Finally, a Beach Day in Hawaii!

After a heavenly dinner last night, we got up early again due to the time difference and took our sweet time before hitting the road for a beach day towards Lahaina. We read that it was Mariah Carey's 34th or 44th or 45th birthday today so we put on the classic "Always Be My Baby" and sang along. We then hit Kmart for some beach towels and Snorkel Bob's for some snorkel rentals. We are huge fans of Snorkel Bob's.

K's sister Liz and her roommate Erin were in town for the wedding so we decided to meet up with them at Napili Beach. It is a big snorkel spot because of the fish and turtles who live there. It is also a big family beach but it was nice. After snorkeling, it got scorching hot and T & M found some spot in the shady grassy area. The rest of us didn't make it long after that. Before we left the "tennis garden"/parking area, we saw a bunch of aloe plants and decided to take a branch for some natural sunburn healing later...

In the car, T said it smelled like potato chips. In a couple of minutes, M said it smelled like clam chowder. They realize it is that damn aloe, which was oozing out in the car! Gross! Anyway, after the first beach, we went to a taco place called Ono Tacos. We all got a combo of 2 tacos plus rice and beans. This place was awesome. We then hit a Hawaiian Shave Ice spot for dessert while T picked up a Lilikoi gelato. 

By the time we got to the next beach, the car smelled like arm pits. This aloe had to go! We dumped it off at the parking lot and had to rinse out the cup holder that was holding it in the car. It had green liquid all over it. 

This beach (we don't know the name but it's right in front of a bar/restaurant called Duke's) had fewer people. It was also kind of breezy and scorching hot. We got really lucky though because there were a pair of available unused rental umbrellas left over from a family, so we took them over! 

After taking a couple dips and naps, we got a drink at Duke's. The man with the ukulele hooked us with his rendition of Prince's "Kiss." But then he played a sped-up version of "Brown Eyed Girl." Slow down, this is beach life!! We also chatted with the waiter, who was born and raised in Maui, except for that ill-advised period of time he decided to go to Iowa for college.

When we got back to the car, there were a couple of people with their dogs running around with no leashes. For some reason, this big poodle was paying attention to Erin and aggresively lunged at her for no reason. I thought he actually bit her! The owners did not apologize at all and were thus extremely rude! Humans!

After the drink, we decided to change clothes at Liz and Erin's hotel. We then headed to the downtown area of Lahaina where all the shops were. We watched the sunset before heading out to dinner, which was more difficult than expected. We hopped in our cars and headed to Aloha Mixed Plate. Parking there was impossible so T and I got out to see how long the wait was... It was 1-1.5 hours! So we decided to head next door to Honu Seafood and Pizza. We ordered some poke and salads for the most part and couldn't linger to chat all night because a. we were all exhausted, and b. the Haiku habitants had more than an hour drive back to the house.