Today was supposed to be our last day on Maui—but luckily for us, our stay has been extended until Thursday. For our “last” day, Karen and I booked a 7:10 a.m. two-hour whale-watching tour with Ultimate Whale Watch. Darlene had enjoyed Friday’s trip so much that she decided to join us again.
Even though we left earlier than last time, we still ended up being number six in line. That was just fine with us, since we already knew we preferred being at the back of the boat. When we arrived at the boat ramp, we were happy to see that Jill and Lexi would be our crew for the day.
After the usual safety briefing, we headed out into open water in search of whales. It took a little while, but eventually we spotted three whales—and then a fourth who spent much of the time at the surface. We watched him for quite a while, and at one point we couldn’t move because he came within one hundred yards of the boat. It was incredibly exciting.
Once we returned to the condo, we had a short break before Darlene, Karen, and I headed out for our next activity. Karen had discovered that Kahana Village offered ukulele lessons for just $10 per person, so we made sure to sign up. Our instructor—whose name I’ve unfortunately forgotten—turned out to be the brother-in-law of Kelly, our lei-making instructor.
He was a fantastic teacher and shared some fun history about the ukulele. The instrument was brought to the islands by the Portuguese, and when Hawaiians saw how the players’ fingers moved, it reminded them of jumping fleas. “Uku” means flea and “lele” means to jump. We learned a few basic chords and played “Happy Birthday,” “Tiny Bubbles,” and my personal favorite, “The Hukilau Song.” We even got to take the ukuleles back to the condo and perform for Nana and Joan.
Lunch was leftover pizza from Flatbread Company, followed by my world-famous root beer floats for dessert. Much of the afternoon was spent relaxing at the condo—whether in the pool, the hot tub, or down on the beach.
Later, we headed to Whalers Village, an open-air mall right on the beach that we hadn’t visited yet. With two levels of shops and plenty of places to eat, we made sure to explore every store.
At one end of the mall is Hula Grill, which has an area called the Barefoot Bar. Under thatched umbrellas, with your toes in the sand, you can enjoy your meal. Since it was only 4:30 p.m. and there was no line, we decided to grab a table—not for dinner, but for their world-famous Original Hula Pie. When we asked the waitress how many to order for the five of us, she suggested two servings, which turned out to be the perfect amount. Everyone agreed it was delicious and a great way to wrap up our shopping.
On the way back to the condo, we stopped at the Honoapi?ilani Food Truck Park, where everyone found something for dinner—ranging from prime rib to tacos to wings. We ended the day with turtle patrol and some well-earned relaxation.
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