(I realize I already posted a little bit here about our trip to Maui, but I wrote this review on Viewpoints and since it's more of a review than just a quick "here's what we did", I've decided to post it here too.)

My husband and I spent March 1-9, 2008 on Maui as a special get-away to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  This was our first trip to Hawaii and it was wonderful!  We did a lot of the typical tourist stuff, but tried to find some time to just relax and enjoy ourselves as well. 

My husband found our lodging which was a rental unit called Tradewinds Suite near Haiku.  It was so nice and private.  I would go back in a heartbeat and stay there again!  They also have another rental unit that's a bit larger and is recommended for families.

We picked a wonderful time of year to go too.  Not only was it really cold back home (a good time to get away!), but we were there during the whale season.  Whale watching was incredible...lots of mama's and their calves. 

The Pacific Whale Foundation offers both snorkeling and whale-watching tours soo we did both!  I especially liked that money from our tour costs will go toward research and education and stuff like that. We went snorkeling for the first time ever and I really enjoyed seeing the tropical fish in their natural habitat. 

One of the first things we did to "get in the Hawaiian mood" was attend a luau.  And not just any old luau.  We went to the Feast at Lele.  It's pricier than the others, but well worth the extra cost.  I've heard that other luaus are buffet style which may mean standing in line for your food.  At Lele, you get a 5 course meal brought right to your table, course by course.  We were seated in the second row from the stage so we had a really great view of the dancers/performers and the ocean as well.  The performers did a good job of telling about the different Polynesian peoples that have come to Hawaii and how their cultures have blended with the Hawaiian to be one.  And the dance demonstrations were a lot of fun to watch. 

Another highlight of our trip was sunrise at the summit of Haleakala.  It was crazy getting up at 3am and driving up the mountain in the dark.  It was also quite cold at the summit (still not as cold as it was back home though but it was 42 degrees F with a wind chill of around 27 degrees--brrrr!)  It was a neat experience despite the cold.

The drive to Hana was fun and beautiful.  We toured the lava tube near Hana which was interesting.  Would have liked to do a more extensive tour, but didn't have time (nor did we plan ahead for it).  At the state park we saw the 400 foot tall Waimoku Falls after taking the nearly 2 mile self-guided hike up to it (4 miles round-trip).  We were there during what appeared to be a dry season, so we weren't sure whether the falls would be as spectacular as it usually is (some others along the highway were more or less dry).  No need to worry, though.  It was still quite a sight!  And the hike to it was really neat too.  We especially enjoyed the bamboo forests.  Definitely not something we get to see everyday.

Finally, I will mention the beaches.  Quite honestly, we didn't spend a lot of time on them.  Dh got sunburn so bad our second day on the island (our snorkel tour) that he was trying to stay out of the sun as much as possible.  (It was really bad...blisters...yuck!)  But we did take a little time to walk along a few of the more lovely beaches...just enough to get some nice photos.  And our final day while waiting to catch our flight back to the mainland, we spent a good hour and a half or two on Makena beach, a.k.a. "Big Beach".   So, even though it wasn't as much beach time as I would have liked, I can still say I sunned myself on a beach on Maui! 

All in all, I loved my time on Maui and wished we could have had another week or so to enjoy the beaches more, but we've got a lot of really neat memories and a hope to go back again someday.

The Expenses:  airline tickets, rental car/gas, lodging, food/meals, entertainment/tours, and of course gifts/souvenirs.  Total: A lot!  LOL!

The Experiences:  The Feast at Lele (luau), Snorkeling Molokini Crater, Whale-watching, Haleakala at sunrise, The Road to Hana, driving around the island and seeing the sights, working on a tan in early March (and not in a tanning booth!), sunny beaches, mango smoothies and mango icecream/sorbet.  Total:  Priceless!