It seems this trip is going to be a lot about food, and some about what we saw, and then some more about what we didn't see.
Its our last day on Maui, and we wanted to do something new, that we hadn't done before. So we decided to visit Makawao, an artist-colony-ish place on the flanks of Haleakala. We had read in the Seattle newspaper about a glassblower who does remarkable work, and whose shop is a living classroom, where people are given the opportunity to learn how to blow glass. It sounded interesting, so we thought we'd go check it out.
But first, breakfast. Leoda's is a place we'd heard great things about. It's on the way to the rest of the island, and seemed a good place to stop to eat. And, as it happens, when we got there, it was lunch, or nothing. Nothing "breakfast" was listed. (Apparently we were too late for breakfast... Not that it really mattered.) As we are great at compromises, we decided on an early lunch instead: A Spicy Tuna Sandwich on Maui Wheat bread, with avocado, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Served with pineapple coleslaw on the side, and a Maui Brewing Company Rootbeer to drink. Very, very tasty. The spiced tuna was great!
We asked if they had any malasadas, but they said they didn't have any. They recommended we go to Stillwell's Bakery in Wailuku, where they have excellent malasadas. Sounds like a plan to us!
Then we set out for Makawao. A quick trip across the island to the Hana Highway, then to the Haleakala Highway, a fast drive up the side of the mountain, a quick left turn onto Makawao Road, and a mile or so later, we were in Makawao Town.
There are any number of interesting shops in the town, all with an artist's touch. At one woodworking shop we saw this amazing Koa wood table, made from extra-rare blond curly Koa. The artist is a genius with wood. Notice what he did with the top of the table. Very creative! Don't look at the price. It'll give you palpitations.
The glassblowing shop was interesting, but a letdown. Oddly, there was very little original glass work that I hadn't seen before. Some of it was pretty ubiquitous. I'd have asked questions to learn more about things, except the artist was singularly disinterested that we were even in the shop. I tried twice to engage him in conversation, but he was too focused on playing a game on his phone than talking to a potential customer. What's that you say? Why, yes, I definitely DO think he was more than a bit of a jackass.
We stopped into Komoda's Bakery in Makawao to ask if they had any malasadas. They said they were sold out, but recommended we go to Stillwell's Bakery in Wailuku for the best malasadas on the island. Hmm. That's two recommendations the same day in two different towns to the same place? We need to go there.
So we did. Turns out we'd eaten lunch at Stillwell's the last time we were on Maui. Maybe that was why the name was familiar. The place smelled like fresh-baked goodness, and the glass case next to the cash register had all sorts of exotic-looking pies in it. And then I asked the big question, "Do you folks have any malasadas?" The girl at the register looked at me like I had mental issues. "Why, no. Sorry. We are a conventional bakery. We don't SELL malasadas." "Ever?" I asked. "No, we don't. Never have, never will," she replied. And a baker who was standing there backed her up, and asked "What gave you the idea that we did?" So I told them they'd been recommended twice today in different parts of the island, as having THE BEST malasadas on the island. The baker started to laugh, and said, "I can't imagine why they'd say that. We have never sold malasadas. We don't have a fryer." Well, that stinks, now doesn't it? I was psyched up for fresh, piping-hot malasadas fresh from the fryer, filled with gooey Haupia or lilikoi custard filling. Looked like none of that for me! Why the hate for malasadas by a "conventional" bakery? And what's a vacationing retired sailor-boy to do?
Compromise, of course. I'm great at it. So we had the most amazing banana cream pie instead. It was fantastic!!! Stillwell's rocks, even if they don't sell malasadas.
It was raining again as we left Wailuku, (No Iao Valley for us this trip, apparently.) We decided to head to Lahaina to wander around some more.
My sister is house-sitting for us, taking care of our pets, and making it so we can be out here and not worry about things at home. I wanted to get her something nice as a thank you gift. She said she really wanted a nice, floor-length muumuu. Only one store I know of would be likely to have that, and it's Hilo Hattie's. And they did. I found the perfect muumuu, kind of dressy, just the right color, and at a price that was almost reasonable. After we left the store I went directly to the Post Office and mailed it to my sister at my house. She'll have it in a few days. She doesn't know it's coming, so she'll have even a greater surprise.
So that kind of wraps up this part of our trip. We're back at the condo, getting ready to start packing for our flight tomorrow to Lihue, for the second week of our adventure. Still need to do a bit of laundry, clean out the rest of the fridge, load the dishwasher, straighten things up, and get ready for the airport shuffle tomorrow morning. We plan to have dinner at the resort's Ohana Grill again. It's a good place to eat.
We've enjoyed our stay on Maui this time, more than I think either of us expected we would. This resort is very, very comfortable. I give full props to Diamond Resorts for this location, and to Grand Pacific, for giving us an exchange we felt was a real step up. We're happy.
See you on Kauai!
Dave