We had something to get up for this morning. Today was the day we’d be going on a pineapple tour! My wife and I had gone one on our first trip to Maui over a decade earlier but we regretfully didn’t prioritize it on our trip two years ago. We were really looking forward to it this time and had made sure to book it several days prior.

Finding Breakfast

The plan was to get breakfast on the way. We wanted to go to the Kihei Cafe which is a popular local breakfast spot. We quickly got up and ready, heading out to the car for the short drive into town. As we got to the car I remembered the restaurant only took cash so I needed to find an ATM. I also realized I forgot the Frisbee and soccer ball which might come in handy if we had any downtime near an open field.

I quickly jogged back to the lobby to find the ATM and back to the room to get the balls and Frisbee and we were off to town. It was a short 10-minute drive, though as we turned into the Kihei Caffe, we saw an ENORMOUS line. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t have time to wait.

As a fallback, our options were limited given our time constraints so we ended up next door at the supermarket. They had a section of hot prepared foods as well as a fair selection of pastries and breads. We were able to scrape together a reasonable breakfast between us. My wife had the local favorite of Spam and scrambled eggs with her hot selection!

From there we were off to the pineapple tour. It was a 35-minute drive up into the highlands on the northern part of the island. It was noticeably cooler at the destination, though the sun was still pretty intense. We arrived about 30 minutes before the tour center opened for us to register so we used the time to put on our sunblock and toss the Frisbee.

The Pineapple Tour

The gates opened at 9:00 as posted on the sign. We were able to check-in and look around the distillery which was attached to the pineapple tour registration area. Some of the tour ticket options had included a tasting at the distillery. With kids, we obviously chose just the pineapple tour.

The people running the tour and the distillery were quite chatty and personable. They asked where we were from and were quite engaging. The other guests arrived and checked in just before the tour time officially began. We all piled into the minibus to being the tour. Tomatico staked out the front row seats for us all so we’d have the best view. He loves tours!

The guide drove us into the fields which were only a mile or so away and we all got out to get a closer look at the plants. The guide was very knowledgeable (and talkative) and described the different stages of the plant growth and how it takes 18 months for a pineapple to grow to maturity. He took pictures of the groups to make sure to include everyone. We made a couple of stops along the way to see pineapples at various stages of development. We had unusually clear views of the Haleakala volcano and the bays of both sides of the center of the island. We have a great birds-eye view of the island.

At one point we got to eat some of the product. The guide had a box of pineapples and took out a machete to peel it and give us all samples. It was amazingly good. The species they grow are especially sweet and because they pick them so close to the time they are consumed, they have about half the percentage of acid as other varieties. That’s why they taste so amazing. Most of the hotels use local pineapple and some of the ones that aren’t good for selling to consumers go to local distilleries and breweries.

The tour highlighted the attempts to diversify the types of crops being grown and went past some areas where cattle were being raised as well. Since the failure of the sugar cane industry on the island a few years ago there’s been a push to go back to growing more types of crops locally.

The tour’s final stop was at the processing plant. Since it was a Sunday it wasn’t operational, but we could envision how it would work. We also got to pick the pineapples from the tour. The adults got to share a two-pack and the kids each got a single pack so we got a total of four. Plus we got an extra one since I got chosen for a demonstration. In the demonstration he had me twist off the crown of the pineapple with my bare hands. Who knew I was so strong! The reason to do this is that you can let the pineapple sit on the counter upside down which lets the sweeter parts in the bottom distribute to the rest of the pineapple. Neat trick! Plus I got to keep the pineapple for later.

Food Truck Lunch

Getting off the bus for the final time the guide recommended the food truck parked in the shade near the tour starting point. He recommended the pineapple lemonade and said we’d get a discount if we had just come from the tour. Tomatico loves food trucks so we were again first in line.

We all got a pineapple lemonade as well as some other food. The lemonade came out first and it didn’t disappoint. It was frozen and had the right mix of sweet and citrus. I gulped mine down quickly.

After eating we walked to the glass blowing gallery next door. There were dozens of amazing pieces on display and Tomatico was captivated with everything there. During the week they have live demonstrations you can watch for free.

We were the only people around by this point so the person manning the gallery offered to give us a behind the scenes tour. We got to stand right next to the furnaces (which were off) and see many of the partially completed pieces in the back rooms. It was really neat and well worth the few extra minutes it took.

Twin Falls

From the pineapple tour place, we headed towards Twin Falls. We had gone there on our previous trip and it’s a waterfall just a short walk in from the road. Last time the kids went swimming in the pool and other more adventurous people jumped off the cliff next to the waterfall into the pool. The kids would NOT be doing that.

It was a ride through some winding roads with hairpin turns but rewarded you with amazing views of the island and sometimes of the ocean. We eventually met up with the Hana Highway which is the famous Road to Hana. We’ve never done that trip as we’ve never wanted to risk driving all that way for something that didn’t meet expectations. Maybe someday we will…

It was only a mile or so down the road before we got to the Twin Falls area. It was packed as it was early afternoon. We had to park about a quarter-mile down the road. We were sure to get all of our valuables out of our vehicle as thefts are commonplace. I believe it was a longer walk from our car to the head of the trail than it was from the head of the trail to the waterfall.

We quickly made our way down the paths. The first part is a smooth dirt path, but getting to the waterfall was steeper and rougher terrain. By the pool below the falls, there were lots of tree roots to step on or around so you had to be careful and keep your balance.

The boys were excited to go into the pool at first, but the water was a bit cold and they grew less excited the further in they went. They never made it above their knees so we took a few pictures and decided to head back to the car. Oh well.

Afternoon Nap

We headed back to the hotel along the Hana Highway, back to Kahului where the airport is located and then south towards Kihei and Wailea where we were staying. The Hana Highway had some beautiful views and went through some neat towns on the way. It was a pretty drive!

Back at the hotel, my wife took a nap while the boys and I read and relaxed. We had made dinner reservations at 5 pm so we had a couple hours to fill.

Dinner and a Movie, Featuring a new Room

Since we had eaten fairly frugally for breakfast and lunch we decided to splurge for dinner. My wife made reservations at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse located in the Shops at Wailea next to our hotel. The restaurant is a family favorite for special occasions. Since food, in general, is so expensive in Hawaii, going to the steakhouse isn’t really much more expensive than many of the other places we’ve been going. It’s definitely more expensive but only twice as much instead of 4 or 5 times as much.

We had a fantastic meal, taking advantage of the happy hour specials which included an appetizer as well as a dessert. We were all comfortably fully by the end.

We walked back to the hotel and the kids went to the game room. They wanted to play some games before catching the night’s movie in The Movie House, which was Justice League. We figured we’d use the time to check on our room upgrade.

When we checked in they did not have any truly upgraded rooms available for us, but they were able to block off a room for us for our last three nights if we were willing to move during our stay. That was fine with us and they had said our room would be ready by 4:00 pm and they would call. They never called so we checked in around 6:15 after returning from dinner to see if the room was ready.

Fortunately, they had an upgraded view for us, and it was only a short distance away from our old room. They gave us the keys to check it out and move our stuff. They could have called for someone to help but we were fine moving it ourselves as it was just a short distance.

The new room, while not any bigger, had a much-improved view over the pool to the ocean from a second-floor room. We would now have perfect sunset views from our balcony!

As a bonus, the room was also in the same building and on the same floor as the movie house. I went to get the boys from the game room to show them the new room so they would know where it is. They loved the new view but wanted to get to the movie ASAP to get good seats and get the popcorn before it was all taken (priorities!). I went with them to the movie house and got them settled before heading back to the room.

We found the hotel in our room could use services like Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, etc and as guests, we had free access to the HBO and Showtime apps on the TV. We have HBO at home so we checked Showtime to see if there was anything interesting to watch. My wife had just gotten some new work from a different contract so she was looking for something to watch in the background.

We called room service to have them cut the bonus pineapple for us. They did it for a $3.00 service fee which was fine. When it came back it came with silverware to eat it with as well as a cut strawberry on top. Who knew strawberries grew inside pineapples!

We found a movie with Rock “the Dwayne” Johnson that I had unknowingly seen before and ate the (amazing!) pineapple.

The kids found their own way back from the movie as I had expected it to be longer. I guess they inherited my sense of direction rather than my wife’s. I’m glad they felt independent enough to find their way around!

It was directly to bed for everyone after they finished off the pineapple. We were nice enough to leave them some and it disappeared instantly. Tomorrow the boys and I had to get up early to get to our surfing lesson!