Maui, baby! part 2

Here's a simplistic map so you know where I stayed and where some of the places I went to. This time I'll focus on Hana and Fresh Mint.

I can't imagine a guide or article that talks about Hana not going on and on about the road to Hana. Yeah, it was twisty turny, but not life threatening like they say (I didn't go all around the island on the road. Just to Hana, then turned around). As long as you know how to yield for the 1 lane bridges, you're good. Oh, and don't hold up locals or other people by going too slow w/ your looky loo touristy ways. Again, common sense. If you're in the lead and have more than 5 cars stacked up behind you, then pull over and let them pass. The road is really LONG and if you get carsick, you'll love the twistyness of it all. Plan ahead before you go because there are a ton of places to stop and check things out, but almost all of them unmarked and chances are you won't know that you're missing a hike or whatever. Here are some pics taken from the car. As you can tell, I'm more of a let's get there already types vs. let's take out sweet time and stop a bajillion times.

At Hana, we went to the Hana bay black sand beach. Not really that exciting. blabbity blab meander around for a bit. Then went to the Wai'Anapanapa State Park. The views were incredible. In the pic below, you can see a black sand beach. We went swimming there, but for only about 1/2 hour because the surf was pretty rough.

This is a panoramic view of the park. Off to the right, there are lots of lava rock that you can climb around on and get blasted by ocean spray. To the right of that tree, there is a rock island w/ what looks like rabbit ears on it.

Just outside of Hana (maybe mile 29?) sits Coconut Glen's Big Dumb Coconut Stand. Translation - vegan coconut ice cream that is really awesome. Way better than anything I've ever had before.
My 2 flavors: toffee coffee & spicy something. And the "spoon" is a hunk of coconut husk.


On the way back to Napili, we stopped off in Paia to eat dinner at Fresh Mint, an all vegan place. You gotta eat here if you visit Maui. If you go early enough, you can get in some grocery shopping at Mana Foods down the road.

The pics below are of 2 visits to Fresh Mint for 3 people.

Fresh Rolls Fresh Mint Salad
Spicy Lemongrass Soup - oddly there wasn't any lemon flavor until I squeezed in the lemon juice. Lemongrass Not, but still good. Soy Fish in a Clay Pot. I love this dish. gingerific.
I can't remember what these were called, but they tasted great. basically tofu wrapped in yuba & nori.Banana Fritters floating on a sea of tapioca pudding. dessert, mmm...
Also, no clue what this was :).
Kung Pao in bad lighting. ~~~~~
Here's Chippy doing some detective work. If you think for even a second that your cats don't invade your privacy -- think again. Oh, that's not a delicious chocolate shake, that's some Vega; which Chippy is not interested in.

Maui, baby! part 1

As you probably figured out from the title, I went to Maui. Woohoo! I was there at the end of April/ beginning of May. Once in a while I can still feel some of the aloha relaxation vibe coursing through my veins - despite the current yuck weather in Seattle.

In this post I'm going to talk about the health food stores I went to, tacos and other random stuff. I didn't take a lot of pics because most of my time was at the beach and I don't bring a camera there or a towel. That way I don't lose anything.

This is my 2nd time to Maui and I even love arriving at the airport after a 6 hr flight and waiting for luggage. That's because it's an open air airport and the warmth of Maui and the sight of palm trees is immediately felt as you exit the plane. Do I care that I have to wait for luggage / rental car bs? nope.


Down To Earth
I always stop here right after the airport. DTE is an all vegetarian health food store that has a rocking hot bar (almost all vegan), salad bar, deli, and smoothie bar. Not to mention all of the new products you will find in the grocery section. Most important thing: stock up on mangos so that there is always a ripe one to eat at bfast.

Here is my plate from the hot bar. A month+ later and I only remember that every bite was fantastic. Note that I typically detest hot bars / buffets because the food just sits around all day - so my "fantastic" isn't easily earned.

Mana Foods
49 Baldwin Ave, Paia
If you plan on going to Paia (and you should), coordinate it around one of your grocery shopping trips. I love the vibe to this store, I wish it were in WA. They have lots of vegan stuff here - I'm sure you're even bound to find something new to you. There are even some freshly baked vegan treats like banana bread here - 2 thumbs up.

Farmer's Market Store
3636 Lower Honoapiilani Rd, Lahaina
This store has lots of vegan grocery basics. The hot bar is ok, but not as good as DTE. The smoothies are ok, but nothing super special. They do have a really nice sign for the smoothie bar.

Iao Needle State Park
A beautiful and impressive place to visit, but a quick one. The hike part is really short, but I can imagine that making a trail on this terrain would be really difficult. So make this a quick detour on your way to Paia (assuming you're staying in West or South Maui).

Giant Banyan Tree in Lahaina
Southern end of Front St, Lahaina
This is all 1 big connected tree. It's not easy to get a great pic of the whole thing, so I went w/ a panoramic shot. click on it and you should get a better view.

Maui Tacos
Many many locations in maui
taco taco buritto taco taco
I love this place and ate here more times than I can count. They have a good salsa bar - my fave was the hot pineapple salsa. Basically they have vegan tacos, burritos and enchiladas where you can vary the fillings. pinto, black bean, potato, rice, lettuce - you get the idea. They also had a chimichanga on the menu, but I didn't even dare to ask if I could get it veganized.

potato tacos & pineapple salsa



Las Pinatas
395 Dairy Rd Ste J, Kahului
Only 1 location, but worth it. I'm not sure if their tacos are vegan or not, but they have a vegan kitchen sink burrito that is AWESOME. The salsa bar is ok, but not as good as maui tacos.

to be continued... in about a month or so given my current rate of blogging.

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Oh, I suppose I should give you a glimpse of The Judge making sure the canola bottle is clean enough for the recycling bin.