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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

FRANKLIN AVENUE IN MAUI: The Stats



You might have noticed the sparse blogging (and even less Tweeting) last week... truth be told, we were off on Maui, enjoying a little family bonding time on the beach.

I was mixed about heading to Maui. We usually head to Oahu for our Hawai'i trips, as we don't get back too often, and I'd like to see high school friends and visit old stomping grounds.

But going to Maui? It's much more a tourist experience. Which was fine; the goal was to get away and have some fun with the wife and kids. Accomplished.

Stay tuned in the coming days for our roundup of restaurants and things to do with the kiddies on the Valley Isle. But for now, a quick round up of this trip's quirks:

First impression: On day one of our trip, after just a few hours at our hotel, we witnessed: (a) The swimming pool shut down (and subsequently re-chlorinated) because of someone's bloody foot; followed by (b) the image of a woman, extremely drunk off too many Mai Tais, barfing into a bucket next to said pool. Welcome to Maui!

Worst line: Had to be a tie between the airport security at LAX, which took AN HOUR to pass through on a busy Monday morning; and later, the Hertz rental car line at Kahului Airport, which took another HOUR just to get our previously reserved-and-paid-for vehicle.

Best deal: Touristy Maui is definitely expensive, as it's harder to find a spot without jacked-up prices. But the $5 for a 1/3 pound of fresh Spicy Ahi Poke at Safeway kept us coming back.

Saddest sight: Walking to the beach, I encountered an iPhone, face down in the sand. I moved it to grassy land, but it looked like the damage had been done... and the owner didn't even know yet that his or her phone had gone missing. Sad.

Proudest moment: Watching Blogger Kid go from being afraid of jumping in the water on day one to being an expert by the end of the week -- and demanding that we hire contractors to dig a pool in our own backyard. (Sorry kid, it ain't happening.)

Biggest celeb sighting: Rob Reiner, who got to jump to the front of that HOUR-LONG security line at LAX.

Small world moment: It's 5 a.m., and we're 10,000 feet above sea level, on top of Haleakala, waiting for the sun to rise. Suddenly, someone asks: "Hey, are you Mike Schneider?" I turn around: It's Sean O'Rourke, who I know from "Attack of the Show" and who now works on Leno. Sean was on vacation with his wife, Stacy; whatta small world!

Best meal: Probably Japanese at Kihei's Izakaya Matsu (more on meals in a future post)

Spam consumed: Mike: One Spam musubi; Maria: One spam musubi, two Spam-and-egg breakfasts. (Mike focused on his breakfast meat of choice, Portuguese sausage)

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