, it's what I love most - slowing down and enjoying life.

The drive from the airport to the villas was beautiful and what I expect every time we visit Hawaii - beautiful lush mountains on one side and brilliant blue waters of the Pacific ocean on the other side. After the many snowstorms and record-breaking snowfall back at home, this was just what we needed. The sun and warmth helped temporarily revive us from our sleep-deprived state. We even saw a beautiful rainbow partway through the drive.

Anyway, once we arrived, the crew settled into our villa while I met with concierge for 15 min to get our packet of information for our stay. I was a zombie as it was well after my bedtime back in MN. We knew it was important to stay up for as long as we could to more quickly acclimate to the time zone change, so we grabbed a quick dinner at Pailolo, a bar and grill on-site. We were in bed and passed out by 8pm (1am in MN). If we had slept on the flight over, it may not have been such a big deal, but as it were, the three of us were close to almost 24 hours with no sleep by then. No wonder I strained to understand the concierge and our waitress that evening.

Ovah Heah Ovah Theah - Adventures in Boston

In between leaving Best Buy and starting at United Healthcare, my cousin and I took a trip to Boston. We actually booked this trip back in Nov, but the timing worked out perfectly with my job transition. I didn't have to prepare and leave notes related to work before going and didn't have to worry about catching up when I got back! Neither of us had been to Boston and Delta ran a great deal - just 11k miles for a roundtrip flight. While it could've been bad weather, we lucked out and the weather was fantastic with the exception of our last day, but we still made the most of that day too.

We found riding the T (metro system) to be the most economical and convenient way to get around. We did quite a bit of walking, but didn't have to as the train went to most of the places we visited. We opted to walk more just to take in the sights and have more freedom to explore.

Overall, we found Bostonians to be friendlier than we anticipated and loved when an authentic Boston accent came out of the mouths of people we encountered. She and I tried to practice our accent, but we sounded like idiots. The food scene was fantastic and while we didn't get to take in a Bruins or Celtics game, we kept ourselves plenty occupied (and that was even without exploring the city's museums).

We got in late afternoon, checked into the W Boston and headed to Chinatown for dumplings at Gourmet Dumpling House. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you enjoy dumplings and Chinese food. It's a small space and there'll likely be a wait, but it's worth it.

We stuffed ourselves, explored the hotel and turned in early to catch up, watch TV and rest up for the next day.

We took our time getting up given the time change, so didn't leave the hotel until 9:30/10:00. First, we hit up a Starbucks to get some caffeine circulating in our system. Then, we headed to the nearest train station. Thank goodness there was someone working there who helped us figure out the best "deal" for the amount of time we'd be there and the places we wanted to go. He not only had a real Boston accent, but couldn't have been nicer about helping us out. It involved some intensive mathematical gymnastics. Soon we were on our way.

Waiting for the T

Just in case we ever forget where we were

Hoop dreams

After touristy photos, our first stop was Fanueil and Quincy markets. We enjoyed looking around and probably could've indulged our taste buds with all the delicious food stands, but we had lunch reservations in the North End, so mostly looked at the food stands and peeked in and out of shops. Oh, and of course, we had to stop by and say hello to some of our "friends" at Cheers.

From there, we walked to the the North End where we enjoyed lunch at Carmelina's. I highly recommend this restaurant. It was delicious and very filling too. Thank goodness Van and I split our food and didn't order any more than the two dishes.

I was so excited to dig in!

Mike's Pastry is a well-known spot

Gorgeous architecture in the North End

Thank goodness for Google Maps

After filling up, we hopped a train to Newbury street where you can find all kinds of stores - from well-known brands to boutiques. My favorite discovery was a store called Muji - it is an organizational lover's dream! I loaded up on pens, notebooks and various travel size containers. I wish we had a store like this back home. We also found our way to the Prudential Center nearby for additional shopping. We may or may not have spent a small fortune at Aritzia...Anyway, around 4:30 we headed back toward our hotel and just happened across the Boston Public Library. We ducked in and spent a little time exploring and enjoyed additional photo opportunities!

Newbury

Bates Hall @BostonPublic Library (closes at 5pm)

This is the thickest book ever - so much info!

Van is overloaded and confused too

Halal Guys for dinner before the spa

If you haven't had the rice dish from the Halal Guys, you should really try it. We initially discovered it in NYC, but turns out they now have a store front right across from the W. It was so good, I had it again for dinner the next night! But, I'm getting ahead of myself. After our takeout dinner, we enjoyed ourselves at the Bliss Spa located right in the hotel. That was perfect because we were able to go down to the spa in our PJs and head right back to our room afterward which is exactly what we did. We settled back in around 8:30 and watched a romantic comedy. It was the perfect way to end the day! 

After sleeping in, we headed out late in the morning and made our way to Harvard Square to explore the well-known University. We hoped to catch a glimpse of Malia Obama, but that was just wishful thinking.

Harvard Square

I finally made it to Harvard!

Tatte was a busy hotspot for students and well worth it!
We went back the next day.

My fave was the honey-apple-almond cake.
I'm still thinking about it...

From our second full day, I'd recommend going to Harvard (it's must-see though we heard MIT's campus is prettier), Milk (yummy cookies and sweets), LA Burdick Handmade Chocolates (yummy!), the Harvard bookstore (I picked up a couple of books), and Tatte (that honey-apple-almond cake!). If by chance you're interested in Dim Sum, I'd try something in Chinatown. We tried House of Chang for dim sum near Harvard and in all honesty, it was the most disappointing meal of the trip. Boo! 

After spending most of the day in the Harvard vicinity, we spent a couple more hours on Newbury and at the Prudential Center for more shopping. We made it back to the hotel around 6pm. I was beat so skipped dinner with Van and her friend. They went out for seafood, but I was happy to pick up more food from the Halal Guys and binge-watch Jack Ryan.

Our final day was unfortunately very rainy and chilly which made getting ramen at Santouka all the more perfect. If you're getting Ramen, you should give this place a try. It was yummy and the portions were right-sized to prevent people like me from overeating. Ha!

After wolfing down our ramen, we headed back to Tatte for dessert before getting back to our hotel, packing up and heading to the airport.

Was Boston sad that we were leaving?

All great vacations come to an end - thanks Boston!