This is 40 - The Last Day in Maui (Day 6)

Tuesday, May 5th

I have to go home today.

I don't want to go home today.  I want to sit on the beach or by the pool again today.  Every day.  I want someone to bring me water and fruity drinks.  I want to not worry about work or paying bills or anything involving real life.

But I didn't have to go home until later tonight.  Danielle was being picked up by the SpeediShuttle at 3p.  I was being picked up at 7p.  So no matter what we ended up doing, we had to be back to the hotel before 3p.  I still had enough time to do everything I hadn't yet done on Maui.

We started the day lazily.  The alarm was set, but only half-assed.  Most of the packing was done last night.  So instead of jumping out of bed and attacking the day, we both just kind of hung out.  Having a five hour difference in the opposite direction works in a way.  Everyone we know has been up for hours now.  So it's better for texting and e-mails and Facebook and just catching up with the world.  There was always something going on to keep our interest when lounging in bed, not wanting to stop being comfortable.

One of the two of us did better with lazy than the other.  I could lounge forever.  Danielle was pacing and anxious.  After a while of "relaxing," Danielle declared she was going for a walk or a run.  She went out to do something.  Me, I continued doing nothing.  Then, I decided to do nothing at a different place.  I left the room (still in jammies, of course) for a Chai.

Anyone for expensive coffee??

The little coffee shop in our hotel was in the best place.  Obviously.  The Hyatt knows how this works.  Sitting in an outdoor area, overlooking the beach, I can't think of a better place to drink a Chai and ponder the trip.  I wrote a bit of the blog, looked at more social media.  I just sat.  Danielle found me eventually, and soon enough, we had to figure out our plan for the day.

We sat in the Bird District of the hotel.  Danielle is the reason why.  Feeding a bird from her hands...

Step one of our final day was to check out from the hotel.  Considering my "Charge it to the room!!" mantra over the last week, the final total wasn't as destructive as I had assumed it would be.  It could have been worse.  We dropped our luggage at the front desk, knowing we'd return in many hours.

The next step was to take the shuttle to the Whaler's Village.  I'd been meaning to go here for the last few days.  The Hyatt has a shuttle that goes from the hotel to the Village. We were ready to see...a mall...???

A Mall.  The Whaler's Village is a mall.  So, do you need to go here??  I don't know.  Do you need to shop??  A visit to Sephora??  The ABC Store??  Some light souvenirs??  Probably not.  I mean, it's an easy enough walk/shuttle from the hotel.  So I could have gone to the Village for dinner one night.  Had I had enough energy.  And I guess if I needed to shop, it would have been fine.  But it just wasn't what I expected.

It took us 30 minutes to walk through the entire Whaler's Village.  Danielle had an Uber deal on her account.  Two free rides on Uber.  So we called a car to take us to the Old Lahaina Courthouse.

I talked about my Uber trip the other day.  My guy had signed up for Uber, but didn't really drive much.  By choice.  This guy had a different story.  He moved to Maui in January and has found it hard to find a job/live in Maui.  According to this guy, if you have lived in Maui for less than a year, the locals keep you at arms length.  They don't think you can cut it.  And honestly, I think it would be hard to live here.  It's not like you can road trip to another state.  You do everything on the island.  Which could be hard to deal for some folks.  So this Uber guy was hustling.  He bought a van and has been driving around the island since January.

One giant tree.

So we ended up at the Old Lahaina Courthouse.  This is really an easy place to be dropped off if you are wandering aimlessly around the city.  As the Uber Guy dropped us off, we walked towards "The Old Fort"  It was literally an old fort crumbling around us.  As we were walking up to the fort, looking at the sign that says "The Old Fort," an English family leaving the fort said, "I think that's an old fort."  Come on, people.  Work with me here...

I'm pretty sure this is an old fort...

We spent time doing some shopping.  We weren't going crazy, but a bit of jewelry was needed for both of us.  And for others.  Front Street is the main street in Lahaina.  This was where you go to do some shopping.  I had come down this road the other day and really didn't shop.  Today though...I had a few things to look for.  Something for me.  Something for Mother's Day.  I found both.

Food was necessary, as we had just consumed banana bread and Chai for breakfast a few hours earlier.  A quick Yelp and TripAdvisor search directed us to the Lahaina Luna Cafe.  Funny enough, I realized almost immediately where we were going based on my quick walk on Front Street the other day.  The Lahaina Luna Cafe is next door to the Ululani Shaved Ice location I visited on Saturday.  The cafe feels like a food truck in restaurant form.  You order at an outdoor counter and cozy into outdoor seating, waiting for your name to be called.  As you wait, you can look at everyone eating their shaved ice (and decide which shaved ice you will get for dessert).  Once your name is called, grab your food and go to town.

The food itself was really good.  I got Korean BBQ Tacos (completely forgetting to take a picture) and they didn't last long.  Danielle had some fish and chips.  I tried a few of the chips, and man...those fries were tasty.  Having inhaled my tacos, it seemed to be fate that there was no line at Ululani's.  I grabbed my final shaved ice experience.  And I loved it.

I'm 90% sure that of the three shaved ices I purchased, all three had the same three flavors (Pineapple, Guava, Passion Fruit).  I am a creature of habit, after all.

We continued some light shopping, but the sun (and the fact we didn't need any additional items to pack) started to get the better of us both.  It was time to go home.  Danielle set up the Uber ride and we got our same guy from this morning.  He blasted Indigo Girls and we were on our way to the hotel.

There were still about two hours before Danielle would be picked up for the airport, so we had to decide what to do.  Or to put it better, we had to decide where to relax.  I didn't want to sit in the pounding sun for very long, since my sunscreen was packed away in my suitcase at the front desk (I did not plan this well).  And we accidentally found the best possible place.  We ended up back at the coffee area.  It was quiet, covered but still outside, and we found an area with outlets.  So for the next two hours, we just stayed there, quietly reading and talking and making the most of the last few moments on the island.

Did I mention the Hyatt had penguins??  Cause they do!!

Eventually, Danielle had to leave.  She was off to her next stop in Hawaii, ready to have more adventures.  She left me at the coffee area.  And I stayed there for quite a bit longer, only moving a few hours later, when the hotel workers started setting up the area for a private event in the evening.

My view for hours.  It did not suck.

I still had time and didn't want to do much (I was still worried about being outside without the sunscreen...I had done well to keep the sunburn at bay.  I didn't want to ruin the last day by getting a burn), so I just moved from reading outdoors to reading indoors.

I was bored, so Selfies!!  And yes, I totally wore a flower in my ear all day.  It smelled awesome.  And I'm not sure what "look" I was trying to accomplish with my face.

The last thing I actually did before leaving the hotel was Happy Hour at the steakhouse.  It wasn't much, but it was enough to have some last bites (and drinks) before hitting the road.  I didn't want to eat much, because I knew there was food on my flight.  That's the fun of First Class, right??  But that...well, that is part of the next story.

Calamari and Riesling.  I don't think I drank any of that water.

The sun began to set and it was time for me to go.  As I handed my suitcase to the SpeediShuttle driver, I turned to see the Hyatt one last time.  Well, one last time on this trip.  Driving away, I silently vowed I would return.  I'm not sure when, but I will return.