Tag: travel

Dear Reader,

The first time we planned a family vacation to Maui we landed the same day that the devastating wildfires caused the tragedy at Lahaina. I tell that story here and you can Click here for a USA Today article about that tragedy.

We certainly tried to be sensitive to the wishes of the Hawaiians who want the tourists to stay away, and we hear the point of view of those who are against the purchase of land on Maui from outsiders. We also know what it’s like to live in an area that largely depends on tourism and just as we think the place we live in the Appalachian Mountains is beautiful, we wanted to visit what we think is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We noticed that more than once business owners thanked us for visiting and helping to keep them in business following the Lahaina fires. We were not sure that we would ever go back, but when the resort where we planned to stay on our first trip offered us a credit for what we had already paid before our arrival, we decided to take a second family trip to Maui.

What follows is a travel journal that probably serves first as a sort of family scrapbook for me to remember our trip. It was fun to ask my family what they remembered about the day as I tried to compose my lists. I also thought that it might be interesting to some of you as readers. As always, thank you so much for taking the time to visit the Torg Stories website. It means a lot to me to have a community of readers who take the time to visit! I especially enjoy it when what I write here can be a part of a conversation that begins when you say something back to me. I have already enjoyed hearing from so many of you about your visits to Hawaii.

Torgerson Family Travel Journal for July 7 – July 13, 2025

Monday, July 7: Flight from Charlotte to Napili Bay on Maui in Hawaii

1. We flew United from CLT to Denver to Maui and arrived around 3 PM Hawaii Standard Time (HST).
2. I think it’s good to avoid the largest SUVs when renting a car in Maui because the parking is often tight and if you drive around much on the island, the roads are often narrow. We had reserved a smaller SUV but were offered a Jeep Rubican and accepted that. We enjoyed it!
3. We arrived to the Napili Kai Resort around 5:00 pm Hawaii Standard Time (HST). This is the resort that offered us a credit after we were unable to stay the time we arrived as the Lahaina fires began. On that trip, we spent our first night in a parking lot. The roads to West Maui were closed and that section of the island had lost power.
4. We choose to break up our trip by staying in two different areas of Maui:
5. West Maui where we stayed the first three nights at the Napili Bay Resort. We choose this area because there are several quieter coves where the waves are consistently more calm.
6. South Maui where we booked through VRBO staying at a condo complex in a building called the Mana Kai. We enjoy this area because it is central to a lot of restaurants and shopping.
7. We arrived to the Napili Kai Resort around 5:00 and after checking into the room, went down to enjoy the water. After that, we went to eat at the onsite Sea House Restaurant. I ordered a fish I never heard of but really enjoyed it. No one else liked their food, not because it wasn’t good but mostly because it tends to be that the more upper end and interesting restaurant food is, the less most of the family likes it.
8. We saw a beautiful sunset, and we were in bed by 8 PM. That’s 2 am where we live outside of Boone, North Carolina. Part of a visit to Hawaii probably includes going to bed very early and waking up around 5 AM, at least the first couple of days!

Tuesday, July 8: Snorkeling in Kapula Bay and Walking the Coastal Trail

1. Megan and I woke up before 6 AM, and we were in the grocery store before 7 am.
2. Izzy and I went to Snorkel Bob’s to rent snorkel gear for four, two boogie boards, and two lawn chairs. A really nice woman helped us. She told us she used to sell time shares and now she works three jobs. We rented the gear for the week and could return it at any location at any time. Since we were moving from West Maui to South Maui after three nights, this worked great for us.
3. Megan, Izzy, and I walked a part of the Kapalua Coastal Trail while Charlotte worked on an application for her college transfer. Izzy was not very into the walk because she was anxious to get to the beach.
4. All of us used the Kapalua Coastal trail to walk north up to Kapalua Bay to snorkel. We thought it would be a little bit better than Napili because Kapalua had more rocks which seems to attract more fish. The snorkeling at both places turned out to be great. We saw many brightly colored fish and several sea turtles. One of the turtles surprised Megan and almost hit her face mask. The turtles were about the size of an innertube you’d float down the river on. Megan and Charlotte got very sunburned snorkeling. We were probably in the water just under 45 minutes.  
5. Megan and the girls stayed on the beach at Napili Bay and used the pools. Each pool had views of the beach and the ocean. I walked the Kapalua Coastal Trail from Napili to DT Fleming Beach near the Ritz Carlton Resort. I ate lunch ($50 for a hamburger, side salad, and a beer) at the Burger Shack.
6. In the late afternoon, we all went to Whaler’s Village. It’s a nice outdoor mall on the water. There are lots of places to eat. The ocean was filled with catamarans and other boats. Izzy bought her boyfriend a hat. There is a long walking trail here too along the ocean called the Kaanapali Beachwalk.
7. We returned to the hotel before dinner. We relaxed for about an hour and after some Googling, decided on a fish shack where you ordered at the counter. None of us liked our food on this meal either. For me, it was one very thick piece of fish in a tortilla for a fish taco. Again, no complaints about the restaurant. I think I learned I just don’t like a very thick piece of fish.
8. Due to the time change (6 hours from our eastern standard time) and lots of sun, we were so tired that we were all asleep before the sun set.

Wednesday, July 9: Hanging at Napili Bay and sunset sail with Sail Maui

1. In the morning, Megan, Charlotte, and I walked the Kapalua Coastal Trail. Charlotte enjoyed the cats we saw on the walk. Izzy stayed in the room. “It’s not even 7:00 o’clock in the morning!” she told us.
2. We spent the morning at the beach and the pool.
3. The resort had an 18-hole and a 9-hole putting course. Charlotte and I did the 18-hole course. We ate lunch at the snack bar at the resort.
4. We went on a sunset sail with Sail Maui that left at 5:00. The traffic from our resort to the harbor was thick and we were a little late for check in for the sail. It was very windy. We enjoyed the sail a lot. The crew was made up of the captain Kevin and two “assistants” Jess and Justin. We enjoyed the people on the catamaran with us. There was a funny family and a group of kids we decided were at a camp. We had booked previously with Sail Maui the first time we visited Maui. Because of the fires, they have relocated from Lahiana to Maalaea Harbor.
5. We went to Whaler’s Village for dinner. We ate at the Hula Girl Restaurant. The atmosphere was excellent with a band that played well known songs with a Hawaiian twist. Once again, we spent a lot on dinner and didn’t like our food.  We were proud that we stayed up until almost ten. Megan and the girls were especially tired.

Thursday July 10: Izzy’s Birthday and Driving the Honoapiilani Highway

1. It’s Izzy’s 17^th birthday!
2. We set out to drive around the north end of Maui. It was something we had debated whether or not to do because of how narrow we had heard the road was. There were several breathtaking overlooks from high up on rocky cliffs looking out on the coast and the Pacific Ocean.
3. There were spots on the roads when drivers would meet each other from opposite directions with no room to get around one another. The road had frequent pull-out spots but even in those spots the road was often more narrow than even the mountain roads we are used to. The drivers would have to decide who was going to back up to one of those pull outs. All drivers were friendly throughout the negotiations and encounters. We feel we were a bit lucky when it came to that. We encountered far less local people and those we did see were friendly. This is different from the road to Hana. We had travelled that on our first visit and we felt quite a bit of hostility about our presence. Because of that, we decided not to return to that area of the island on this visit.
4. The first part of the road around the north end of Maui is called Honoapiilani Highway (30) and the second part of the road is called Kahekii Highway (340).
5. Going around the curves with steep drop offs not knowing if we’d come face to face with another vehicle was the most nerve-racking part of the drive.
6. There is a blow hole on the coast near the road. I wasn’t sure which parking lot was the closest. Parking was $27 and we were supposed to use our phone to pay but we didn’t have cell phone service. I also wasn’t sure how long the hike was down to the blow hole so we decided against it. I know regret not hiking down to the blow hole.
7. There were several road side stands. We were looking for Julia’s because it was mentioned in a guidebook. We bought Julia’s banana bread for $25.
8. One of the best sites was the point of what is called Pu’u Koa’e.
9. We did a little of a mile of a steep hike on the Waihee Ridge Trail.
10. We were spending our last three nights in the Kihei section of Maui at a condo community called Mana Kai.
11. In Kihei, we went to the South Shore Tiki Lounge. It is the restaurant we remembered the most fondly from our first visit. It is decorated with bamboo and surf boards. There is always surfing on the televisions. We got a cheese pizza for Izzy, and Da Hawaiin (pepperoni and pineapple) for us. It was as good as we remembered.
12. The Kihei Kalama Village market is right next to the tiki bar. Megan enjoys talking with the vendors and buying things made locally by those who are selling their creations. We came back to the market again later in the week.
13.   We couldn’t check into our second lodging, the Mana Kai, until 4 PM so we went to the Shops at Waliea. This is the area we stayed the last time we were in Maui. The shops had no water and air conditioning for a couple of days. The store managers seemed to act like this is something that happens somewhat regularly.
14. Once we checked into the Mana Kai, Izzy and I went and used the boogie boards. The waves outside our condo at Keawakapu Beach were generally much larger. Rather than the smaller cove at Napili Kai where we stayed the first three nights, there were miles of open beach in this area of Maui.
15. We went to Moose McGillicudy’s to celebrate Izzy’s birthday at eat dinner. She picked the restaurant. We were sat by the window looking out at the ocean. We enjoyed our food. A woman came by selling leis and the girls each picked one out. Things really came together for a good dinner for Izzy’s birthday. Izzy got churros to go for dessert.
16. We walked across the street to watch the sunset. The girls took pictures of each other.  
17. We were in bed a little after 9 PM.

Fri July 11: Fruit Bowls, the Waliea Beach Path, and the Kihei Food Truck Park

1. We had breakfast at one of the Kihei Café locations. This one was next to a pool.
2. We went shopping at some stores off of Kihei Rd including the 808 Clothing Company.
3. We spent late morning and early afternoon at the pool and at Keawakapu Beach.
4. I went up to the room and watched the Fever beat the Atlanta Dream.
5. We (myself, Charlotte and Izzy) walked from Mana Kai complex in Kihei on Keawakapu Beach and then on to Keawakapu II, Mokapu Beach, Ulua Beach Park, Wailea Beach, and then up onto the Waliea Beach Path to the Fairmont at Polo Beach. We walked barefoot on the beaches and then put our shoes on for the paved beach path.
6. Megan and Charlotte stopped at the Four Seasons Beachwalk Café to get shaved ice while I did the end of the trail to the Fairmont and back.
7. We had dinner at the Kihei Food Oasis. It’s a food truck park. There were probably around 40 food trucks to choose from, and it has a great atmosphere with live music, games such as cornhole, and lots of shade.
8. We had dessert at Maui Sweet Shoppe.

Saturday, July 12: Breakfast bowls from Hawaiian Moons and Snorkeling at ‘Ahihi Cove

1. We went to Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods for breakfast bowls. This is a place we remembered fondly from our first visit to Maui. These are the best bowls we have had on Maui. They are lighter on the acai and have much more fresh fruit.
2. We took our bowls across the street to Kamaole Beach Park and sat at a picnic table near the ocean. Izzy had bought a cookie and noticed that the ants were carrying away her crumbs. She observed how well the ants worked together, and she noted that ants are underrated as a favorite animal.
3. We drove south and snorkeled at ‘Ahihi Cove. We saw the most diverse fish of our three times snorkeling.
4. In the afternoon, we returned to the Kihei Kalama Village on Kihei Road. The girls did more shopping. We bought gifts for some people including my mom and sister Anne.
5. For dinner, we went to Waikiki Brewing at the Shops of Wailea.

Sunday, July 13^th: Paia and Three Flights Home

1. We went to Paia on the other side of the island mostly so Izzy could get a Nutella crepe at the Café Demis. The town of Paia wa also kind of on the way to the airport. Megan and I shared a breakfast burrito and a crepe with toffee, Bannas, and whip cream. Charlotte also got a crepe.
2. Paia’s buildings are brightly colored and worn in a way that reminds me of Key West. It has the most eclectic shopping choices I’ve seen on Maui. It seems to be a surfing and fishing town.
3. Megan and Izzy went to the beach and sprinkled the flowers from Charlotte and Izzy’s leis back into the ocean. There wasn’t much parking and so Charlotte and I waited in the Jeep. We also didn’t want to get sandy for what was going to be an overnight flying journey back to North Carolina.
4. Our flight home left Maui at 3:00 for San Francisco. We arrived in San Fransico at 11 PM their time and had turkey sandwiches from the airport. Our flight took off about 20 minutes late. This made us concerned about whether we would make our connecting flight in Chicago. We had about 40 minutes between what was supposed to be our arrival in Chicago.
5. We got off the plane in Chicago at 6:40 am Chicago time, and that was about the time boarding was supposed to close for our last flight. We ran to the next terminal over and were among the last five people to get on the flight.
6. Everyone slept in the car while I did the two-hour drive from the Charlotte airport back to Boone, North Carolina. I felt some sadness on the way home just because I enjoyed being back together as a family for a week, but I mostly just appreciated that we were able to make the trip together.

I’d love to hear any Hawaii stories you’d like to share in the comments. I’m happy to try and answer any questions you might have. Thank you so much for checking out the post!

Best,

Torg