Hawaiian Islands Tour
January 24 to February 5, 2020
P. Michael Henderson
I'm going to leave the map at the beginning of each page so you know where we are.
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2/2/2020 (Sunday) We leave for Maui this morning. We were up early - before 5am - in order to be ready for bag pull at 6:45. Here's what dawn looked like from our hotel room.
We had breakfast in the restaurant and met the bus for the drive to the airport. As we were driving to the airport we passed through this group of trees that formed a canopy over the road.
Eventually, we arrived at the Lihue Airport. Tauck handled our checked bags so all we had to do was go through security with our carry-ons. The Lihue Airport is not very large.
Eventually, our plane arrived at the gate - another Boeing 717-200. The 717 has 2-3 seating and this time Judy and I were seated on the two-seat side.
As we approached Maui we flew over Moloka'i and Lanai. I believe this is Moloka'i, as seen through an aircraft window.
We landed at Kahului Airport on the north side of Maui. Once we deplaned, a Tauck person was there to greet us.
Our driver for Maui, Eugene Palecpec, was waiting for us, with the "hang loose" gesture. It must be a sort of gentle welcome, as well.
We left the airport and drove to the 'Iao Valley State Park to see the Iao Needle. Here's a view of the needle seen from the parking area. This valley was the site of probably the most violent and bloody battle waged by King Kamehameha in his quest to unify the islands, and the needle has retained mystical symbolism in Hawaiian lore.
There's a path with 131 steps to a viewing platform.
And just to show that I climbed those steps...
A view of the valley, and the parking lot, from the top of the stairs.
From here, the bus took us to Lahaina, on the west side of Maui, where we had lunch and wandered around the town for a while, until it was late enough that we could get into the rooms at the hotel.
We had lunch at a beach place by the name of Kimo's - it was recommended by one of the clerks in a store. We were joined by Marianne and Carl - sorry, no picture.
About 3pm we boarded the bus for the trip to the hotel, the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. It turned out to be a really outstanding hotel. I have to say that the hotels that Tauck arranged got better and better as the tour progressed. There was nothing wrong with the hotels on O'ahu or the Big Island, but the ones on Kauai and Maui were really outstanding. This one has a Moorish ambience. The only negative was that the Internet access was miserable.
They greeted us with leis of kukui nuts and drinks of fruit juice and champagne. Judy is sampling the champagne.
By the time we got settled it was time for dinner. We had a very enjoyable dinner with Carmen and Paul in the Kō restaurant.
After dinner it was off to bed. We had been up early for the flight to Maui.
[Side note: I don't think any of us were able to follow the Super Bowl in real time. I only heard the results after it was over.]
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2/3/2020 (Monday) We were able to sleep a bit late this morning. We are going to Ruth's Chris Steak House for a cooking event. It began shortly after 10:30, and was nearby.
This actually turned out to be an outstanding, fun activity. The people who presented it (and I think it was a company that contracts with Ruth's Chris) really went all out for the event.
We were met by Ruth's Chris Executive Chef Seville Jackson. In addition to being an accomplished chef, he was a consummate showman, as you'll see later.
The people organizing the event took a picture of each couple with Seville - and then they presented the pictures to us before we left! Here's a picture taken with my iPhone.
They presented each of us with an apron, which we wore for the event and which was ours to keep.
We gathered in the dining room for a briefing on the activity.
Then we went to activity area where three tables had been set up. Members of our group were at each table. The chef directed the "cooks" in how to prepare their course, beginning with salad, then entree, and dessert.
The rest of the group watched the show. We were in group 3, the dessert group.
The chef is helping Bill and Jean with the salad.
Alvin and Gail were preparing the salad and Alvin is snacking on the macadamia nuts.
We repaired to the dining room to enjoy the salad. When we finished, we went back to the classroom to prepare the fish entree. Here the chef works with Barbara and David (from England).
Then they prepared a risotto to go with the fish.
After we finished the main course, we went back to the classroom to prepare the dessert, a bread pudding. Here are Judy, Paul, Carman and xxx beginning the preparation.
Judy wisking the eggs.
The chef came by to show how to tell if the eggs are wisked enough.
Then we went back to the dining room for dessert. But the activity people were not through with us yet. The gave each of us a certificate with our name on it certifying that we had taken the cooking class.
And a picture of us with the chef that was taken when we arrived - signed by the chef. I was really impressed with the activity and the effort the organizers put into it. They really went above and beyond what I expected.
I did well over 100 pictures of the cooking class but I can only put a few in the blog. For our travel friends - if you want one or more pictures of yourself in the class I'll check to see what I have and send them to you.
We went back to the hotel and just chilled out in the room. Judy sat on the patio and I worked on this blog. Around sundown the room service staff came by so we went to the bar in the lobby area to get out of their way and met Dianne and Bud in the lounge. We sat and talked with them, had a drink, and watched the sun go down over the Pacific.
That was the end of our day.
Our adventure continues here.