The Severed Cortex

I want to learn how to snorkel. I'm guessing it's a simple enough concept. Make top of curvy tube stay in air. Breathe through other end of curvy tube. Look through glass in mask. But, in case it is more than just that we sign up for the (almost) free snorkel lessons poolside at 9:30. Since we are up at the crack of down, we lollygag around until breakfast. Back home it's damn near noon. The locals must get sick and tired of the mainlanders waking up to what would be their ungodly hour in the morning. Even the West Coast folks who are only a scant three hours difference in time zones and body clocks are problematic I'm sure. We still manage to eat breakfast by 7:00 and we are obviously on the back side of the morning rush. For the same price as the buffet breakfast here at the Sheraton I could have eaten at Bristols or Top of the Riverfront for brunch in St. Louis. At least it was relaxing and very slow paced. We sat around grazing and watching the birds search for table scraps for well more than an hour.
At 9:30, or maybe a slight bit earlier, we arrive at the beach house for the snorkel lessons. We get a mask, snorkel, and fins and are told to wait by the adjacent pool. Yes, we looked like tourist dorks. A few minutes later we are joined by a woman from LA who had her own snorkel gear and Robbin, a transplant from Oregon. Robbin teaches us how to fit our mask properly, how to purge water from the snorkel tube, and instructs us on the dangers of touching sea life. No way am I touching this stuff but I guess you have to tell the stupid tourists. They don't put directions on shampoo bottles for no reason at all. The key points here are: the sea turtles are endangered and it is pricey if you get caught touching them and don't touch the spiky sea urchin. Painful.
Next up is the test in the pool. Surprisingly I find it relatively easy to breathe and it doesn't take me long to get the hang of it. The only issue is that I find the flotation belt she gave me to be unwieldy. That's pretty much it for snorkel lessons. Just as I suspected. Ten minutes later I'm swimming around Black Rock, reputed to be some of the best snorkel water in Maui. I saw a fair number of fish and I got to swim a couple of feet awy from a sea turtle about two feet in diameter. Very cool. There were a couple of times I got disoriented and had to stick my head up to get my bearings. I also had a couple of 'weirdness' thingy's with breathing and had to stop, take off the mask, and breathe through my nose. But, the more I relaxed and breathed through my mouth, the easier it became. Less is more. I lazily swam around for about a half hour watching colorful fish, sand explosions on the ocean floor as the waves washed in and out, and a lot of kelp. I will definitely be snorkeling again and next time I will have my own gear.
This is pretty much the extent of our lazy day. We wanted to spend it on the beach and that's all we did all afternoon. I'm laid out on a beach towel either watching the lovely and not so lovely people, or I'm swimming in the ocean. I alternate about every 30 minutes. Despite my efforts to slather on sunscreen and monitor myself for the beautiful pinkish-red and freckled freakiness when I get too much sun, I still manage to get sunburned. The funny thing is I didn't see it while we were on the beach. It only showed up when I got back to the room and took a shower. At the moment it isn't too painful. As we head down the public walk to Whalers Village, a collection of shops and restaurants serving the Kaanapali resorts, it becomes more evident that there is going to be some pain. By the time we sit down to drinks and a snack at Hula Grill, I notice the full effect of the suntan. I mean sunburn. I mean sunfried, or perhaps even sun-blackened.
Even though we are hungry and it is late afternoon, Hula Grill is still serving lunch. We planned on dinner but once we saw the lunch menu we settled on the appetizers. I had my heart set on fish and wound up with the sashimi and a couple of Kona Reds. Much better than the Longboards. The sashimi was a little not fresh on one end an very fresh on the other. They didn't skimp on the portions. Nancy got some coconut calamari and a Mangorita, which she reported was heavy on the tequila. We decide to head into Lahaina for a real dinner instead.
After window shopping in Whalers Village, we grab the car and head to Lahaina. Front Street is a short 2 mile drive away and it is loaded with shops and bars and restaurants. We struggle to find some parking but eventually find a public parking spot. It has an unattended pay machine that dispenses a receipt you place on the windshield. I run it over to the car and put it in plain sight. On the way back a local on a bike asks me if I want to buy some pot. He took me by surprise so much that I had to ask him again if I heard correctly. I know I look like surburban white dude dad and yet this happens to me a fair amount. I guess I must just have that look. No, I did not buy any Maui Wowie.
Our first choice for restaurants is closed. We walk down the Front Street drag and settle on Kimo's instead. Since we weren't particular about getting an ocean view table we are seated right away. Our waiter Mike was very nice and informative. The cocktail server was awful. We got our wine after we ordered dinner and just shortly bfore the salads arrived. The food was great though. I ordered onaga with the Kimo house preparation (basil, lemon, butter ... less is more) and Nancy had mahi-mahi with an orange macadamia sauce. Both were fantastic but I think mine was better. We topped it off with some coffee and headed back to the resort. Well, after we took a short detour down to the other end of Front Street to take a gander at the totally freaky Banyan tree.

Some pics:
The View From The Lanai
Breakfast
Snorkeling Area in Distance
Afternoon Drinks
Our view at Kimo's (plus the top of a husky boob)
Banyan Tree at Night