Aloha Day 2

The Rainbow After the Storm

One of the benefits of time zones is being able to sleep in until around noon while the local time is actually 8 am.  So, by Baltes vacation standards, we were up and ready to tackle the day at an early hour.  The plan was to walk to Honolulu coffee, but the weather chose otherwise- the skies opened up for another torrential downpour.  We opted to head to the breakfast buffet.  Buffet makes it sound cheap and cheesy, this was anything but!  We had hot noodles, fried fish, grilled potatoes, and all before discovering the fresh fruit portion of the spread.  There was a fresh juice bar and we had some heavenly mix of mango, guava, and pineapple juice.  A piping hot cup of dark coffee completed the meal as waited for the weather to clear.

Mum’s first Mai Tai

The sun came out and the weather could not have been more perfect.  We headed to the beach for a walk.  Waving palm trees, soft sand, what a place!  Mom declared that her goal was to get a mai tai.  With that objective in mind we made the half mile walk to Tommy Bahama’s for one of the best mai tai’s I’ve found.  We ordered coconut shrimp, baked goat cheese, and poke.  Poke is a raw fish salad with a kick of spice atop guacamole.  The mai tai was a perfect blend of orange juice, lime juice and a strong dark rum.  We did a little island shopping and headed back for the required mid afternoon snooze.

It was time to go the beach again.  This time we ventured in the other direction and with the clear sky were able to get our first views of Haleakala and West Maui. There are no private beaches in Maui so you can walk pretty much as far as your feet can take you in either direction.

After washing off our feet and showering up, it was time to head to the opposite end of the island to, my favorite restaurant, Mamma’s Fish House.

After ordering our fruity cocktails, a Blue Hawaii and Plantation Juice, it was time to get to business.  I ordered the Papio. A white fish served with caramelized onion, chili pepper, avocado and quinoa.  Mom pointed out that it was odd to have quinoa since it grows in the Andes- regardless it was a perfect combination and the fish was delicate, flaky, and delicious.  Mum ordered the Opakapaka which was a light white fish served with sauteed Hamakua mushrooms, garlic butter, white wine and capers with a side dish of Hana ginger and peanut oil.  (Yes, I copied the descriptions from the menu.  I’m not as good at describing food as my brother*)  Dinner was nothing short of perfect.  We made the drive back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow’s adventures.

Aloha from the land of rainbows and sunshine,

Pookiebear

*Please refer to the blog Dining with Dr. Baltes