|
In October 2018, Marguerite and Gar's family spent a week in Hawaii. The trip was to celebrate Marguerite's 75th birthday (9/1), Gar's 50th birthday (11/11), and Gar and Chandi's 10th wedding anniversary (9/6). The Jacksons flew from Dallas to Honolulu for a pre-trip on Oahu/Waikiki. A few days later Marguerite flew from San Diego to Maui where they all met at the Maui airport to start the primary adventure on the island of Maui. George and Marguerite last visited Hawaii in 2001. See Hawaii 2001 for info. |
|
|
Pretrip to Oahu |
|
The trip began with Gar, Chandi, Grace and Crawford flying into Honolulu on a pretrip to Oahu. They stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki and enjoyed the beach and having dinner with the parents of a New York friend of Chandi. They live in Honolulu and the friend (son) lives in New York City area where he met Chandi. |
|
|
|
|
All Gather on Maui |
|
On Saturday, Gar and family took a small plane from Oahu to Maui and picked up a rental car for our week in Maui together. Chandi and the kids got settled at the hotel and Gar picked up Marguerite around noon. First stop was Costco where they got provisions, snorkel gear, and boogie boards! We spent week in Maui at the The Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas. The timeshare was made available to Marguerite by a good friend. We had a "two bedroom lock off" unit on the 5th floor overlooking the ocean. We had two large bedrooms, a large kitchen and a smaller kitchen, two Jacuzzi tubs, two showers, and, best of all, two washers and dryers! Both rooms had balconies overlooking the complex. There were lots of activities each day for children and adults on-site at the Villas, plus several pools and very nice ocean-front area with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and lots of towels. Ka'anapali is located about 10 miles north of Lahaina, the original capital of Hawaii. Ka'anapali is the first master-planned resort in the United States. The first hotel was completed in 1963. It now has many hotels and thousands of rooms for visitors from all over the world. We took Sunday to get oriented to the Villas, explore a bit of the territory, and plan the week. We also had breakfast at a local eatery called "Slappy Cakes" where kids could make their own pancakes! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monday: Surfing and Hula and Soap Making Lessons |
|
Early Monday morning we all went to the Outrageous Surf shop in Lahaina for surf lessons by a very nice "Surfer Dude Casey". Marguerite watched (they even got her a chair in the shade!) while Gar, Chandi, Grace, and Crawford all learned the basic elements of surfing. Before the lesson was over, all had gotten "up to ride a wave"! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We got back to the hotel and Marguerite, Grace, and Chandi all took basic hula lessons! Grace and Marguerite took a second Hula lesson on Friday and even had the teacher take a video! Monday afternoon, Marguerite and Grace then took lessons on how to make soap! |
|
 Hula Dancers Movie |
|
|
Monday night we had an elegant sushi dinner at Japengo at the Lahiana Hyatt. We took pictures outside the restaurant on the lovely grounds of the hotel. |
|
|
|
Tuesday: Pedicures and Other Lessons |
|
Tuesday, "the girls" learned how to make leis out of orchids and Grace got a Henna tattoo on her ankle. Then Marguerite and Grace got special pedicures sitting side-by-side! Tuesday afternoon "the girls" learned how to weave bookmarks. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Late afternoon we all went to the pool with the big slide. Grace and Crawford said "EE, people even older than you go down that slide" so EE took a slide! It was great fun! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday: A Sailing Adventure |
|
On Wednesday morning Gar and Crawford had another surfing lesson and Grace and Chandi went to a water color class. Marguerite (EE) took the morning off! We went to lunch at a lovely restaurant called Fridas (for Frida Kahlo, the artist) and afterwards went on a sailing adventure on a Catamaran to explore the sights from the ocean. It was great fun and everyone also got wet when we had to get on and off the boat from the beach! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Shave Ice stand and both kids enjoyed eating this very special Hawaiian treat! |
|
|
|
Thursday: The Aquarium, and a Wonderful Luau |
|
On Thursday morning, Gar, Grace, and Marguerite drove to the Maui Ocean Center to visit the aquarium. It is a small aquarium but rated one of the 8 best in the United States. There were lots of fish and good exhibits. Chandi and Crawford spent the morning at the beach and pool. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the late afternoon we went to the Wailele Luau in Lahaina. It was absolutely terrific! The evening started with a buffet of some traditional Hawaiian foods (as well as other good things to eat) and continued with a very funny guy doing a skit about opening a coconut, several hula performances, and a fantastic light and fire show as a finish. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday: More Lessons and Date Night (Marguerite too tired to take photos of this day) |
|
Friday morning things were winding down. Gar, Chandi, and Crawford took another surfing lesson. Marguerite and Grace took another Hula lesson, and we started packing to come home. Friday night Gar and Chandi had a date night at The Plantation House, a Cohn Restaurant Group restaurant that is part of the San Diego restaurant group which includes Vintana of Escondido (location of Marguerite's 75th Birthday bash). |
Saturday: Pineapple Farm Tour and Flights Home |
|
Saturday morning we checked out of the hotel and stopped at the beach to scatter the flowers from the leis in the ocean -- a Hawaiian tradition. Then we drove to the Hali'imaile Pineapple Co. for a tour of the Maui Gold pineapple grounds. We learned a lot about pineapples! Maui Gold pineapples are grown on 1350 acres on Maui. Perfect growing conditions: warm sunny days, cool nights, fresh water, rich volcanic soil and an expert team of growers add up to the best gold pineapples on the market! It takes 18 months for a Maui Gold pineapple to mature, with a window of only 48-72 hours to pick the perfect pineapples from the field. The second generation pineapples are a bit smaller and are ready 18 months later. The third generation pineapples 18 months later are small and not for the retail market., although there are other uses and nothing is wasted! After these pineapples are harvested, the fields are plowed under and allowed to rest for a while. Then the process starts over again! We ate pineapples and lunch and were given a box of pineapples to bring home. A very interesting experience! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gar and family flew out of Maui at 6 pm and arrived in Dallas early morning; Marguerite flew out of Maui at 8 pm and arrived in San Diego at 7 am. A wonderful time was had by all!! |
|