Mar 09 2023

Port of Call: Lahaina, Maui

Lahaina from the Crown Princess before arrival

Port of Call: Lahaina, Maui. Lahaina had been a magic word for Han since the Eagles gave it recognition on their 1976 song “The Last Resort” with the line: “You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina.”

Frankly, it almost feels criminal to allow a huge cruise ship to drop anchor in this haven of peace and tranquility. It seems sacrilege, but as soon as you set foot on land in the town, you realize you’re way too late to save the location. Many have already set foot there before and by doing so created an infrastructure that services tourists. Hippie couples and families moved there in the sixties, built their homegrown businesses and their children and brethren were now living enviable lives in the tropics. I guess a little jealousy stuck up its ugly head when we saw this tropical paradise.

But then…., unbeknownst to us at the time, Lahaina would burn down to the ground several months after our visit in a tragic windswept inferno, that took many lives and landmarks. Living on an island requires you to be self-reliant and self-sufficient, because help when tragedy strikes is often too far away.

 

We had been looking forward to this port of call, that over the decades has attracted some many celebrities in opening bars, restaurants and various other businesses. Gene Simmons (KISS), Sammy Hagar (Van Halen), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Oprah Winfrey, Helen Hunt, Willie Nelson and many more have put down roots in Maui’s communities.

The 150 year old Indian Banyan Tree in 2023

First thing on our agenda was of course the 150 year old  world famous Banyan Tree living structure in front of the library and the old courthouse, given to the island by Indian missionaries. Lahaina was the capital of the Hawaiian monarchy in the 1800s, pretty much at the same time the Banyan Tree was planted (1873). Covering 1.94 acres by 2023, the tree resides in Lahaina Banyan Court Park. A mere 8 feet (2.4 m) when planted, it grew to a height of about 60 feet (18 m) and rooted into 16 major trunks, apart from the main trunk, with the canopy spread over an area of about 0.66 acres (0.27 ha). It is considered the largest banyan tree in the USA. The library would give us Wifi access and the tree would provide shade. It was a beautiful morning as the stores opened.

TJ went out on a discovery trip down the streets, while Han sat in the tree shade working the internet. Yes even during our off season, the hotel reservations keep coming in and guest questions need to be answered.

A Hawaiian Spam Special

Once done with our daily “work” we strolled the streets and tried some of the weirder food options available. In Maui, as on the other Hawaiian Islands, you can find Spam in various forms, including musubi, Spam-flavored Hamakua Macadamia Nuts, and Spam-flavored saimin. Musubi is a popular dish made with rice, seaweed, and Spam, and can be found at street corner carts. Well TJ found the cart and had to try one, which inevitably ended up in my face, after she took ONE bite.

Another food that needed to be tried was Shaved Ice. For those seeking the perfect ice slushy in Maui, Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice is the go to spot. They offer a variety of flavors and toppings, including mochi balls and toasted coconut, all served with a fresh, homemade syrup. Not too bad, I must say.

Walked past “The Fleetwood” in a tranquility induced rhythm and ended up at a local artists’ Tiki shop. He was apparently popular with quite a few people =at his booth, as we were waiting for him to cut and carve a personal Tiki for us. He even signed it for us.

A Lahaina Shopping Street

Close to the water and the marinas we walked the shoreline for a bit, just to see how boaties live in Lahaina and enjoyed the laid-back, non-pretentious atmosphere of the island.

Again, we could have taken one of the ships offered tours of the island, but for us discovering the “Couleur local” is the essence of traveling, not the dollar incentivized attractions of a cruise director. In the 1980s and 90s Han lived on popular Caribbean Islands St.Thomas and St.Maarten, where he witnessed many cruise directors stopping by local stores and restaurants to collect commissions for directing cruise ship guests to their stores. 

Lahaina Harbour with Lanai Island in hazy distance
Lahaina Main Street
Remnant of the old Fort in Lahaina
Old Lahaina Court House
Lahaina Shingon Mission building
The Public Library in Lahaina
Catching up on family at the Library
Poultry Freedom all around the library
Lahaina's Famous Shaved Ice
The Rooster crossed the road because he could
Banyan tree carvings - just say no!
Tiki Artist at Work
Lahaina Waterfront

 

 

Mar 07 2023

Port of Call: Honolulu, Oahu

Port of Call: Honolulu, Oahu is often called the “Heart of Hawaiʻi” You’ll find stunning beaches all over the island — Waimea Bay (summer), Waikiki Beach, and Lanikai Beach, just to name a few. While these beaches are significantly more crowded than what you’ll find on Maui,

The name O’ahu occurs frequently among Maori place names and the meaning usually accepted is the literal one, “windy place. Sometimes called “The Gathering Place,” Oʻahu certainly lives up to its name. From a tropical paradise in the 1950, this third largest Hawaiian island is now home to the majority of Hawaiʻi’s diverse population, a fusion of East and West cultures mostly rooted in the values and traditions of the Native Hawaiian people (Maori).

Our bus trip to the Polynesian Culture Center took us through Honolulu’s Waikiki beach past China Man’s Hat island into the rain forest. Han noticed that the former 4-lane Interstate Highway 1 had changed to Interstate H1 covering 27 miles on Oahu ? Apparently nobody in government has yet to realize that an Interstate Highway on an island in the middle of the Pacific is a pretty ignorant statement.

En route to Polynesian Cultural Center
Chinaman's Hat Island in the distance
Hawaiian Beach Wave Action
Hawaii is waiting for the sun
Oahu on a rainy day
Peaceful Easy Feelings

The Polynesian Cultural Center is an initiative of the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints, who in the early 1960 build the 24 acre park to create jobs for its Polynesian students at the local Brigham Young University subsidiary.

Our O’ahu port of call day was completely taken up by a cruise ship tour visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center up on the northeast coast. A full day package sets you back about $200 per person, which includes drive, visits of the exhibits, dinner and evening show. Be prepared to do some real walking, because this park covers 8 Pacific Island nations with their own villages and cultural centers, designed inside a web of ponds and canals. We visited all of them, participated in many of the cultural activities, canoed on the canals and even got a lesson in playing the Ukulele, which instrument was apparently brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese fishermen in the 19th century.

By late afternoon we were hungry enough to attack the enormous spread prepared for us at the huge restaurant, followed by a Pacific Island show including Hulu dancing and ancient rituals.

We got back to the ship around 11pm, ready for a good night’s sleep. Our step meter for the day said 12,843 steps. Port of Call Oahu was a still good day although Han felt already the beginnings of a head cold.

Fetching some coconuts
Ukelele fun
Hawaii Polynesian Cultural Center; Oahu's premier attraction
Canoeing in the local ponds
Restaurant at the Polynesian Cultural Center
Restaurant Conch Shell decorations
Dinner at the Polynesian center
Ukelele lesson in the Cultural Center

Mar 06 2023

Port of Call: Hilo, Hawaii

Port of Call Hilo, Hawaii, the most Eastern of the Hawaiian Islands chain, was the first port of Call on this cruise, landing on the fifth day out of Los Angeles.

The morning was rainy and windy so last minute we decided to just take the tourbus into town and check out some fresh markets and stores. We got wet several times, sometimes soaking, which was not a good foreboding but pretty normal for Hilo, which is “blessed” with some of the highest rainfalls in the world. The town is pretty much what you expect from a tropical town on an island that once was invaded by the American republic and never properly inducted as the 50th state in the union. Hilo has about 45,000 inhabitants and the waterfront has been hit twice by tsunamis. In itself not a sin, but it is indicative for how little money gets reinvested.

Of course the US mainland’s influence is obvious, but there is an undertone of local resentment. Hawaii is the Big Island, cornered by two volcanoes, so naturally it was the last one to be developed into tourism, a process that is still ongoing.

The cruise line offered several day tours, but the one we were interested in to Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park (about 45 minutes south of town) was cancelled because of the weather and road conditions. The other tours were to the Kona side (the westside of the island) which is more than 90 minutes away by bus each way and just too expensive.

In all honesty, Hilo is a gateway to some of the island’s most dramatic natural wonders, primarily centered around water and volcanic activity, but primarily because of the weather, we used Hilo on this day for internet access at McDonalds. We also have this effort going on to get our ten thousand steps in for the day. The first one went fine as McDonalds gave good internet, but the intermittent rain showers were cause that only ran us up to a maximum of 6,100 steps for the day.

It may have been the dreary weather but Hilo felt a bit tired, lacking color and personality. The island is sizable, too sizable for discovery in one day. But Hilo offers two active shield volcanos, the largest active volcano on the planet the Mauna Loa and the highest point in Hawaii, the Mauna Kea (Kilauea)  And a very remote Southside. I would have loved to see the volcano observatory, which is one of the most progressively forward ones in the world, but the day didn’t allow it.

Oner thing that should be mentioned is that Hilo is also home to the Mauna Loa Macademia Nut Corporation one of the world’s leading producers of macadamia nuts and one of my favorite nuts.

On the way out we witnessed some cano trials or races around the ship in traditional Hawaiian canoes, which was quite a colorful event. We learned that they were practicing for the competition during the weeklong Merrie Monarch Festival, after the Easter Holiday.

Hilo Banyan Tree
Hilo: Han Standing in the rain at the market
Hilo Fresh Market
Papaya price is the same as in grocery stores?
Pacific warrior ornaments
Maybe a waterfront movie theatre?
Vegetarian lunch for TJ
Exterior Wall painting about Hawaii
Reaching back to a proud past.
Hilo Local cano race competition training

Mar 05 2023

A 28 Day Nightmare Cruise in the Pacific in 2023

The Crown Princess Smoking Area on this Pacific Cruise in 2023

Cruising was still relatively new to us. The previous year (2022) we embarked on a Regal Princess Transatlantic Cruise,  which resulted in so much fun that before reaching Barcelona, we decided to add a Mediterranean extension that would take us to Istanbul, the Greek Islands and ports in Italy. Thirty days on the ocean, We loved the experience and decided to make long cruises a part of our vacation/travel experience.

Well we were newbies to cruising, who had no clue about ship choices and destinations. Not all cruising is the same, not even with the same cruise company. Unburdened by this lack of experience we booked a cruise departing San Pedro-Los Angeles in March 2023 to the Southern Pacific and back to LA. 28 Days! We had figured out which side of the ship would give us most suntan of our balcony during those 28 days looping the Pacific, stepping in and out of the date line and north and south of the equator and booked a mini-suite on the Starboard side of the 3,080 passenger Crown Princess.

Departing from Nashville, TN on a Delta flight into LAX, we decided to go a day early and spend the night in San Pedro, close to embarkation. That way we allowed ourselves enough time the next morning to check luggage and  explore the ship before sailing off.

We quickly learned that embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale is way easier than in San Pedro/Los Angeles. We also learned quickly that the layout of the Crown Princess was definitely not as attractive as the one of the Regal Princess we had sailed to Europe the previous year. The ship is quite a bit older than the Regal and it shows in the line up of restaurants, activity decks and smoking areas. We are smokers and discovered quickly that smoking areas is where you find the cool people on a cruise. Whereas the Regal Princess had its main smoking area on the top deck aft, which leaves smoke behind in the ship’s tail wind, the Crown Princess put the smokers in an interior area behind a pool bar with little escape of smoke. Quite nasty actually.

In any case we sailed out of San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, full of excitement and anticipation.  4 Days on the water would bring us to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. A couple of days in Honolulu and Lahaina and we would be off to Pago Pago, the International dateline, Tahiti and Mo’orea. We’re ready. Let the sunshine in.

Feb 23 2023

The 2023 Winter Season Had Other Travel Plans

Pool at After Dune Delight Condo in Hilton Head

Traveling sometime puts things upside down and this winter’s travel season 2022/23 had a divergent plan for us in mind. At least for the first part of our six months winter vacation. We did the usual visits to kids and grandkids in Michigan, friends in Tennessee and Georgia,  in the snow bunny route south to Savannah Georgia but then plans quickly changed. Han wanted to spend some time with his brothers in the Netherlands as they are all getting older and TJ for some reason had absolutely no wish to fly that long trip to Amsterdam.

So we agreed that she would stay in several AirBNB’s in the southeast to relax while Han would fly United Airlines from Savannah to Newark and from there to Amsterdam for a 7 week stay with his family in the Netherlands. I quickly cancelled my already booked flight and started making reservations for my southeast stay.

Starting sometime in March we would take a 28 day roundtrip Pacific cruise on the Crown Princess out of San Pedro/Los Angeles on the Crown Princess. What we liked about the itinerary was that the ship was mostly at sea. We needed the rest and recreation with some sun on our faces, because the job on Beaver Island is 7 days a week for the entire 6 months season.

So on January 4th Han flew out of Savannah to Newark, NJ and from there to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I would pick him up on his return on February  25. (7 very long weeks, we both agreed never to repeat). While in Europe, he spent 6 weeks with his 3 brothers, taking care of one who was in bad health. One week he took the speed train to Vienna to visit our “heart-adopted” son Nikki, who has a beautiful home about 40km southwest of Vienna in a little village called Mayerling. In the foothills of the mountain range that is part of the Dolomites and Alps, nature is extraordinarily peaceful and relaxed.

I took off for extended stays in 2 different  Hilton Head condos that were offered on the AirBNB platform, followed by a trip to South Carolina’s LOW LANDS and the city of Beaufort.

Bathroom in Condo

Had to fix my own coffee and meals. Oh the dread of it all. LOL

My days consisted of walking, relaxing, reading and exploring. Actually quite a lot, considering I was by myself. We spoke everyday with each other.
I had an ear infection for two weeks. Didn’t get out much as I was staying in this beautiful condo with pool in the center hall and many comforts and conveniences. Not very impressed by Hilton Head these days. It just feels a bit boring with very little color schemes and many restaurants offering the same fare. The only mention I have is Five Brothers, which serves a mean burger.
For the remainder of time until Han’s return from Europe, I went to stay at the Sunset Marsh Airbnb located approximately 2 miles from beautiful downtown Beaufort. 1 mile from the National Cemetery. 10 miles to Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Hunting Island State Park Beach is only 20 miles, and a must do visit. Just a short Walk to the Spanish Moss Bicycle and Walking Path. located across from a tidal marsh.
The porch is a wonderful spot to enjoy cocktails or coffee while taking in the beauty and serenity of the setting sun. The house decor is light and airy. Home away from home. Only 2 miles to the center of downtown Beaufort, and the water front Marina.
The military planes from nearby Parris Island Marine Corps can be loud for a short period of time in the mid-morning, but also fascinating to see them take off and land. Gated community Fripp Island offers pristine beaches, golf courses, and abundant wildlife, making it perfect for 1%’ers seeking a vacation-like, highly protected atmosphere year-round.
Sunset look over the Marsh
Entrance to the Airbnb
Living room to bedroom Two
I loved Beaufort and the outer islands so much better. Went on a golf cart tour through the city and outskirts, which was quite enjoyable.
So when Han landed at Savannah Airport, I took him back there to spend a couple of days with our gracious hosts and the southern charmed city of Beaufort.
Maryland’s Fried Chicken, one of the few ones left in the US, we ate at.
The “Outer Banks’ series on Netflix shot some of its scenes at the large black and white lighthouse in my pics.
The long road of overhanging trees has been in many films over the years.
When our time was up at Sunset Marsh, the owners invited us to stay longer without charge (we had become friends) but we had to get on the road to reach Nashville, where soon a plane was waiting to take us to Los Angeles and a southern Pacific cruise.

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