A Whale of a Day (that's right there's more)

Well after nearly 12 hours of peaceful slumber on a very comfortable Murphy Bed, we woke up to banana macadamia nut pancakes. That’s right, you heard me, BANANA MACADAMIA NUT PANCAKES (with fresh cut pineapple). Could anything be more pleasant to eat? I never want to have anything else for breakfast ever again. The only thing that would have made it better was Jack Johnson playing in the background, which we had, and it was perfect.

After breakfast we hurried around the condo getting ready for our whale watching cruise we realized how sore we were from all the snorkeling the day before. Ouch.
We met up with my parents and drove to the Pacific Whale Foundation. It turned out to be a pretty cool morning and we didn’t bring any jackets. For real…after all the running around we did, it never occurred to me that it may be chilly out on the open water…HELLO?

So Alyssa decided she was freezing right away, and since we had nothing to keep her warm we bought her this super cute “Save the Whales” sweatshirt. It did the job too keeping her warm.

We boarded the Ocean Intrigue, a large catamaran capable of holding probably two hundred people, and set out of the harbor and on to the ocean.

We first sat on the top deck of the ship, but Alyssa was extremely nervous about being up so high and being out on the water, so we moved down to the main level of the boat for the rest of the time.
Alyssa was extremely anxious. We were hoping she would be a little more excited and fascinated, but anxiousness was what we got, especially the first hour. After that, she started to relax and enjoy the experience.
It didn’t take long before we were surrounded by whales on all sides. Lots of Mom and baby sets.
There were whale tales and fin slaps everywhere.
We saw a lot of whale breaths when they blow out of their holes which was really unique and awesome to see but what we really wanted to see was a big breech where the whale shoots out of the water and slams its body onto the surface creating a huge eruption of water into the air.
We kept seeing whales all around us, large bodies moving through the water in the distance. Every once in a while we’d see one right up close to the boat. The Captain tried to keep the boat 100 yards from the whales, but the whales did not always cooperate with that, and sometimes they would come within 20 feet of us, which was exhilarating.
I was very nervous about getting seasick, because I had such a bad experience going out to Catalina Island with Steve when we got engaged. I was sick for hours. It was one of the worst 2 hours of my life, but this didn’t seem to faze me, or anyone else in our group (although there were people yakking off the back of the boat).

They had a few marine biologists speaking over a microphone telling us everything they knew about whales and whale behavior and it was very interesting to hear, but the reality is, even the experts really don’t know all that much about whale behavior.

At one point they stopped the boat and cut the engines and dropped a hydrophone into the water so we could hear the whales communicate. They called it whale songs. It was crazy, you couldn’t hear a thing when they boat was on, but under the surface there was this whole melody of whale-speak.

It really made me pause and realize that as much as we know about our world, as aware as we think we are about the world around us…We really don’t have a clue what is actually happening around us. There was a whole other world right underneath us that we barely have a basic understanding of. The same goes for the world we live in everyday. I mean, how much stuff is happening in Herriman that we know nothing about. What lives in the field next to my neighborhood. The truth is, I probably don’t even want to know. I do know there are skunks, that’s for sure.


Anyway…for the money we spent, this was a very valuable experience. The kids were free and it cost Steve and I about $18 for two and a half hours of constant whale watching. It was fun to be there and experience it with my parents and Steve’s parents.



Sunny was a little hard to handle, but okay and once Alyssa got acclimated to the constant rocking of the boat, she had a good time. We were all over the boat, inside and out, on top and down below, at the front and at the back. It was really awesome.

Just before the boat headed back to the harbor, we started to see a fury of whale activity, and then it happened…One whale shot up into the air completely out of the water and slammed itself back down creating a massive spray. Then just as quickly, a second whale did the same maneuver.

It was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen. Two whale bodies out of the water! Unbelievable. Everyone on the boat screamed, and clapped thunderously. No one could believe what we had just seen. Even the experts were speechless to see two breeches in a row. Fascinating!

On that note, we headed back to the harbor. By this time Sunny was very tired as was Alyssa. By the time the boat reached the dock, Sunny was completely asleep and Alyssa said she was too tired to walk back from the marina to the car (which was not a short distance), so they both got carried.
I think both Steve and Grandpa Charlie thought their backs would break, but they sacrificed themselves for the babies.

After we got back to the car we decided to go get a good fish lunch at the Lahaina Fish Company in the charming and historic city of Lahaina. Lahaina was a whaling capital of Maui in the late 1800’s and has a lot of history and charming things to see and do, including a plethora of yummy restaurants.

We waited a few minutes for a table outside the restaurant and the kids took full advantage by playing with the statues of the fishermen.

Sunny was trying to convince us that this was Jesus. I get it…the beard, a fisherman…yep, really she was not all that far off. It totally could have been him if it weren’t for the bright yellow slicker.

The kids got fish and chips and loved it!

I think they both ate all they got (they shared a kids meal) but the real highlight was the pickle on their plate!
I got a very average chicken sandwich. I mean come on, who goes to Maui and can’t man up and eat some fish….answer, me. Fish are friends not food. However in my defense, I did sample my mom’s fish taco and it wasn’t bad until I tasted the fish in it.
Seriously people how can you be eating fish? It’s so…fishy and it used to swim and now you are eating it, doesn’t that gross you out? Steve and his mom got spicy Mahi-Mahi which they really enjoyed.

Next we headed to the Lahaina historic town square to see the Banyan tree which is a 100+ year old tree that has vines that hang down from it.
Over the last 100 or so years the vines have grown down into the ground and formed new trunks. The tree now covers a few acres. It’s very large.


While we were taking pictures in the tree, we met Willy the Weaver (that’s what he called himself). He and his posse were weaving for money, but since it was so drizzly they were packing up for the day. We noticed his group because they had a great big coconut branch on the ground.
I took Alyssa over to get a closer look at it and Willy noticed us and showed us his branch and then showed us what he could make out of it.

Alyssa was fascinated watching him weave. He then gave her the item he weaved, a rose. He also made one for Sunny. Grandpa Charlie tipped him which he tried to refuse, since Charlie wouldn’t take the money back he gave Alyssa a little basket he weaved. Steve then tipped him again which he tried to refuse, but then accepted, but gave her another basket.
So we ended up with several great pictures, two baskets and two roses weaved out of coconut leaves.
Fun.

Then we went to the into the old courthouse turned museum to learn a little about whales and get out of the drizzling rain. It was interesting, but the most interesting thing was that while we were in the building, it started swaying, but I was the only one who felt it.
I guess it was from being on the ocean earlier that day. My brain still felt the waves and the rocking. I was sitting in this picture, because I could not stand.

After the museum, we headed back toward the condo. On the drive we stopped at a scenic overlook along with about 50 other people to see some whales spouting and splashing in the water below.
The whales are seriously so amazing to watch. Seriously captivating, it so hard to believe that is just the reality here.

We were pretty worn out by the end of the day so we were excited to get back to the condo.
We ate a little dinner and had some nice chat.

We chatted with Charlie for quite a while. He told us about his dad and the property he and his army buddy’s bought in Maui after the war.
He told us about the summer and part of the fall he spent living on Maui. No wonder he is such a beach bum, he had very fond memories of time in Maui as a young school aged boy.

He also had some not so favorable memories about being the only white boy in school. Luckily he didn’t have to attend school there very long before they went back to their home in Iowa.

It was so interesting to hear Charlie describe himself as a young man and draw parallels to what I know about Steve as a boy. Let me just tell you, the apple does not fall far from the tree. They are so spookily similar in so many ways.
Anyway…good times. Then to bed….so tired, and another fun day ahead tomorrow.