Day 2: Beaches & Sunshine!

So, turns out the weather has been crappy here lately. Today, however, was a much-needed (according to locals) sunny day. We hit 8 a.m. yoga and I finished off my 30-day challenge (yay! Me!) with a near-perfectly-taught class by a Kiwi named Monique, whom Jill especially loved. She (and I) also both loved the lower incidence of humidity at 8 a.m., when the studio is as fresh and new as the morning sun. Ahhhh! After we had breakfast (and I indulged in the local favorite breakfast meat: Portuguese Sausage…yum!) we headed out for some easy, close-to-home in South Maui time.

We went to the in-town beach after stopping home to slather sunscreen upon ourselves and changed into swimsuits. We were in the ocean by noon and then lay on the beach reading and relaxing. (Our hotel has beach chairs, boogie boards, beach mats, towels, snorkel gear – all for the borrowing. Super nice!) We then got a local treat of a mini-sized shaved ice (upon ice cream in my case) at the Rainbow Mall before heading to Wailea to check out the fancy hotels and beach path.

We arrived and found the public beach/park parking nestled between the Four Seasons and the Wailea Grand hotels. It’s genius, really, in that you can park and go to the same beaches for free! Overall, that is one stunning aspect of Hawaii – the beaches are amazing, and you just drive up, park and enjoy. Period. Anyhow, along these beaches is a nice walk-able path where we meandered and took photos, saw whales and checked out the Fairmont Hotel Kea Lani where we will be spending our last 3 nights (we had a freebies!). It looks lovely and has a totally different vibe/feel to where we are now, it’ll be a nice way to end our trip at the fancy-pants hotel with all the fixin’s – our place now is perfect though, we are both pleased at how we planned the trip to be in two different spots/accommodations.

For dinner, we found a second natural grocery – this one, not vegetarian! – and picked up some local, grass-fed beef tenderloin, local blue corn tortillas, and a bevy of other items to make steak tacos at home. We also stopped at a gourmet wine and cheese shop and got a bottle of Rose and some fancy French cheese to enjoy before/with dinner. Our hotel has a really amazing outdoor kitchen we are free to use (as well as a nice one inside, too). I made pineapple salsa (with local pineapple and maui onions) along with other toppings and Jill cooked up the meat and tortillas. We sat outside and had a great dinner together by the pool. From what we can tell, only the onsite manager is occupying one of the other 5 units, otherwise, we own the place ☺

Tomorrow we are planning to drive the road to Hana – an all-day event, so we’re getting up early to avoid the car-crowds!
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Gorgeous beachy day - yes, that is a *mini* shaved ice, neither of us could finish it! Koi at the Grand Wailea. p.s. More photos soon, Jill has all the pix of me :) We tend to shoot photos of one another, so I have to gather up ones of me from her....