Day 4 began casually. Trying to sleep in but failing. My mind just decided that it’s ready to be up! So I went walking around Front Street in Lahaina town again. It was early enough that not much was open yet. I found one virtual geocache and then went looking for another. The second one was located under part of a restaurant that hung out over the ocean a bit. Unfortunately it was high tide so there was no way for me to get to it without getting completely soaked and I hadn’t come prepared for that. I got fairly wet just trying to see if I could get to it.
I decided to grab breakfast at the restaurant (“Cheeseurger in Paradise”). I got cheeseburger scramble which sadly was, “meh.” I don’t think I did anything else before returning to my room and just relaxing for a while before taking a shower and getting ready for the wedding.
I went 6 miles down the road to the Olowalu Plantation House where the wedding was taking place. Immediately I was struck by what a great place this was for a wedding. Beautiful and right on the beach, the ocean as your backdrop. The wedding itself was, without question, the most beautiful, magical wedding I’ve ever been to. From the scenery to the ceremony itself to the reception and most of all the people, it was just beyond words. I had come here knowing no one but the bride. At the rehearsal dinner, I had met many great people and so I felt like knew a lot of them now. I just don’t know how else to describe the entire atmosphere and experience other than “magical”. As the night grew to a close and the moon reflected off the ocean, I said goodbye to all these people and there was definitely a melancholy. Though I had two more days here and despite the fact taht I had not seen any of these people outside the rehearsal dinner and wedding/reception, it was strange knowing that the next day most of them were all dispersing to their homes or next locations on the itinerary. Though I had come here for a vacation as well, the reason that had spurred it all, the invitation that brought me, this magical event was over.
I got back to my room and set my alarm. My plan was to get about 3 hours of sleep and then drive to the summit of Haleakala, the worlds tallest dormant volcano, to watch the sunrise. Since I had visited the other end of the park on Thursday (mistakenly thinking I could reach the summit from there) my ticket was good for three days so if I went back Saturday, it wouldn’t cost me anything.
Day 5
As I slept, I kept thinking “wow, this three hours is not coming nearly as quickly as I feared.” That’s because I mistakenly set my alarm for 2:30 P.M. instead of A.M. I realized this about 30 minutes before sunrise and since it’s a two to three hour drive, that idea was out. I decided to just sleep in and that I would just pay another $10 and go back on Sunday morning.
Sleeping in felt good. I decided to take the day totally casually again and probably just fill it with geocaching since that always ends up leading me to cool places, no decision making required! First I went back to Front street and hit some shops (I hadn’t really gone in many of the shops). I also found that since it was Saturday it was much busier than I’d ever seen it before and there were arts and crafts vendors set up in Banyan Tree park. After much browsing, I went to eat at “Bubba Gump Shrimp Co”. It was kinda touristy and maybe a little overpriced but the view and the food were excellent. almost every table has a view right out onto the ocean, and the whole place feels very open and breezy. Not a lot of difference between the inside and outside portions. Never the less, I sat outside for that little extra breeze (it’s still covered…I’m not kidding when I say it’s barely any different). I had an awesome “chiller” smoothie type drink made from fresh strawberries and mangos and the “I’m Stuffed…stuffed shrimp”. Jumbo shrimp covered (not really stuffed) in crab meat and garlic butter sauce, topped with monterey jack cheese and rice. It was delicious!
A few more shops and then I went back to my room for a breather. I had a little nap then did some serious geocaching until sunset. As usual it took me to all kinds of cool scenic places I probably never would have seen and I got to feel like some secret agent finding hidden boxes, signing the log and then hiding them back in their place while trying not to be seen by “muggles”.
After what I decided was going to be my last cache for the day, I was at a very scenic rocky spot by the ocean so I sat down on a perfect little rock and watched the sunset. I decided to hit up “Teddy’s Bigger burgers” one last time, since I wouldn’t be able to on Sunday due to my plans and my flight out.
Tonight, I have my alarm correctly set for 2:30 A.M.