Aloha from beautiful Maui…also known to us today as “Terra
Firma”!!!!
Smooth sailing last night and then at 5:30 this morning the
beautiful lights of Maui appeared and looked like a sparkling necklace around
the island.
As we anchored off Lahaina you could see whales in very
direction! A group of three seemed to
escort us to the anchorage!!! The ocean
looked like “whale soup”!! I had to
laugh each time I saw the flukes appear because I was reminded of the book by
Christopher Moore called “Fluke”. It’s a
comedy/science fiction work that begins with whale scientists in Maui who
follow a whale with unusual fluke markings that say “bite me”!!! Funny book that goes places you never expect!
We were off the ship by 9am in one of the first few tenders
and once ashore just walked around and enjoyed the town. Sailor Ed found a pair of sandals he liked so
that was our only purchase. We did see
the parrot guy by the Pioneer Inn and I’m sad to say that he is now middle aged
and gray! I remember that guy when he
was barely out of his teens! The parrots
haven’t changed a bit!
Lahaina is mostly the same but lots of changes in the the
shops and restaurants. Famous Dave’s is
now in the building that used to house Planet Hollywood. Bubba Gump, Cheeseburgers in Paradise,
Kimo’s, Longhi’s and Moose McGillicuddy are still going strong!
Came back to the ship after a couple of hours and enjoyed
having the ship pretty much to ourselves.
While sitting on our balcony this afternoon I enjoyed seeing dozens of
whales and even saw a breaching whale in the distance. The ocean was flat so it was easy to spot all
the humpbacks.
Most everyone was onboard by 5 and then the announcements
started about missing passengers. It
came down to three missing and I have no idea if they made it or are spending
the night trying to get to Honolulu!
My quest is to find wacky situations/people with which to
amuse you and I am happy to report that we talked to a couple today that spent
most of the day just riding the tenders back and forth from Lahaina! No reason…..just riding back and forth!
Met the guy who thought the “SF Giants” were in the
Superbowl! He’s actually quite a
character and is traveling with his 83 year old mother. He lives in SF and is a gardener with only 13
clients. Then he works for a caterer in
the evenings just so he can cruise. He
has done about 50 cruises already which makes me suspect that “mommy” must be
kicking in a bit!!! I haven’t spotted
the mom yet……hmmmm.
Tomorrow we are in Honolulu for a long day as we don’t leave
there till 11pm. We’ll walk again and do
some exploring then we have a date to meet our friend, Dennis, for dinner.
Only one trivia today and only one team member showed…..we
didn’t win, again!
What country has the longest reigning monarch?
How many stars on the Alaskan flag?
How many men have walked on the moon?
The trivia designers are diabolical!
XOXOXOXO
Me
Thank goodness Kimo's and Cheeseburgers is still there or it just wouldn't feel like the same place at all. I know there have been a lot of closures in the last 10 years, but when those close, you may as well close the island! Kidding, but only kinda!
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