Maui Paradise for Labor Day Weekend

In honor of our Labor Day long weekend, we decided to celebrate by visiting one of our most favorite places in the world- Maui! Nothing is more relaxing than sunbathing all day on Maui's beautiful beaches, watching breath-taking sunsets, eating exotic fruits, indulging on the freshest Hawaiian fish, snorkeling in 75-degree water, sailing with warm winds, and enjoying delicious Mai-Tai's! Ry and I can't think of anything we would rather do! We were in pure heaven for three short but beautiful days. We flew into Maui, rented our car and headed towards Kaanapali... my sweet friend Laura generously offered for us to stay in their family condo... a HUGE help for us!

We arrived to the Hensley's condo and made ourselves at home... it was the perfect little place with a balcony that made way for the BEST ocean views! Since it was so late, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then turned into bed so we would be ready for tomorrow.

In the morning we were awe-strucked with the Maui sunrise... it really is the most beautiful place in the world. We had a delicious breakfast on the balcony and then packed up for our beach day. First stop was some coffee at Bad-Ass Coffee... so delicious and the perfect start to our day!

After our Java, we headed to the Sheraton to hang out on their private beach... we rented a cabana for the entire day... it was so nice to have some shade while we went in and out of the beautiful water.
We had a picnic lunch in our cabana and spent the day relaxing and soaking it all in.

From the Sheraton we were walking distance to Whaler's Village so we got some Mai Tai's and took a stroll down the beach.

We walked around and Ry took me to the place where he and his mom went to look at engagement rings for me, a couple years back when he announced to his family that he was going to propose while they were in Hawaii! It was very special to be at the scene of the crime!

After shopping around and exploring Whaler's Village, we headed back to our cabana, relaxed a little more and then headed back to the condo to get changed and ready for dinner.

For our special dinner night, we decided to go to the Plantation House in Kapalua. Such a great ambiance with open windows everywhere and warm breezes, it was perfect.

I ordered the Grilled Hawaiian Opakapaka (Pink Snapper) atop a bed of wilted spinach with crunchy cucumbers, ripe tomatoes, Maui sweet onions, green olives, and a caper berry relish. Sooooo yummy! We enjoyed wine, dinner, a brownie dessert and amazing views... we were in heaven! Our first day in Maui was perfection... we came back to our condo exhausted but ready for tomorrow!
We woke up to another stunning sunrise and our breakfast each morning on our lanai (balcony) consisted of the sweetest papaya we've ever had, tart and tangy guava, beautiful star fruit, and juicy white peaches. Some toast and cereal and we were ready for the day!

We packed up the car and headed north towards Wailea... we started off at the famous black lava rock point... we walked around and were amazed to learn that all of Maui is basically one big volcano... kind of un-nerving really! On our way back to Walilea, we stopped at the Pineapple truck that I always used to go to with my parents... the BEST pineapple ever... it was as good as I had remembered it being!

We set up shop on Wailea beach and splashed around in the water for a bit until we got hungry for lunch... we headed to the Hula Grill and had a great Hawaiian-style lunch out on their sanded patio.

Since it was a bit cooler on the North side, we decided to pack up our beach time a bit early and headed over to the Four Seasons Wailea to walk around and soak in the beauty of that hotel... the ultimate Hawaiian experience! After hanging out a bit, we decided to head back to Kaanapali to get ready and head back out for dinner. We ended up having a more casual night... we went to downtown Lahaina and walked around and ended up having a great casual dinner at Aloha Mixed Grill... delicious freshly grilled fish with sauteed veggie's, light and satisfying! Back to the condo and off to bed.. our last and final day tomorrow with an early wake-up call...

An early wake-up call it was for a Snorkel Sailboat trip! We had our last breakfast on the lanai and headed to Whaler's Village where our sailboat was docked and waiting for us!

We slathered on our sunscreen and boarded the pretty sail boat... I set up shop on the comfy cushions and with Mai Tai's in hand, we headed towards the best coral reefs for snorkeling.

Once we reached our destination, we put on our gear and snorkeled away... we saw sea turtles, needle fish, an eel and the most amazing colorful fish I had ever seen. Truly spectacular. After snorkeling, the hosts grilled us up some burgers... we ate lunch and soaked up our last hours on Maui.

After our sailing adventure unfortunately it was time to head back to the condo and get packed up for our red-eye flight home... what an amazing three day weekend... although we had such a short amount of time, we managed to squeeze everything in and enjoy every second of it.

We will miss these amazing sunsets.... Maui will forever be the most special island paradise for Ry and I and we hope to be back again soon! Aloha!