What a first day. Second day, technically speaking. We left Seattle on October 15th, 2014 at around 8:30. The first time. We managed to taxi out onto the active taxiway and then pulled off to the side. Apparently another passenger had some sort of medical condition where they weren’t feeling well. People didn’t board the plane in detox / hazmat suits to pull them off so I wasn’t overly concerned. Finally, an hour later, after pulling back into the gate and waiting for the passenger to get off the plane and getting more fuel, we were off to Maui.
The plane ride was pleasant for being locked inside of a 737-800 (N519AS – the nerd in me keeps track of these things) for about 7 hours once the whole ordeal was done. We had 4 seats all in a row (A,B,C, <aisle> D). I (Bobby) sat in D. Right before we took off, Sarah leaned across the aisle and asked me, “is that her?” quietly, referring to the woman sitting next to me. I had no idea what in the world she was talking about. I had to ask her to clarify for me who she was talking about. Was this someone I knew? Someone I SHOULD know? Come to find out I was sitting next to a Cosby kid. I never really watched the show growing up. Growing up where I did, I wasn’t ever home and never really watched TV. A friend of mine sat me down and forced me to watch The Breakfast Club late in high school because he insisted I was missing out on part of life’s journey, or something along those lines. Back on task.. without identifying the Cosby kid in question out of respect for her privacy, I will say that she was great to talk to, very friendly, nervous and humbled by the adventure she was about to begin, and had a great story to share throughout her journey to where she was (now) moving to. Her biggest concern was her cat. I don’t think I even blame her, even though I’m not anywhere NEAR being a cat person. It sounded like the cat (and its owner) had quite the journey from where they started on the east coast of the US, all the way to Hawaii. Bringing pretty much ANYthing outside of clothing into Hawaii is a very big deal. Rightfully so, being completely isolated.
Anyhow, day one (technically 2) was a BLAST. We started the day off getting up entirely too early. It was our anniversary (15 years!) so an early rise was a welcomed change. To say the least.
We started the day by (literally) walking across the street to the beach. It had been 11 years since we had visited a beach in Hawaii. So easily you forget just how freaking awesome it is.
The water was warm. The sand was warmer. We were literally in a little cove where we didn’t have anything to worry about and I could teach the kids how to boogie-board (something I used to do as a kid living in Florida). Isabelle and I eventually rounded the corner to the “other side” of the reef where we could enjoy bigger waves. What we hadn’t planned on was the wildlife.
When we got to the other side, we noticed some people snorkeling together in a group. Naturally I asked around and was told there were sea turtles feeding on vegetation attached to the rocks. Isabelle and I snorkeled over (her on laying on her boogie board and me swimming, towing her along) and located three sea turtles. Unfortunately, I don’t own a waterproof digital camera so just trust me when I say that swimming with sea turtles in the wild is pretty freaking awesome. We swam with them for probably 10 or 15 minutes. The currents kept bringing us closer together and then farther apart. It was a handful to keep myself and Isabelle away from them when we’d get swept together (plus avoiding rocks in the 10-feet-deep water) so I decided it was time to move on, and let them move on.
After we were done for the day at the beach, we decided we were going to head out for some banana bread, to see the “famous” blowhole, and then end the day at Bubba Gump for dinner. We were set, so we set out. 
To get to the banana bread, there were really two ways to go. The short, direct route or the long route. Without doing any research ahead of time, we elected to take the long, scenic route. That’s, at least, one way to put it. Once we got into the journey, we realized that the road ahead wasn’t one which was a ‘normal’ road. Some might actually refer to it as more of a trail than a road but you could also make the argument that it was paved (mostly). I don’t know, you be the judge (here too – at around 4:36, you’ll see Julia’s banana bread shack). Two lanes were definitely a luxury and something we didn’t always have on this, what would be, adventure. One of us was hanging on for dear life, and I was driving.
After twisting and winding all down the road, we finally made it to the banana bread shack. The reviews claimed it’s the “world’s best banana bread”, which is why we went. I’m claiming that marketing did its job and that’s about all I’ll say about that. I will say, they did have some pretty freaking fabulous mango candy and coconut bits of some sort. Both were definitely tasty.
After ordering our food, Sarah talked about what a ride it has been (we were by far beyond the 1/2-way point of the journey at this stage of the day). The lady behind the counter (not actually “Julia” which was a bit of a surprise to me) told us that the worst was still in front of us and that we had about a mile and a half of the worst of it to go. This did not sit well with my trusty co-pilot who elected to sit behind me for the remainder of the journey. Of course, all went well and we made our way on to the blowhole.
The blowhole was cool because it was this unassuming place on the side of the road which you couldn’t even see and would totally miss if you weren’t looking hard for it. We had to locate the trail which lead down to the area where you could see it. It got to a point where we decided we’d be better off not asking the little ones to hike down the trail because it was so rough. Plus, how close do you really need to get to something that has warning signs about sucking people in and killing them? That’s kinda what I was thinking, too. The blowhole is situated down a (previously mentioned) trail that is pretty steep and, because of the way the rocks and land are formed here, pretty slippery. Not exactly what you would call ideal for a 6 year old and a 9 year old wearing sandals. Sarah and I were able to appreciate the view and the beauty which God had created for all to see and the girls thought the water was “neat”. We had also agreed that, looking at the trail ahead leading down the hill that 11 years had put a lot of miles on our bodies because imagining going down the hill (let’s not forget coming back up) was a tiring thought all in itself. If I remember correctly, our “generation” wasn’t the only ones at the bottom of the hill the last time we were here so my hat is definitely off to those in the generation before us (here’s looking at you, Papa Bill, and anyone else who joined us) who hiked all the way down and all the way back up the last time we were here. After stopping and posing for a few pictures and watching the waves crash in and create impressive water spouts into the air (not to mention rainbows which the girls really loved), we hiked back up the hill.
Our next, and last of the day, destination was Bubba Gump in Lahaina. Sarah did some reading on the way to the restaurant and discovered that parking may be a bit of a challenge downtown. I had found a McDonald’s that I would have been happy parking at but couldn’t convince my partner-in-crime that it was a good idea. So, round and round we went until we finally found a giant lot to park in, which ended up being a pretty good deal because you could literally (not that we did, but you could) buy a bottle of water at the ABC store within the parking area and get your parking validated. I think we elected to get postcards instead. 🙂 Anyhow, we got in and were familiar with the restaurant although things were more expensive here than in CA for some reason. It sounds awfully Kodiak-ish as far as pricing and what-not. We were treated to window seats with a pretty freaking awesome view (the picture here to the left was taken from our seats). The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. We played hard for one day. We were tired. We drove back to where we were staying and passed immediately out, looking forward to the luau the next night.