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| View from the Hard Rock Cafe in Lahaina |
After all the hustle and bustle of the previous days...it felt like heaven to sleep in later than 4:00 AM and take a little slower approach to the day. Of course with the 5 hour time difference it still felt like sleeping in when I was up by 6:00 AM! Our plans for the day were to head to Lahaina. There are two main resort areas in Maui....Wailea and Lahaina. Since we were staying in the Wailea area we wanted to see exactly what we were missing by not staying in Lahaina....so off we went. We had dinner reservations in Lahaina for the evening but decided to make the 45 minute drive earlier in the day to see what it was like during the day.
Of Ukeleles and other things Hawaiian
First order of business for the day was to locate a "decent" ukelele. A friend of mine was interested in a ukelele and what better place to find the genuine article than in Hawaii? Now there are all kinds of ukeleles in Hawaii....head into your local ABC store and you will find any number of them on the shelves. These range in price from $5.00 to about $40.00 and from the research that I did are basically toys. They are not something that a serious musician would consider. However...if you are just looking for a cool souvenir that screams "I was in Hawaii", this will certainly do.
However....if you are looking for a real ukelele there are a couple of places that are highly recommended. Mele Ukelele is located near the airport in Wailuku and Lahaina Music is located in Lahaina. Since Lahaina was in the travel plans for the day....it was Lahaina Music that I decided to check out. The store was easy to locate in a plaza on one of the main roadways through the city. It is located at 10 Honoapillani Hwy, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii in a shopping plaza. Easy enough to find. I don't know anything about ukeleles except what I had read online but I was about to learn a lot!
I went into the store and was surprised to find that there were several other customers there looking for ukeleles also. Some played ukeleles and were looking to add to their collections and some were strictly looking for a souvenir from their time in the islands and had never played before. I had lots of questions and the employee who waited on me was very patient and informative. The main things that I learned is that mahogany is one of the best woods for ukeleles. It has a very mellow sound. Ukeleles are not high priced items but come in prices that are in quite a range. (Anywhere from $25.00 on up to $500 and above). I was told that there is a huge difference between a $25.00 ukelele and a $150.00 ukelele but not so much between a $150.00 instrument and a higher end one. She was also able to play several and let me hear the differences before I made my final selection. She also explained that there are soprano ukeleles and tenor ukeleles. Since I was purchasing this one for an adult male...she recommended that I go with the tenor as it is a little bigger and works better for adult hand sizes. I settled on a $175.00 instrument that was on sale for $125.00 and came with a soft case and some music. They even offered a free lesson so you had an idea of how to play it before you got it home.
Once I chose an instrument she told me a couple of other things to help with the trip back to the mainland. Ukeleles have nylon strings which need to be stretched. She did that for me but then did not tighten them completely so that they would break in the change of air pressure on the flight home. Another thing with the nylon strings, ukeleles need to be tuned often when you first buy them. I asked if I needed to purchase a special tuner but was told that a guitar tuner would work just the same.
All in all it was a stop of about 30-45 minutes but well worth the time. I felt much better about my purchase at a music store than simply at the ABC store. All my questions were answered and the whole process was informative and painless and actually quite a fun little diversion!
Downtown Lahaina
After purchasing the ukelele it was time to head to downtown Lahaina and find some lunch. I kind of had a different idea of what the shops in Lahaina would be like. One of the employees at our hotel said that she decided to live in the Lahaina area because there is so much more to do than in Wailea and things were just a bit more "happening. Well if "happening" means crowded than yes it was. However, I really didn't see a whole lot of shopping areas. They had some small touristy type shops that you could walk to if you could get around the hoards of people that were also trying to get there. The shops themselves were not anything special in my opinion and several of them in some areas were out of business. It was an interesting way to spend some time but not somewhere that I felt I would need to go back and visit a second time.
There were lunch options there. We chose to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was a different experience as the windows were completely open and it came with a wonderful view of the ocean right across the street. As far as food goes....it was a HardRock....no better...no worse. They had a few local options on the menu but for the most part it was your typical HardRock.
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| Hard Rock Cafe Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii |
After a drive a little further north of Lahaina, we decided to head back to our resort in Wailea and relax and get ready to head back to Lahaina for our dinner reservation.
You Never Know What you Might See
When you are driving in Maui always keep your eyes open....the terrain changes very quickly and you never know what you might run across. As we were headed back to our hotel....just outside of the Lahaina area....we ran across a small beach on the side of the roadway. Out of the corner of our eyes, we say someone kite surfing and some windsurfers so we quickly turned around and headed back to watch and grab some pictures! Not something you see everyday in Ohio!
Heading Back for Dinner at Ruth's Chris Lahaina
We headed back to the hotel and had a little while to change for dinner and head back out. The sun was just beginning to set as we started our trek back to Lahaina. Not the most spectacular sunset we saw but they all seem beautiful in their own way.
As you all know if you have read any of my blogs...we are Ruth's Chris Steakhouse fanatics! If there is one in the area where we are staying...we will visit it! We had already been to the one in Wailea so tonight it was time to check out the one in Lahaina.
The food was very good. This is usually the case but in comparison to the quality and service at the one in Wailea...this one won hands down.
It was beautiful inside and we couldn't have asked for better service or food.
After dinner we walked back to our car which was parked relatively close and were met by a person who was giving out "free" advice on where we should have parked. Turns out this person was looking for some money for his advice and followed us to our vehicle until we gave him some. Note....just be on the lookout for people doing this....even though it's Hawaii...they are not immune to some of the same problems as cities in the mainland encounter.
Wailea or Lahaina
You look at the travel information online or in travel books and you make the best decision you can on where to stay based on the information that you can gather but you've never been there before so how do you REALLY know the best place to stay. Maui is not cheap and the resorts are pretty expensive per night...you really don't want to screw it up but what's the difference between the two main areas?
My thoughts on this were that Wailea is a bit more laid back. There aren't as many "touristy" things to do....little shops....nightlife....restaurants...bars....it's more of high end resort feel. It offers beautiful scenery and wonderful tropical gardens at the sprawling resorts. There are beaches and high end shops nearby. A short drive to Kihei will take you to lots of chain restaurants and grocery stores.
Lahaina on the other hand does offer the touristy things listed above. There is more going on. The resorts however are not the sprawling variety. They are large high rise hotels for the most part that are located on or near the beach depending on which one you choose. It's a bit of a more crowded feel but there are beaches nearby.
My personal opinion is that I loved the Wailea area and was happy that we had chosen it over the Lahaina area but that's just me. I loved that it was less crowded and more relaxing and even though there was a drive to some of the areas, nothing is that far on an island! However...it is really a personal choice as to which area is right for you so just be sure to check out your options as best as possible and know yourself and what type of a vacation you are looking for!
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