THE FLIGHT: The Oah'u airport has a garden in some of the terminals you can relax in. That's rad! Plus this ahola shirt is right on the money.
THE NEW HOTEL: On the shuttle to pick up our rental car, a fine southern gentleman was informing some excursioning German tourists about the speed for which Maui moves. He said "It's not like that Honeelulu place, this here island moves it's own way." How right he was. The speed limit never rises above 55, so when you're coming off a long day, getting stuck behind the law, is tough.
We checked into the Wailea Marriott with our expectations high. Coming off a great stay in Honolulu, this should have been a continuation of great service. More amenities: free daily breakfast, possible upgraded view even though we were already right on the beach, etc.
Checking in they had none of this recorded. I calmly showed them the confirmation email, indicating all that was offered. The guy ran to his manager, came back 10 minutes later with an attitude of nope - it's not in the system, that's not our "email format" and there's nothing I can do. Traveling can be stressful so I was getting internally frustrated, since our travel agent had confirmed all this prior. Travis took over while I phoned the agent, who'd unfortunately already left for the day because time happens. Plus the room wasn't ready - yawn. I'm just hungry and ready to have a key in my hand so I can not see any other faces except Travis.
At least I got my guaranteed puka shells upon arrival.
THE EATS: A few days after arriving in Honolulu, we found a great vegetarian grocery store called Down to Earth. We bought greek yogurt, fruit, carrots, & a few staples we could keep in the mini-fridge. When this morning came around, we needed to leave in a hurry, yet still had this greek yogurt to deal with. I originally thought it was decent, but it suddenly became gross. Not like turned, but it probably never tasted good - it was simply familiar to home. We tried mixing peanut butter in, hoping to rid ourselves of the taste, but instead we just made funky tasting peanut butter yogurt. oh well.
**
For lunch, after exhausting all possible discussions with Daniel, we drove to 808 Deli (808 is the Hawaii area code.) Mostly meat, but some veggie sandwhiches were listed on the colorfully chalked menu board. They sounded fine, but I thought I'm gonna ask if there's anything off menu the waitress recommends. I'd done that a few times in Waikiki, when we happened to eat at a non-dedicated veg house. The answer was usually a polite no, but I figured, why not try my luck in Maui.
In LA, you can ask any restaurant if they have items off menu and they're happy to tell you yes or no. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's a thing to do. Anyway, several places we eat at regularly oblige, so in my mind everywhere does. The deli was the last time I'd attempt to win an uphill battle. All I got was a somewhat perterbed lady who kept looking at the chalk & repeating what I could already see. And she missed some too! which I saw later. I ended up with a pile of avocado & sprouts on wheat.
But they do have "soon to be famous" pudding, which for the flavors we tried of Peanut Butter Chocolate and Salty Caramel, was pretty darn accurate. That almost makes up for the menu beef.
**
Because we kept thinking our anniversary was May 20, rather than May 24, we continued the tradition of having one nice meal in each city. Travis found a lovely place to celebrate called The Plantation House. They greeted us with glasses of champagne and a Happy Anniversary card signed by the staff. Obviously none of them know us, but that's still pretty thoughtful. The whole restaurant, including the loo, smelled like plumeria. I like to imagine they are growing, hidden in the walls, fanned by a local artisan.
THE EVENING: that sunset.
No comments:
Post a Comment