Special Sauce, Special Birds, & Special Suitcase

Yesterday, we got to sleep in after two days of early starts. It was a much more lax day with no scheduled hikes or 2 am bike rides. Once everyone woke up and was ready, we headed to the Gazebo, a small restaurant my grandparents had eaten at before and highly recommended, for brunch. The restaurant was located on a hotel’s property next to a pool and was quite little, housing maybe 40-50 people at a time. They didn’t take reservations, so we waited in line as people finished eating and another group ahead of us would be seated at the former’s table. The restaurant did provide umbrellas for people to use for shade while they waited in line. We waited about 45 minutes before our group of fifteen were all seated (though in smaller groups of 2-4 people per table). Once were seated, we ordered our food and enjoyed the view of the beach adjacent to the restaurant. Our waitress was nice and surprisingly funny. She came by at one point during the meal to offer us the “special sauce” and accidently squirted some on Joe’s shirt. We were all momentarily stunned at this unfortunate event until we realized the sauce was a yellow string connected to a fake condiment bottle. The waitress had fooled everyone at our table and I have to give her props for performing the prank perfectly. Our food was delicious and besides dodging the occasional bird, the Gazebo was a fantastic place to eat. After eating, our group split up, with some going snorkeling, some returning to the villa, and my group going back to the Lahaina shopping district to do some more shopping.

The Gazebo

Tight spaces

My Mom, my Grandma, my Uncle Mike, and I drove to the Lahaina shopping district to check out some more of the shops and so mom could visit some of the educational buildings in the area. We looked through a few stores as my mom and uncle both bought shirts and I bought some souvenirs for two friends of mine. Mom bought a funny, but truthful description of the Road to Hana shirt and my uncle purchased a Maui t-shirt. Afterwards, my mom went to the Baldwin Historical House to learn more about the man from the Sugar Museum mentioned a few days ago. She and grandma walked through the historic courthouse located next to the Banyan tree too. Once the shopping and learning were over, we drove back to the villa. After an hour, my mom, my Aunt Jackie, and I were headed to a nearby wildlife refuge to observe the different animals living there.

On the drive to the wildlife refuge, we had to drive farther up the road and down another road in order to turn around since you could only enter the refuge from the opposite lane (apparently Hawaii doesn’t believe in left turns or u-turns on their roads and intersections). Once we arrived at the wildlife refuge, we headed down a boardwalk and read placards about the refuge and the animals that resided there. We saw 3-4 different birds and watched them try to catch the fish swimming under them in the wetland.  After walking to the end of the boardwalk, we walked on beach right next the refuge for a while. Aunt Jackie saw a turtle pop its head up at one point, but I didn’t see it. It was around 6:15 pm, so we headed back to villa for dinner.

The boardwalk through the animal refuge

A bird

Walking down the beach

Dinner was leftovers night. All the leftover food from previous dinners was placed on the counter and we were free to eat any combination of food available. For some reason, no one tried a carne asada and kalua pork quesadilla between two personal pizzas, a kalua quesapizza sandwich if you will. After dinner, my mom and I dropped my dad at the airport for his flight home and stopped at Walmart so I could buy a new suitcase. The one I brought with me to Maui unfortunately had its zipper break off the moment I opened it in the villa. I guess a five year old suitcase couldn’t handle my master packing. Anyway, I purchased a slightly larger suitcase and was able to pack all my stuff into it with little hassle. Today, we say goodbye to Hawaii and fly back to San Diego.

To read a different perspective of today’s events, you can read my mom’s blog here.