Maui ~ Paradise Found: Part 1

Maui is a place dreams are made of. It’s what you envision when you think about Hawaii. It’s beautiful beaches, lush mountains, and richly colored sunsets that inspire the most beautiful prints. 

While Oahu was amazing, if I’m being honest, it doesn’t even compare to Maui. I’m glad that we went to Oahu, saw the sites, and can check it off our list, but Maui will always have my heart.

The day we arrived it was bright and sunny, which coincidentally matched our smiles 🙂

We picked up our rental car and Husband drove us straight to the Paia Fish Market for lunch. Although very casual, it was the meal we had been waiting for. Fresh, locally caught fish tacos and sandwiches, along with a cold local brew to wash it down. 

And of course we couldn’t leave without satisfying our sweet tooth with some Ono Gelato.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, and it was incredible. Perfectly relaxing, very luxurious, and everything we could have wanted for the last leg of our vacation.

Our room had an incredible view of the ocean, and ended up being a great place to take in a sunset or two. 

When we travel, we utilize Trip Advisor pretty much constantly. It has led us to some of the best food experiences we’ve had. I will say though, as it turns out, Hawaiians don’t seem to use it as much as we do in the states. Nevertheless, our first night we ended up at the highly recommended (and crowded) Star Noodle. And it didn’t disappoint! 

Lately, we have acknowledged that entree sizes are simply massive. So instead of ordering two entrees, we have been in the habit of ordering an appetizer and an entree, and splitting. It’s always plenty of food, if not still too much, and it makes even the most expensive restaurants reasonably affordable. We learned quickly that this was key in Maui, and really for Hawaii in general, as every restaurant we looked at posted menu prices at $30+ a plate. And that was just the regular restaurants!

At Star Noodle we thought the small plates looked rather small on a couple of tables, so we opted for two small plates and one of the noodle soups to split. It was WAY too much food haha! But delicious!

A fiddlehead fern (I had those in my wedding bouquet!), and shrimp sesame salad.

Vietnamese Crepe (Husband’s fav)

Don’t remember the name noodle soup.

The next day we kept it low key, laying by the pool and beach. I somehow let Husband talk me into swimming in the ocean. Have I mentioned I’m MAJORLY afraid of sharks. As in if I can’t feel the bottom with my feet it’s all I can do to not go into a panic attack. I usually require him to hold me as I wind myself up into a tight ball so no extremities will be bitten off 🙂