Sunday, July 6th
July 6th is a special day for our family – Meghann’s birthday! We love to travel, and every year we plan a summer trip during this week. While this year and the last couple have been in Hawaii, we visited South Korea in 2023, and Okoboji in 2022.
The day started like most travel days for us – Meghann runs at the gym, I work on writing/editing/etc., and the girls chill out playing games or watching videos. We grabbed breakfast at local spot called Hawaiian Village Coffee – I had a yogurt parfait, Meghann and Sage an everything bagel, and Vivi a donut. The small space was packed and very busy, but we luckily snagged a few seats and enjoyed our breakfast.
After breakfast we headed back to the hotel. Meghann headed off to a 10am spa appointment I’d booked to get her birthday off on a good note! Despite a rocky appointment check-in, the rest of the experience was great and she came back with very pleasant smelling and shiny hair, courtesy of the hibiscus oil used during a scalp massage. The girls and I stayed back at the room and I finally worked my way through getting yesterday’s post finished.
Maui Zipline Eco Adventure
Meghann decided to give Ziplining a go on her birthday, something we had not done on any of our prior trips. We booked this through Viator, which we’ve found to be a reliable agency for this trip and prior ones as well. This experience promised eight ziplines through a tropical landscape, snacks and bridges. It was also kid-friendly, with both girls above the 50 pound weight limit.
Our appointment was set for 2:30pm, with a roughly 90 minute drive to get there. The drive out took us through the first part of the Hana Highway, cruising through Pā’ia and past the twin waterfalls – places we’ll come back to another day. The road got particularly windy and narrow at times – approaching the zipline office took us down a narrow one-way. After taking turns passing with a couple vehicles, we parked the jeep next to a cliff and walked over.
The zipline office had a few small buildings surrounded by dense foliage on all sides. There were a few other families also on site, finishing up or getting ready for the next tour. Our tour guides were Joel and Gen, both cracking jokes and creating a fun environment as we geared up into our harnesses and helmets. We had two other families that were also part of our group.
After going through safety procedures and some brief walking, they asked for a brave volunteer to be the first to go. Unsurprisingly, Sage threw her hand up and after getting secured to the line, jumped off the platform without hesitation. She set the tone for the rest of us to follow suit!
As we proceeded through the eight ziplines, Joel and Gen continued to crack jokes while pointing out different wildlife. Gen kept finding fruits and berries for us to try as we walked across the pathways. We all got more and more bold with each jump, diving off backwards, going no-hands, and eventually even hanging upside down.
The tour guides were excellent and very gracious throughout. They were very sweet to the girls and engaged them quite a bit with questions. Overall we enjoyed the experience and would recommend this one.
After the zipline tour, we headed back to the hotel to change for dinner. We made a stop at a Safeway to pick up more water and some birthday desserts for after dinner! We had about ten minutes to quickly swap into some nicer dinner outfits and get on the road to the fortunately short drive to dinner.
Plantation House
We booked Plantation House in Kapalua for a nicer dinner to round out Meghann’s birthday. It overlooks a golf course with sweeping views of the ocean – a very beautiful property!
I would say our dining experience was just so-so, especially for the cost. We ordered the Brussel sprouts as an appetizer, which we all agreed were amazing! Meghann and the girls all ordered steaks. The vegetables were good, although the steak itself wasn’t particularly great. I tried it and would probably put it slightly below a good filet at Texas Roadhouse. I ordered the catch of the day which was delicious! Although quite small for how hungry I was after skipping lunch.. 🙂 Meanwhile our drinks were empty for a good part of the time which also wasn’t great – service was slow and didn’t check back frequently. A live musician was just a couple tables away, although we couldn’t hear him at all – it was very loud inside. While the views and appetizer were amazing, I’m definitely looking for a more well-rounded experience when spending that much for a dinner, even in Maui.
After dinner, it was back to the hotel where we were all quite tired from the long day. We managed to share one of the birthday desserts from Safeway for Meg’s birthday, and we sang her happy birthday a time or three, before all falling asleep shortly after.
Wrap-up
Another amazing day of adventures in Maui! We originally planned to do Road to Hana the next day, but decided last minute to swap out the scheduled tour for driving it ourselves, and move it back to Wednesday. Soooo.. Monday is now open! We’re working through planning out the day with some ad-hoc activities, more to come.
As a side-note, the hotel balcony is epic for relaxing and writing these blog posts!! I’ve written in many locations, usually sitting in a hotel room, but loving the weather and the view here. More to come!
