Last year this mama needed an escape. An escape with just my husband. My youngest at the time was about to turn one and that first year was tough. We brought a new baby home to our 17 month old son, built a house and moved to a new town. Which meant new church, new friends, new grocery store, new normal! This girl doesn’t exactly handle change that well… so all of that to say there were LOTS of transitions in the year 2015. Here I am, almost 2 years later just now sharing why our escape was so wonderful! Today I’ll share on the experiences that made the trip so good, not just the obvious fact that I was away and alone with my husband! Shoot- we could have been in a tent anywhere and been okay as long as we were alone (well maybe not…. neither of us exactly loves nature 😂) We ended up going to Maui for a week in January of 2016 and whoa- we CANNOT wait to go back! Below are just a few of the things we did that we enjoyed. Mind you- our vacation style is more of a go and do type, its nice to lay on the beach but when we travel we want to get out and see what’s around us!

Let’s start with when we arrived at the airport. More than likely you’ll rent a car for your trip. After all, there’s LOTS of driving to do in Maui if you want to get out and adventure. Do not, I repeat, do not go dinky on the car rental! I did (you know the saying, ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’?) and when we got there we looked at the car then looked around at the beautiful scenery. M and I looked at each other and said, “lets upgrade.” That was such a good decision! We wanted a jeep but they were all out for the week so we went with a convertible. I kid you not we cruised with our top down the whole time. Maui is pretty mountainous too, looking back I think the original dinky car rental would have had a tough time putt-putting up the mountains. (Think: Just Married movie, circa 2003)

There is a time change, so the first morning we woke up at like 3 am ready to go. So we decided to go ahead and head over to the Haleakala Crater. We literally drove, and drove, and drove… it was dark and cold. Oh so cold. Did you know Maui gets cold? I didn’t but when you’re literally above the clouds it tends to get chilly. I totally sported a pair of my husband’s sweatpants 😊 We got to watch the sunrise and goodness was it a site. There were hiking trails but the air is pretty thin up there and um…do we look like the hiker type?! We took pictures on the trails but quickly started the retreat back down so we could hit up the beach! Since we were up anyways thanks to the jet lag it definitely made it worth it to see Haleakala. This is something anyone could enjoy, young-old-single-family-kiddos, etc. Definitely add it to your to-do lists!

Let’s talk luau. If you’ve never been to one its like a Hawaiian rite of passage. They are pricey but the food is good and the entertainment is equally as good. We got lucky and sat at such a fun table. For those that know me well you know my introvert side can rage pretty strong sometimes. I will almost always choose to sit alone. I can’t help it. However, we were seated with a hilarious group of people not to mention some movie star from a totally raunchy movie sat near us. So we gazed (okay we creepishly watched the celebrity, cause he was a celebrity after all!) and laughed and enjoyed a night of hula. We chose to go to the Old Lahaina Luau. (Affliate link) Highly recommend it! Great food, activities, dancing and just an awesome overall environment.

Next on our checklist was to snorkel. We were told by so many that the snorkling in Maui was amazing. We signed up for a day excursion through Sail Triology. We did the Discover Molokini and it did not disappoint! There were two different stops. The first was a beautiful coral filled with fish. The second was a sea turtle stop. The water was chilly but the sites were so pretty! It’s been a while since we were there but I’m pretty sure I remember seeing whales too!! We went in January FYI. Unfortunately sea sickness is a thing that I never knew I had, so when lunch was served I was hunched over 🙄 While I sat with the captain (apparently the higher you sit the less likely you are to get sick…) Michael got to snorkel with sea turtles!! Y’all he still raves about it! The service with Sail Triology was TOP NOTCH. I mean, professional, kind, funny, and just all around awesome. The food looked amazing as well. Maybe next time I can hold my stomach better and get to enjoy it! Oh and we loved it so much we bought the shirts! 😂 What’s the saying, “Been there, done that, bought the shirt”?! If/when we go back to Maui we will most definitely give Sail Trilogy our service again!

There are so many beaches in Maui. Literally they are everywhere and honestly they all look a little different. It’s fun to experience each beach’s ‘personality.’ Some beaches were great for playing frisbee on or laying out while others were good for just exploring, like the black sand beaches. One of our favorite areas was on the other side of Kihei, called Big Beach. It was so, well, BIG. We enjoyed time just sitting and having intentional conversation while watching a gorgeous sunset. If you’re feeling adventurous, and I mean ADVENTUROUS, you can venture to Little Beach. The locals kept mentioning it and raved about the drum circle. Ask around and you’ll understand why you need to be up for an experience if you are going to try Little Beach. ☺️

While you’re on the Kihei/Wailea side take the time to do some shopping! This is also the area where the resorts are and it is so pretty and well kept! We hope to take the kids to experience one of the resorts one day. There is the Wailea Golf Club and it is most definitely worth visiting. We didn’t end up playing the course but we should have!

The complete opposite of the Kihei and Wailea area is this adorable town, Paia. It is truly a hippy crowd and we loved it! Think simple, small island town and fun! We grabbed a pizza and had a beach side impromptu dinner date. Sweet, easy and memorable. I will never forget the conversation we had there about how the way of thinking seems so different in Maui than in Texas. It’s actually pretty admirable. Island life as some would call it. We watched as a mom and dad were teaching their little one to surf. Everyone is so chill and laid back in Maui. We day dreamed of picking up and moving there. What would our kids grow up to be like living in Maui vs. Texas? Are we the only ones that toss around crazy ideas like that? Anyways, I think we ended up going there twice, which is a lot considering we were staying completely across the island. There is so much to do around there and I am sure we missed out on something. After all, we’ve been told there is truly no way to see it ALL when traveling.

One more thing worth mentioning. Maui is pretty well known for the Road to Hana. I have to admit, we chose to pass this up. We kind of regret it. From what we understood, it took a whole day of driving and of course pulling over for the stops. We were only in Maui for 7 days so we didn’t want to spend a whole day in the car. Looking back, it is something we would like to try on our next visit.

Also, if you are planning a trip you must check out Activity Authority’s ‘27 Things To Do On Maui‘! This list is packed FULL of great ideas of places to explore and experiences you will never forget! I am evening tucking this away for our next trip to the island! Definitely check it out and bookmark it!

Okay, so I tried not to bore you but did we leave anything out?? After all, this blog is supposed to be ‘snippets’ but when you’re talking about Maui, it’s hard to keep it short! What are some of your favorite must see/do things in Maui? Where has been your favorite place to stay?

Thanks for taking a ‘snippet’ from our world!

-M&B