Life gives 2nd degree sunburn....change plans. We'd wanted to just relax on Maui...no sightseeing...not even planned to rent a car until we realized the distance from Kahlului to Kaanapali. Good thing we have the car.

Lyn and I have almost no sun, but the girls are fried. We go to Starbucks for breakfast and contemplate our options.   Saturday swap meet in Wailuki...Iao Valley hiking....Dragon's Teeth in Kalapua....Fleming Beach Park(#1 Beach in NOAM 2006).

So we head to the Swap Meet. Great decision. We find the Maui Community College parking lot and dozens of vendors selling everything from estate jewelry from 200 years to local produce. Jen/Ash find some baubles to take back to friends. KT eyes a ukelele and finds some 1960s Rayban Wayfarers.

We head out 15 minutes to the Iao Valley where there is a state park and plenty of hiking. The cloud cover over the Maui hill/mountains is very unique. You drive around the coast in full sunshine, but all of the lush, dense vegetation mountains always have a big white cloud formation that shrouds them in mist. The Iao Valley drops notable 10 degrees and we find the end of the road there is a nice state park facilities station. Plenty of signs and historical markers, paved paths, and the Iao Needle ...just 5 minutes walk. We see native Hawaiians ducking off into the jungle canopy and decide to do the same. There are some clearly beaten paths and we walk up mountain streams where we find some small waterfalls and a guy jumping off a small cliff-overhang.   We turn uphill and find paths with large stones and petroglyphs. There is a series of "altars" where locals/tourists have rolled up taro leaves around stones and piled them.   Thinking it wards off evil spirits, brings good luck, is an offering ritual...we leave our own stone-leafs at each site along the paths.      Good hiking and adventure. 

2-of-4 completed.  

We head back towards Lahaina and then farther north to Fleming Beach State Park. This was rated #1 beach in the Americas back in 2006, so we decide to check it out. Its in Kapalua near the end of the road as far West as you can go on Maui.    We pass Kahana ( #5 in America shark attacks) and find Fleming.   It is beautiful in a wind-swept way. Not much clear water or calm spots. The surf is pounding hard and it appears a good spot for a board. There is a dense desiduous pine area that comes up to the beach w/ picnicing and modern amentities. The lifeguard station appears very well outfitted and I recall in the 2006 ratings...this beach scored high for amenities and diversity/character.   Maybe a top 10....but not close to #1 in our opinion.
We look around Kapalua for the Dragon's teeth....supposedely the last live lava flow on Maui which was so wind-swept it blew the lava up in frothy spikes with salt water coating them. We spy them from a distance when we find the Kapalua Trail. There are very small / hidden beach access points in Kapalua crowded in between very affluent country club estates.  The beach is public, but you need to look hard for the small lots and steps down. Around the corner from Fleming we find a beach w/ high dunes and sea grass/grape vines. Here the surf is quite large...maybe 10-15 ft waves and there are some advanced surfers here in a group of 5-6 . We see some highlight-reel pros hangin' 10.   No novices here.

Back to our last night in Maui...we are going to Ruth Chris' steakhouse. We arrive for 7:30 reservations to see a cook wheeled directly through the dining room and into a waiting ambulance. Odd..they don't have a back door? The dinner is great. Crabcakes, Filet, and Opah. We finish with bread pudding, cheesecake and food coma.   The waitstaff is very attentive and gives us a coupon to return.   Tomorrow....we hope the sunburn pain has subsided and we can do some final beach time.