From September 15-20, I traveled to Maui for my bestie Jessica's wedding. It was such a whirlwind, but totally fantastic!
Before we start, let's check out our trusty map, shall we?
First of all, here are the Hawaiian islands (Maui circled):
Before we start, let's check out our trusty map, shall we?
First of all, here are the Hawaiian islands (Maui circled):
Up close:
I highlighted some of the main areas I visited.
Here's the map of everywhere I traveled:
As you can see, I ended my exploration at number 7, but I still had to backtrack all the way back to number 3 (and finally number 1). Whew! What an adventure!
Okay, I know that was probably confusing and I'm getting way ahead of myself, so let's back up and go day by day. Time to see some Maui!!
Here's the map of everywhere I traveled:
Okay, I know that was probably confusing and I'm getting way ahead of myself, so let's back up and go day by day. Time to see some Maui!!
Day 1
I landed at Kahului Airpoprt by 9am and was picked up by Jess's fiance, Mike. He had to return his rental car, so we got a new one and drove about an hour to Lahaina.
Map time:
The drive is only about 50 minutes with no traffic. Unfortunately that almost never happens. As with most of Maui, there is a one-lane road going in either direction and any little thing (weather, accidents, protesters) can cause a real backup. Traffic is something you have to consider when traveling around Maui and you have to constantly check the traffic times and give extra time to get anywhere, which is frustrating because the island is relatively small and you should be able to get from one side to the other in a couple hours.
Anyway, here's our rental for the day:
Map time:
Anyway, here's our rental for the day:
I just love the license plates in Hawaii:
For night number 1, I was staying with Jess, Mike, their baby, Maxton and Mike's grandma. The condo was beautiful.
I got settled and Jess and I walked across the street with Max to the beach:
Max wasn't a fan of the ocean, so he stayed on shore:
I tried to dunk his feet a couple times and he was NOT happy:
I mean, that face!
The rest of the day, we helped everyone else arriving get settled and had dinner at the condo (Granny made tostadas and OMG they were excellent!).
Day 2
We had a leisurely morning and then went to downtown Lahaina to walk around on Front Street. Front Street is a super touristy street (you can see a different cruise ship docked every day) filled with shops, restaurants and the famous Banyan Tree.
Check out these crazy wood carvings:
If only I had room in my luggage!
We walked to the Banyan Tree:
Apparently this entire park full of trees all stemmed from the big tree in the middle. So they are all ONE TREE! There are 3 banyans like this in the world: one here, one in India and one somewhere else (that's a direct quote from Mike and I should probably try to figure out where the third one is, huh?).
We walked to the old Lahaina Courthouse:
which now is like a museum. They had pictures of the banyan tree in 1900:
Crazy!
More downtown shots:
We're at about a 6 out of 10.
After walking around and shopping awwhile, we ate at Cheeseburger In Paradise:
OMG delish!
We walked back to the car because we were meeting Jess's family at tomorrow's wedding reception restaurant.
Walking to the car:
Of course I forgot to take a picture of the restaurant, but I did take a picture of the bathroom sign:
and these table decorations:
I love that!
We hung out awhile and had a few cocktails before heading back to the condo to pack up our stuff. Tonight we were staying with Jess's mom in Kihei. Where's Kihei? Let's see:
It's about an hour away, but it took us 2 because of the super fun traffic (there was an accident).
At least the drive was pretty:
We finally got to Jess's mom's condo and we were wiped out! Luckily she had our loft all ready and lots of little apps for snacking. Thanks Jacque!
Looking down from the loft into the living room:
We had some wine and just relaxed with Jacque, her hubby Buzz and Buzz's daughter, Erin. A very nice night before the wedding!
Morning view from the balcony:
Just beautiful!
We had mimosas and Buzz's famous french toast:
Mmmm!
Bride to be:
We tried to do a little photo shoot with our Bride Tribe shirts, but it didn't turn out great:
Left to right: Melisa, Jacque, Jess, me and Erin.
We also took pics outside and Melisa's hubby Brian was just clicking away and this sequence of photos just cracked me up so I'm posting all of them.
Too many mimosas!
Then we hit the road back to Lahaina to get ready for the wedding.
Jess's dad had the most room and the least amount of people staying with him, so we brought our hoards of stuff over there to get ready:
There's always time for a mother-daughter hug:
Aww!
Hair:
Let's do this!!
Okay, so I was IN the wedding and since they were getting married on a beach, we had to leave all our stuff in the car. I didn't have anywhere to put my phone so I got ZERO pictures of the ceremony. I'm planning on getting them from Mike's mom at some point, but for right now I have ZILCH! Sorry!!
Take my word for it, it was sunset and it was beautiful!
Reception afterwards:
We're still missing some people (umm the groom and his whole family)., but let's start drinking!
His sister, Angie, made the cake and it was gorgeous!
It was a banana cake and had pineapples all around the outside. It was just stunning.
Overall, there was a lot of stress leading up to the wedding, but it all turned out great. I just wish I had taken more pictures! Mike had a poster made with their names, the date and a bunch of sea animals and everyone in attendance signed the poster. It was adorable, but I forgot to get a pic. The food was also fantastic. It was a bunch of different apps and each one was delicious (of course I tried them all).
That night, I got a ride with Melisa and Brian to the hostel I booked (it was right on Front Street, the main drag in Lahaina) and I passed out almost immediately. What a day!
Now that we got the wedding over with, check back to see the sights of Maui!
Check out these crazy wood carvings:
We walked to the Banyan Tree:
More downtown shots:
You can always tell how humid it is outside by how big my hair is:
After walking around and shopping awwhile, we ate at Cheeseburger In Paradise:
I got loaded fries covered with cheese and kalua pork (hey, it ain't my wedding and I'm on vacation!):
We walked back to the car because we were meeting Jess's family at tomorrow's wedding reception restaurant.
Walking to the car:
Of course I forgot to take a picture of the restaurant, but I did take a picture of the bathroom sign:
We hung out awhile and had a few cocktails before heading back to the condo to pack up our stuff. Tonight we were staying with Jess's mom in Kihei. Where's Kihei? Let's see:
At least the drive was pretty:
Day 3: Wedding Day!
We had mimosas and Buzz's famous french toast:
Yes, we brought our champagne flutes from the bachelorette party!
Bride to be:
Hair is at about a 7.5 today:
Jess's sister, Melisa showed up for the festivities:
We also took pics outside and Melisa's hubby Brian was just clicking away and this sequence of photos just cracked me up so I'm posting all of them.
Then we hit the road back to Lahaina to get ready for the wedding.
Jess's dad had the most room and the least amount of people staying with him, so we brought our hoards of stuff over there to get ready:
Hair:
Check!
Dress:
Check!
Makeup:
Check!
Ready for a wedding!
Putting the garter on:
So pretty!!
Father and mother of the bride:
Okay, so I was IN the wedding and since they were getting married on a beach, we had to leave all our stuff in the car. I didn't have anywhere to put my phone so I got ZERO pictures of the ceremony. I'm planning on getting them from Mike's mom at some point, but for right now I have ZILCH! Sorry!!
Take my word for it, it was sunset and it was beautiful!
Reception afterwards:
Happy family:
Sexy garter time!
Jess and Brian:
Overall, there was a lot of stress leading up to the wedding, but it all turned out great. I just wish I had taken more pictures! Mike had a poster made with their names, the date and a bunch of sea animals and everyone in attendance signed the poster. It was adorable, but I forgot to get a pic. The food was also fantastic. It was a bunch of different apps and each one was delicious (of course I tried them all).
That night, I got a ride with Melisa and Brian to the hostel I booked (it was right on Front Street, the main drag in Lahaina) and I passed out almost immediately. What a day!
Now that we got the wedding over with, check back to see the sights of Maui!
