Sun, Sand, Surf and .... Sprains

26 February 2014

At last - a day of leisure! We planned to sleep in, go to the beach, come back to the condo and relax and then head to Lahaina for some shopping and dinner.  Well, that all happened, but of course not quite according to plan.

What a delight to sleep in and then eat a leisurely breakfast on the lanai! That lovely soft warm air and a gentle breeze...  It's April 17 as I start this post, and I'm looking at several inches of snow.  Hardly normal at this time of year, and I'm bloody tired of it. We thought by going to Hawaii at the end of February, we'd come back with winter's back broken.  Boy, were we wrong.

But I digress.

As I sat and sipped my tea, a yoga class started on the grass below. I wished I had a mat and could go join them, until I watched for a while.  Perhaps it was designed for folks with mobility issues, but it just looked boring to me. I don't think they did a single standing pose - and it went on for 90 minutes!

Eventually we got all our stuff together (leisure day, remember?) and headed off to Makena Beach State Park, better known as Big Beach. On the way, we stopped at (I think) the Four Seasons hotel to see if a friend of Kendra's was working. He's in charge of one of the restaurants there. He wasn't in yet, but we walked around the vast lobby - open to the air! What do they do in a big windy storm? Then we walked around the pool and down to the beach.  This is your luxury place to stay, with little private cabanas and staff to tend to your every need.  I'm pretty darn sure one night in one room there was more than our four nights for four at the condo - where just about all we did was sleep anyway! I felt awfully out of place in my Target coverup...  It's interesting to note that all beaches in Hawaii are open to everyone. The beach in front of this hotel is not "theirs" - anyone can use it.  It's so friendly that way.

When we got to the beach, a sign over the entrance warned visitors to not leave valuables in the car. Everything we read stated this most emphatically.  Apparently breaking into cars is the biggest crime issue on the islands.  We took heed, and carried everything of value with us or left it behind.  James misspoke and told a cashier he'd left his license in the car (it was at the condo) and the guy practically read him the riot act! It was a bit overdone, but at least the intent was good. I'd read Big Beach never felt crowded, even with the parking lot full. Good thing that turned out to be true, as the lot was mostly full when we arrived and jammed when we left! And good thing there are trees on the beach. We promptly set our stuff down in the shade and headed for the water - wearing SPF 50 sunscreen. Ah, lovely warm water under a blue, blue sky... I was astonished at the pull of the water as the waves receded. Granted, I haven't spent much time in oceans, but the pull isn't nearly that strong in Florida. If you go far enough out, you can just bob up and down in the waves, no problem. But if you're closer to shore, right where incoming and outgoing meet, it's often enough to knock you off your feet, even if it's not waist deep! I know this from experience.... I was bending over to try to grab a piece of coral (not many shells there, but a fair amount of coral), and got knocked ass over teakettle.  It would have been funny, but I got caught in the in and out and couldn't get up for 2 or 3 waves. Somehow my sunglasses managed to stay on top of my head - I'm really  not sure how. I went back up on the beach to sit in the shade for a while after that, but had to head back into the water.  That meeting place of waves was chock full of sand - and now so was I. You should have seen the clouds that came out of my suit.  Well, no, actually you shouldn't... Joe managed some body surfing. Kendra and James did some bobbing about, but not too much. James fell asleep in the sun, while Kendra read.  Joe and I retired to
the shade whenever not in the water. We applied more sunscreen. Kendra didn't, figuring being in the shade was enough.  But northern skins burn even then...  Joe and I were fine, but James and Kendra got pretty pink.  She was sore; he wasn't - and his was worse. Go figure.  You could even see where the wires of his headphones had lain across his chest! Of course we didn't realize this right away - but it turned out to be a good thing we all got hungry and left for lunch, or they'd have been really crispy.

Side note: We didn't observe any real tidal action in Hawaii.  I'm not sure if we missed it, or there really isn't any.  I kind of figure the islands just aren't big enough to be affected that way - the ocean must hardly even notice them!



Our lunch  spot - fish feeding from below!

When we got out of the car for lunch, Joe just stopped in his tracks.  He thought it was a leg cramp. Nope. He's not sure how or when - probably when body surfing - but he sprained his ankle.  Did a good job of it, too. We got an ace wrap and iced it and he elevated it, but he could barely limp along. Driving didn't seem to be an issue, but walking sure was. All four of us went out for shaved ice after lunch.  In our three and a half days on Maui (one of those gone for 14 hours to Hana), we'd accumulated 10 punches to get a free one!  And they don't give you a mini for your free one, either - it can be any size you want with any number of flavors on top!

We'd planned to head to Lahaina for sushi, stopping beforehand for a bit of souvenir shopping (Kihei doesn't have a lot besides trinket kind of stuff). Joe wanted a Hawaiian shirt (they have Hawaiian shirt Fridays during the summer at his job), and we were on the hunt for one that 1) was made in Hawaii - lots aren't, 2) was cotton or at least mostly cotton 3) was reasonably well made and (here's the hard one when combined with the others) 4) not over $100.  The rest of us wandered the mall, searching, while he sat.  I finally found one in, of all places, a store akin to Walgreen's! He hasn't had a chance to wear it yet...  I was looking for one for me, too, but either they're not cut for women, or they're all polyester (ick) or they're hugely expensive. I eventually found a dress instead of a shirt in, believe it or not, the airport. Who knew? By then I'd looked around enough to be OK with the price I paid. I'd have been better off going to a fabric store and then making my own, but we ran out of time for that.

James' Japanese beer

We didn't go to the sushi place in Lahaina, as it turned out it was actually a ways north of there, and thus further away from Kihei. We drove back there and went to their second restaurant.  Boy, if you want fresh sushi, Hawaii is sure the place to go.  It's not the only place with really fresh stuff, of course, but I can't imagine it being any more fresh.  I won't eat raw fish, but they had a fabulous selection of either veggie type rolls or others with smoked fish, etc. Kendra and James eat a fair amount of sushi in San Francisco, so they were able to guide our choices.  You can certainly get good sushi here, but it's SO expensive! For a city of about 20,000, Kihei sure had some fabulous food.