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Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Travel Log: Maui (Front Street and Lahaina Fish Co)


Front  Street is located in Lahaina. It's this fun street with just about anything you can imagine to eat , drink, buy and see. 

One side of the street is located on the ocean with these amazing views. We were actually at the Outlet Mall when we ran across Front Street. We decided to stroll around a bit and found this fun filled street. 

We decided to have a quick lunch and opted for the first restaurant we saw (well, the first one after Bubba Gump). I cant remember the name of the place, but the fish tacos were very good and the view was great.

We finished dining and came upon Lahaina Fish Co. We remembered the couple from The Gazebo telling us about it. We decided to make dinner reservations for the next day. Of course, we asked for a table with a view of the sunset.

Flash forward to the next day at 5:30PM.  When we arrived, we were greeting by the hostess who quickly took us upstairs to our table. The upstairs is a balcony and part of it sits right above the ocean. Great table, but we were both a little uneasy at first (until the Hawaiian-tini's kicked in ❤). 

The water below was crystal clear. So clear, that you could see the fish from our table. They even encouraged us to feed the fish our left over bread! 



We order our meals - I had the Seared Pepper Scallops with a side of grilled asparagus. G had the Mac Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi with a side of Brussel Sprouts. When I tell you we had more than enough food, we had more than enough food. 

The scallops were served with a soy sake butter sauce. They were super tender. The appetizer portion was more than enough. The MahiMahi was perfection! The crust was a light panko coating seasoned just right.  It was served with Molokai Sweet Potatoes. These potatoes are purple and have a very different flavor from typical orange sweet potatoes. Our server was kind enough to google Molokai sweet potatoes for us. 

Just as we started eating, the sun was setting. I honestly have never seen sunsets more beautiful than in Maui. 



We enjoyed Lahaina Fish Co. that we planned to come back later the same week. We opted to share the prime rib since the portions are so big there. Trust me when I say it was just as delicious. 

Once we finished eating, we walked down Front to see the sights and do some souvenir shopping. 

On Front Street you'll find clothing stores, restaurants, Bad Ass Coffee Co. (killer banana nut coffee), shave ice, and the infamous Banyan Tree:


The Banyan Tree is massive! It was actually imported from India in 1873. This joker is over 60 feet tall with several different trunks. It was so massive that we couldn't get a full picture of it. The area is actually called Lahaina Banyan Tree Park. 




Stay tuned for more Maui reviews later. Be sure to ask any questions you may have. I'd also like to hear about your travels to Hawaii!

Aloha!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Antigua 2017





Two years ago, our friends, the J's, invited us on a couples cruise. Three couples attended and we traveled to Excellence in Punta Cana. We had a really good time and promised  to so it again the following year.

Fast forward to 2017 -  still three couples. This time our good friends, the S's, joined us and the J's.
Our choice of all-inclusive, all-adult resorts was Sandals Grande Antigua. Ken and I have vacationed at  Sandals Negril. So, we were well aware of the excellent service and beautiful grounds. I must say, as nice as Sandals Negril was (is),  Sandals Grande Antigua was over the top awesome.


We were greeted with champagne and rum punch upon our arrival at the resort. I must say we felt welcome from the minute we stepped onto the resort.  I am a huge researcher of everything. I checked just about every site I could and all of the reviews mentioned the general manager, Mr. G. Guess who was one of the first people to greet us? Yep, Mr. G!  The super cool thing is that he managed the West Baden resort in French Lick, Indiana. How cool is that?

So, once we checked in- which really didn't seem like the typical check in at all - we went to our rooms to freshen up before dinner.  The rooms, the rooms! I love a Sandals resort room. We were all on the Mediterranean side of the resort in Grande Luxe Oceanview Rooms. For a full look at our room, check out my link on Instagram here.  Side note: I have an obsession with pens. These Sandals pens are amazing:

Photo Credit: Tyjuana Hill-Smith Photography
After a full day of travel, we were ready for some dinner. There are at least nine restaurants on the resort. Anxious to get our toes in the sand, we opted for Barefoot. Barefoot is right on the beach with sand underneath your feet. During the day, the menu is jerk chicken, hamburgers  and salads. By night, they serve salmon, mahi mahi, filet, etc. Both menus are delish!  I have to tell you this was the best food on a resort I have had. I mean everything was prepared to perfection.  The cool thing about all-inclusive resorts is that you can order as much as you want. We opted to all order a few different things and were more than eager to share. Believe me, nothing went to waste.




Once we finished dinner, we listened to a local band performing island songs. There are several areas with fire pits that were perfect for relaxing after dinner.  Final stop for the night? The Drunken Duck - an English style pub - with a pool room. Of course, we had to shoot a few - right?

The next day was beach day and boy was I ready! Be sure to follow the blog for more reviews and to detail our couples trip to Sandals. Included is our special sunset photo session with our great friend, Ty and Delmore,  the Sandals photographer.

Here's a glimpse of the beautiful Dickinson Bay until my next post……..



All photos unless noted are from my iPhone 7s.  Thanks to Tyjuana Hill- Smith Photography for taking the pen photo. Be sure to check back for more of her professional photos from our trip.