Cheeseburger In Paradise: February, 2001

When we awoke on Thursday, the wind still howled, but the skies soon cleared for a sunny day.
After toast and cereal along with coffee and orange juice in the room, we drove into Lahaina to find Boss Frog’s, where we used a coupon to get $6 tickets to Molikini or Coral Beach (depending on the weather) with the rental of snorkel gear. Most of us didn’t need snorkels and masks, but we rented fins for $8 or the cheapest snorkel combo for $9 in order to get the cheap excursion tickets. Otherwise, the trip to Molikini would have cost $29.95.

From there, we drove back to Ka’anapali, with most of the group getting out of the cars at the Sheraton Hotel, which is located at the best snorkeling spot in Ka’anapali, Black Rock. The rest of us dropped off our cars at our hotel and hiked back to Black Rock along the beach.

Despite getting a little sandblasted on the shore by the wind, we enjoyed snorkeling through clear blue water with a colorful array of fish. The fins we rented from Boss Frog’s made getting around in the water much easier, and I highly recommend fins for Ka’anapali snorkeling, where the ocean floor drops off quickly, taking away the crutch of occasionally walking through the water.

The women watched soap operas in the afternoon in one of the rooms, while the rest of us enjoyed reading by the pool or taking in the gorgeous ocean panorama.

Jay, Amy, my niece Kelsey and I played a rousing game of shuffleboard with handicaps based on age. At this point in our lives, I gave all of them handicaps. I hope they remember that in thirty or forty years when I need a little advantage to compete.

At 3:00 PM, we drove back to Lahaina for some souvenir shopping. The wind in Lahaina seemed far milder than in Ka’anapali, which made me wonder if the wind was only pounding our hotel rather than the whole island. I bought a new hat to provide shade from what we hoped would be a bright sun the rest of the week.

We went to Cheeseburger in paradise for dinner. The singer sang many great songs by artists like James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, mixing in enough Jimmy Buffett to remind us of where were dining. All of us had either hamburgers or cheeseburgers, and none of us was disappointed by the taste. Our family of four ordered one basket of fries ($3.75), and that was plenty for us, despite the fact that my wife was a voracious French fry eater before her Atkins days. “The Best Burgers in Paradise” aren’t massive, but they’re delicious and filling at $6.75. Jay and Amy bought the bottomless soda mug ($5.75), which allowed them to keep the color-changing mugs as souvenirs.

After more shopping in Lahaina, we returned to our rooms about 8:30 for cookies and television, followed by a good night’s sleep.

Maui: February, 2001

Going crazy on her old job, my wife planned a trip to Maui with her two sisters over a long President’s Day break from school. Long after booking the trip, she received a “Godfather”-like offer. No horse heads were involved, but it was a deal so sweet that she couldn’t refuse, because it combined a substantial pay increase with, although definitely not a stress-free environment, at least a different asylum. After due deliberation, we moved to Los Angeles County from our much beloved San Diego on February 1, 2001.

While her new job accepted that she would be on vacation shortly after starting, the new schools Jay and Amy attended didn’t have the same school break, but the non-refundable air had been ticketed and two other families were also scheduled to go, so we braved the ire of their new schools.

In my sock drawer, I found some notes I took about this trip, and I thought perhaps it was time to share them with the world. For some reason I am missing my account of the first day, but I remember we flew to Maui uneventfully, picked up our car and drove to the Aston Ka’anapali Villas, a comfortable condominium complex (say that three times really fast), located on Ka’anapali Beach north of the Black Rock outcropping.

I’ve never been to Hawaii when there weren’t a few drops of rain at some point in the trip, but I also had never been in a storm until this trip. On the day we arrived, the strong wind had the rain blowing sideways as we enjoyed dinner with the rest of the family at the oceanfront restaurant on the Ka’anapali Villas grounds. I can’t remember what we ate, but I know it must have been some kind of early bird special, or knowing my wife and me, we would have gone elsewhere.