Today we took a Sunday drive to our favorite lunch spot. Can you guess where we were? Did you guess where we went? – Ulupalakua Ranch. They have the best burgers. As so often, we ran into friends who had the same idea we had. I’m not sure if[…]
Maui Open Studios – explore Maui!
It’s February and that means it’s time for the free self-guided tour of some of Maui’s artists’ studios. This annual event is called Maui Open Studios. If you enjoy exploring and art – check this out. I promise you, you will find places on Maui you have never been before[…]
Death in Paradise
This past week has been crazy. In the past nine days six tourists have died in the ocean with another near-fatality this morning. No, the sharks are not to blame – these men in their 50s and 60s died while snorkeling/scuba diving. I’ve linked these short articles so you can[…]
Random foods
Recently I was sorting through pictures on my phone and found various random food photos. Pictures I’d taken with intention of blogging about them. Life has been busy and as you may have noticed, my blogging has slowed down. So, instead of four blog entries, I thought I’d just post[…]
Upcountry walk
We enjoyed having family visiting this Christmas. Among other things we went for walks – we all enjoyed this upcountry walk. I sure enjoy being upcountry – the cooler temperatures, the beautiful bicoastal views, the lava rock walls and the vegetation! Hope you enjoy…
Upcountry Farmer’s Market and hot sauce
I’ve been meaning to check out the upcountry farmer’s market for a while now. It’s a Saturday morning event, I’m not sure what time it starts, but do know that it ends around 11AM. My mission – to replenish my stock of HI Spice hot sauce. Yes, HI (the abbreviation[…]
Kihei Surfside review and recommendations
This past week we had repeat guests who had previously stayed at our Palms at Wailea condo with their family stay at our oceanfront Kihei Surfside condo. They wrote us a lovely Kihei Surfside review in our guestbook, together with some of their experiences while on Maui: Cara & Sig,[…]
A few pre-Christmas happenings on Maui
I still remember my first Christmas here on Maui. Having lived with seasons all my life, I admit it was strange not having cold weather and snow in December. But eventually you get used to ‘no snow’, poinsettias growing in flower beds, fresh tree-ripened fruit year-round and year-round beach weather.[…]
Monthly warning siren testing
If you’ve been here around the first of the month, you should be familiar with the monthly warning siren testing that takes place. Loud sirens sound at 11:45AM on the first day of every month. This checks that the sirens are operational and is meant to be a reminder to[…]
Imu roasted turkey – Hawaiian style!
Thanksgiving really snuck up on us this year. Last week I realized Thanksgiving was just around the corner and thought – the last thing I want to do is babysit a turkey in the oven. Then a friend posted about her school’s Hawaiian studies fundraiser – an opportunity to have[…]
Four things that will make or break your vacation rental business
It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since we dove head-first into the vacation rental business, buying four condos in five months. At the time we knew rather little about what we were doing. Sure we had been long-term rental landlords for years, so we knew about property[…]
Three money-saving tips when booking a vacation rental
We all know that Maui isn’t the cheapest vacation destination. And yet it seems many of those who come are bitten by the Maui-bug. Here are some tips on how you can save money booking a vacation rental. Book directly with the owner and avoid the middle-man. I really[…]
The Final Days of Maui’s Sugar Cane
For Maui it’s been a week of lasts. The last of Maui’s sugar cane harvested. The last time the smoke stacks burn. The last sugar cane shipment departing Kahului Harbor. For many this has been an emotional week. Here is a video of the ‘last harvest’ ceremony, followed by the[…]
How to treat a sunburn
We recently returned from a family vacation off-Maui. After several weeks away, we had lost most of our suntan! You know what that means when you get back to Maui! Yup – a sunburn! On our first beach day back I burned horribly. The kids were wearing water shirts and were just fine.[…]
What to do on a rainy day in Kihei?
Ideas for what to do on a rare rainy day in South Maui. Kihei and Wailea lie in Haleakala’s rain shadow and receive 8-11 inches of rain a year.
What is lilikoi and how do you eat it?
Have you seen lilikoi at a local farmer’s market? They come in different colors, yellow, red and purple, and are a type of passion fruit. They grow on a vine. You want to select lilikoi that look shriveled and have some give when you squeeze them. In fact, the more shriveled[…]
Goodbye to Maui sugar cane!
The Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company announced today that they will be shutting down commercial sugar cane operations on Maui by the end of 2016. This is huge news for Maui. A&B (Alexander and Baldwin) operates the State’s largest farm (HC&S) with 36,000 acres under cultivation. They also operate the last remaining sugar cane[…]
Thinking of moving to Maui?
Liza Pierce, one of the social media gurus here on Maui, wrote the following article on her popular ‘A Maui Blog’ yesterday: Living on Maui – the Ups and Downs. Ups and Downs? Sure there are. People move to Maui all the time. Many of those we met and befriended[…]
Imagine growing up without knowing snow… at least we can watch movies about snow
I have the privilege of volunteering at our kids’ school here on Maui. I love being involved in the kids’ classes, getting to know their friends and classmates and watching them learn. It is also a great place to learn about culture and life here on Maui. For instance, there[…]