Still, we went to Lahaina twice: first for dinner at the Pacific'o on Saturday night (our last night on Maui), and then for a stroll/hobble along the Front street and lunch on the day of departure, because our flight was late in the afternoon.
Pacific'o is, in my opinion, the most romantic restaurant in Lahaina, which is saying something - because there are at least two dozen others vying for this title. It is right on the beach, with beautiful sunset views. Actually I liked the view even more than the food. The food was good; the view was spectacular. There happened to be another of those weddings on the beach, conducted literally in front of our table - minus the canoe, but the seashell-blowing priest/shaman very prominent... what are the chances of seeing two of those in one day? Then, as soon as the wedding was over, the sunset show began...
The guidebook claims that parking in Lahaina is impossible, but we didn't find that so. Maybe because we were not there during the "high season" - but we had no trouble parking near the 505 Front St. cluster of restaurants and shops on Saturday, and on Sunsday morning Alex repeatedly found street-side stalls along the Front street, to make my walking distances manageable. The whole Front street, which is the main street in Lahaina, is lined with souvenir shops, specialty stores, cafes and such; it is a pleasant place by day and is literally jumping at night. I highly recommend staying in South Maui but visiting Lahaina in the evenings, just for the sheer energy of the place.
Most of the historic and cultural attractions are also on Front street. First, there is the Banyan Tree park, which is a whole park made up by a single humongous banyan tree. There is also Pioneer Inn, which looks very old, and some other historic buildings, a former Chinese Temple (now a museum), and at the North end, towards Mala wharf - Jodo Mission, with its pagoda and a huge statue of Buddha, visible from the outside.
For our final meal on Maui, we selected a little cozy restaurant right at the water edge, called Honu. "Honu" means "turtle" in Hawaiian, and the restaurant is well named: as we were having lunch on the deck, turtles were constantly poking their heads out of the water, as if to say "goodbye"... A tiny lizard, called brown anole, was sitting on a pole right next to our table, with its bright-orange throat sac (dewlap) flickering on and off. Food was delicious, and so were the cocktails. The view down the coast was tranquil and beautiful. It was very sad to say "goodbye" to Maui, but we hope to come back someday...
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