Hawaii This 'n' That

Last week, I was lucky enough to be in Maui for a few days. The Hubby had a conference, and I happily tagged along.

Hawaii in the middle of winter is a blessing; the balmy air, the liquid light, the perfumed flowers.

I've chronicled my love for Hawaii in other posts like here and here, so I won't go over territory I've already covered.

This time, I did a lot of watery things that didn't allow me to take photos with my non-water-friendly camera. I hung out in an "infinity pool," paddled a sea kayak, took a catamaran out whale-watching, and snorkeled around Molokini to see the abundant, beautiful colored fishes and the giant sea turtles.

But when I was on dry land, there was lots of fun to be had. There was lunching with The Gals:

Bopping around Lahaina, looking at the quaint and colorful shops:

Scaring our husbands by sending them pictures on our phones of us wearing expensive jewelry:

...and sitting under this gigantic banyan tree eating Hawaiian shave ice:

I loved the elegant little birds around the island:

These warning signs were posted where we were about to get on the catamaran. Great graphics, but Wow! Scary stuff!:

I like this idea, below. At a construction site, instead of the normal chain-link fence with tarp stretched over it, somebody added an outer layer of palm fronds over the ugly fencing. Way more attractive:

Of course, we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset each evening:

(No, that's not The Hubby and me. Sheesh!)

These twisty, stately trees cast shade on the front lawn of our hotel:

Right below the trees, Koi glided around in a stone-ringed pool:

Elsewhere on the grounds, I noticed the "palm trees" were actually banana plants. See the mini bananas!

The favorite thing I ate was this appetizer. Miso-sesame seed crispy cones, filled with seared Ahi tuna, bean sprouts, tiny shreds of cabbage, and a tasty sauce. I could've ordered four more and made an entire meal of them.

 Tomorrow I'll share some cool stuff I discovered about our hotel. See ya then.