Hawaii Vacation Part III: Zip Lining and our First-Ever Hawaii Luau

Hi guys! I am back today with the final recap from our amazing Hawaii Vacation in Maui. We left off last time after a delicious and romantic dinner at the Ferraro’s restaurant at the Four Seasons. On Thursday Travis and I had plans to go on a zip line tour. There are lots of zip line companies in Maui, but we found that Kapalua Zip Lines had incredible reviews on Trip Advisor and it was the only course that had parallel lines so Travis and I could zip side-by-side. Neither Travis or I had ever zip lined before, so we knew were in for a treat! Kapalua Zip Lines is located in Lahaina, which was about an hour from where we were staying in Wailea. We were instructed to arrive by 8AM, so that morning we had to wake up very early in order to arrive on time. The 7-line course was AMAZING – we had the time of our lives. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share with you because we chose not to bring a camera or phone with us for fear that it might fall while we were zip lining. Some people brought GoPro cameras, which I bet made for some awesome video footage!

I was by far the smallest person in our 10-person group, which invoked a lot of laughs throughout the tour. Some of the zip lines were LONG and the instructors on the tour (who were all hilarious and made the experience a blast!) kept joking with me that I might not make it all the way across because I was too light! They were kidding, of course, but on the longest line I actually did get nervous because I started slowing down dramatically and I thought I was going to get stranded in the middle of the zip line! NO. THANK YOU. I am pretty sure that has never actually happened to anyone, but I can be pretty gullible…

The tour lasted until about 1PM. Afterwards, Travis and I were really hungry so we decided to hang out in Lahaina for awhile and grab some food. One of the waitresses at our resort had recommended the Cool Cat for great burgers and drinks, so we decided to check it out on our way back to the hotel.

I started with this delicious Pineapple-Tini. The pineapple in Hawaii is soooooo fresh, so I felt obligated to eat it any chance I could get! Our burgers were both really good, too. I was so hungry that I completely forgot to take a picture when it arrived!

Unfortunately, in the middle of our vacation I caught a very bad cold, so we kind of laid low for the rest of the week. I guess if you are going to be sick, laying by the pool in Maui isn’t really the worst place, is it? One of the final highlights of our trip was the luau we attended on our last night. After hearing many family and friends recommend that we attend a luau close to our resort (because all luaus are buffet and open bar, so you mind as well enjoy it!) we decided to reserve seats at the luau at the Marriott because it was walking distance from our hotel.

Around 4PM on Friday we walked the path along the ocean between our hotel, the Andaz, and the Marriott. When we arrived we were greeted with beautiful leis and got our picture taken in front of the ocean.

It was VERY hot out, so Travis and I decided to hang out in the shade as we waited for the show to start. About an hour later the buffet opened up, so we walked over to get in line.

To be perfectly honest, the food at the buffet was not so great. I read a few negative reviews beforehand that mentioned that food was poor, so I knew not to go into it with high expectations. I didn’t really care because I was more there to see the show and just enjoy the overall experience. This was my first luau, so I just wanted to soak it all in!

Once most people had their food, the show began to start. The outfits and dancing were both beautiful.

Yet again, I couldn’t get over the amazing colors in the sky as the sun began to set over the performance. I loved how the women’s dresses matched the gorgeous pink sunset behind them in the picture below.

The fire show at the end was also very impressive. As someone who is pretty much scared of lighting a match, I was in awe of how this performer was able to manipulate these giant torches.

I am so glad I got to experience an authentic Hawaiian luau! I know it is something I will remember for a long time.

On our final day in Maui, I was so congested and sick that I basically didn’t want to move. I felt terrible because Travis really wanted to drive the Road the Hana, the full day road trip that takes you on a narrow winding road to the beautiful town of Hana, but I just couldn’t imagine being stuck in the car all day with that awful cold. Instead we decided to have a slow morning around the hotel. Once it was time to check out, we packed up our bags and sadly said goodbye to our amazing room and staff at the Andaz. I didn’t want to leave!

Since we had a few hours to kill before our redeye flight back to LA, I told Travis we should do a little bit of the drive to Hana just to see what it was all about. We had already said multiple times during our trip that we had to go back to Maui soon because there was so much more we wanted to see, do, and eat! The first stop on the Road to Hana is the Twin Falls Farmstand, which we read had delicious smoothies and banana bread.

Travis and I waited in line and scoped out the menu. While the majority of people around us were ordering smoothies and coconuts to sip on, we opted for the banana bread. It was the perfect mid-afternoon snack.

We walked around for a little bit and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, but we headed back to our car before too long because there were signs everywhere warning us about car break-ins. Since we had ALL of our luggage and belongings in the car, we wanted to be extra cautious!

We continued for a few more miles on the Road to Hana, but eventually had to turn around because we wanted to grab a bite to eat before our flight. I read that Flatbread Company in Paia had some seriously delicious pizza, so thought it would be a perfect pre-flight meal.

We actually had three hours before our flight, so we told our waiter we were in no rush and would probably be there for awhile. All of the staff at Flatbread Company were so chill (think surfer-dude level chill), so our waiter definitely didn’t care that we just wanted to hang.

I have to admit that my taste buds weren’t exactly on point that day, but everything we ate really hit the spot. We started with their Organic Salad which was served with a Maui Pineapple Vinaigrette. Flatbread Company actually has locations all across the country, but every location serves food based on what is local to that particular location – I love that!

For our flatbread, we ordered half Margherita and half Punctuated Equilibrium, which had kalamata olives, goat cheese and other fresh veggies. They made a mistake and made the flatbread half cheese instead of the Punctuated Equilibrium, so they said they were going to bring out another WHOLE pizza for us in a few minutes. All of a sudden we had so much pizza on our table and we didn’t know how we were going to eat all of it! We even offered a few slices to our waiter, but he turned us down (admittedly, he probably can’t eat on the job).

Everything we ate was SOOO yummy and I was in carb heaven. Before we knew it, it was time to pay our check and head to the airport. Luckily, the airport was only 10 minutes away from the Flatbread Company and since the Maui airport is tiny, we were through security in a matter of minutes. We decided to grab a drink at the airport bar, hoping it would knock us out on our flight home.

Our waitress was a little….kooky….and she kept telling me I looked waaaaay too young to be over 21 even after she checked my ID. Every time she passed our table she made a comment about it. Usually this is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves. I am small. I look young. I get it. Now bring me my glass of wine, please! But surprisingly it didn’t bother me this time because I was on vacation mode!  Travis and I just kept laughing about it all the way until we boarded our plane.

I was so, so, so sad to leave Hawaii. It is a magical place and I hope I get to go back soon and experience it all over again! I hope you liked my vacation recaps. I will be back to posting recipes soon! Aloha!