Aloha, finally.

The post title means the goodbye version of Aloha. Sorry if you are sick of seeing our honeymoon! I really want to blog the wedding, but I hope you know I'm not holding out on you. I don't have the pictures yet. Believe me, it's killing me too! Until then, one last look at Maui and everything we will miss.

Maui, I will miss your laid back style that let me throw a dress 

on and stick a flower in my hair and call it a day. 

Maui, I will miss your Hawaiian style pulled pork tacos at every turn. 

With toppings like papaya and pineapple. 

Maui, I will miss your adorable license plates.

Maui, I will miss our breakfasts of pineapple and coffee on your lanai pouring over our guidebook. 

Maui, I will not miss trying to pronounce your street names. 

Maui, I will miss laughing at this candy and school supplies placement at your local grocery store. 

Maui, I will miss your local produce. 

Most of all, Maui, I will miss how utterly relaxed you let us be. 

Until next time, Aloha!

On the water

What would a trip to Hawaii be without time spent in the ocean? One morning we got up super early and took a snorkeling trip to Molokini. At one point we were on the boat talking to two other couples and it turns out we were all married on August 27th at 5pm. Seriously! Haha. The water was pretty choppy, but we still had a blast.

 

And what was even more fun was stand up paddle boarding! Another early morning for us. If you want to hit the water in Maui, it's best to do it in the morning before the afternoon wind stirs everything up. I'm pretty positive after both of these days we took long naps when we returned. Ahh, vacation.

Best of Maui

There are just too many honeymoon pictures to share them all. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the food, drinks and sunsets we devoured while in Maui. And two of them are great reminders why the weight I lost before the wedding is back. I've never put on weight happier. :)

Some old favorites mixed in with some local Maui flavors. 

Can you spot the Loco Moco or the Spam?

Vacation is synonymous with fruity drinks, no? We also went to this one bar 3 times because they had some blizzard system that poured beer at 29 degrees. And Jon loved it.

Ok, so the sunsets here are killer. They are just better here. There are always clouds that make them so complex and the layers of colors are just insane.

The Road to Hana

The road to Hana started with a trip to natural foods Mecca, Mana Foods. Planning on stocking up on some good fuel for the road, I am kicking myself for taking those silly outfit pictures back at the condo before we left because if we were just 5 minutes earlier, we would have ran into this guy.

Apparently he was dressed and had a hat on, whatever. All the cashier girls were going on and on about how Samantha's boyfriend was there and such. Owen Wilson apparently frequents the store too. Moving on....Mana Foods is in the adorable sleepy lil hippie town of Paia. A must visit for any future Maui goers.

The road to Hana is all about the journey and not the destination. Mainly, coming around bends and having the road suddenly open up to views like this one. It was breathtaking.

Beautiful vegetation everywhere.

Lots of hidden swimming pools. 

Hiking down to a waterfall. 

Since we went in the summer, the falls were not as abundant as during the winter. Still, a sight to see. 

Time for roadside pulled pork! Some of the best food we ate in Maui was from roadside stands or trucks. Before we went back to the car, someone had cat radar....

No, sir, I don't want the banana leaf bowl, I want your cat. 

Near the end of the journey is the black sand beach. Something something volcano. 

I think by this picture you can tell who was the driver and who was the passenger. 

Typical Hawaiian plate lunch in Hana. Two scoop rice, BBQ shredded pork and pineapple coleslaw. For the record, we don't eat like this at home. 

Honor system roadside fruit stand! We got an avocado and papaya, put our money in the box and went on our way.

Mama's Fish House

Long before the actual honeymoon we knew we had to visit this famous restaurant in Maui. Anytime we told people where we were going for our 'moon, they said "You have to go to Mama's!" And thanks to Jon's parents, we had a gift certificate waiting for us when we got there! Tip: come here for dinner and book your reservation for 6pm, perfect time to watch the sunset while you eat dinner.

I can get used to taking outfit posts on our lanai, love the background. 

So I had to dress up for Mama's, but it turned out there were still some people there in shorts and tanks. Not for me, but it is Hawaii and things don't really ever get very fancy.

Jon out front of the restaurant. Windsurfer in the background. 

Oh yah, its cocktail time!

Time to order! Did I mention I don't eat seafood? Spoiler alert: I got the tofu. 

The view from our table. Tip #2: Wait for a window seat, you won't regret it!

 

Our appies. The Maui Onion soup and beef Polynesian inside a papaya! The flavors together were insane. So so good. We talked about that beef and papaya for days. 

Looking good outside!!

 

Food for kings and queens. The cool thing about this place is that Jon was able to know the name of the fisherman that caught the fish he was eating!

O'o Farm

One of the best things we did in Hawaii was not very typical Hawaiian at all. We toured an organic farm, harvested some of the lunch, had a chef prepare and cook us a meal in an outdoor kitchen and ate right there on the farm! O'o Farm is located in the upcountry of Maui and was about 50 minutes from Wailea, where we were staying. When you live in the Bay Area and constantly drive 30-45 minutes to go to dinner, this wasn't a big deal for us.

 Welcome!

 Coffee beans! It was pretty embarrassing that I didn't recognize all the coffee trees. It really was my first time seeing what they looked like before roasting. We got to eat the red ones! 

Meeting Chef Caroline in her outdoor kitchen. Turns out she used to live in SF for 17 years! Like half the people we met in Maui were from the Bay Area, go figure!

Where we will later eat our lunch. 

Jon in one of the greenhouses. 

Maui is not so great at growing tomatoes and cucumbers, which were growing in here.

Learning about their own coffee roasting, yum. Their beans were so small! The tour guide told us they sold their coffee for close to $25 a pound, yikes! Some girl asked how coffee gets flavored like macadamia nut and mocha and this organic farmer basically played dumb, shunning all the chemically enhanced side of coffee.

O'o Farm grows beneficials on the outskirts of the rows like cilantro that they let flower because it attracts the good bugs that actually eat the farms true pests. It looked a little overgrown around some parts, but everything was there for a reason.

Those are some good lookin' Maui Onions. 

When Richard pulled some of the compost pile aside, we actually saw steam escape! The inside of the heap was around 100 degrees. 

Jon + my plates. Can you say yum? Everything local, sustainable and organic cooked fresh for us. It felt pretty decadent. We were able to bring a bottle of wine to enjoy with our lunch. 

The lunch was capped off with homemade biscotti, chocolate and French Pressed coffee. If you ever find yourself in Maui, I urge you to go on this lunch tour!