I did not sleep well last night as my mind kept racing. My mind went between topics like Ukraine, NATO, the Middle East, the Supreme Court, healthcare, women’s rights, and whether our society will ever progress away from trolls telling my wife from the safety of the YouTube comments section to “Get back in the kitchen,” rather than pursue a career in the inexplicably male-dominated field of film and television. Those types of terrible people are now emboldened more than ever, as the electorate is an endorsement of their shitty behavior. All the core values one is instilled with in their youth about treating others with respect, being caring, showing empathy, not being a bully, loving your neighbor and so on were evidently lies. The results of this election are a rejection of all those things. If you came here hoping for mai tais and puns about getting lei’d, you came to the wrong spot. This is something that not only affects our lives moving forward, but our abilities to travel. To pretend that this hasn’t ruined our vacation a bit would be disingenuous.
Nicole and I began our day in silence — processing things in our own way. In an attempt to pull ourselves out of the depression, we decided to drive to west Maui — Lahaina area. You know; the same Lahaina that was destroyed in a tragic fire just over a year ago. The drive was about 45 minutes from Kihei — mostly in silence. As we neared Lahaina, the devastation was beyond belief. Lahaina town’s main drag, Front Street, was cordoned off for continued recovery efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers. Looking around, you see foundation after foundation with nothing on top of it. It’s only after passing what was once downtown Lahaina that you realize the devastation was absolute. Save for a few standing structures, everything is gone — erased from existence. It is even more shocking than I imagined. It seemed inappropriate to document any of the destruction, but just imagine an entire thriving commercial and tourist center being razed to the ground.
We continued up the coast another ten minutes or so to Hanakao’o Park. It is a relatively small and unassuming beach with black lava rocks lining its shores. I had been doing some research on where I might find the sea turtles because I think people have perhaps ruined the so-called “Turtle Town.” We walked briefly along the shore and I saw a few poke their heads out of the water almost immediately. I slapped on a pair of goggles and jumped in to befriend them. It did not take long for me to make their acquaintance. In fact, it was almost as if they were seeking me. One came right at me within a few minutes of being in the water.
For a fleeting few minutes while I was in the water with the turtles, I was somewhere away from the world’s problems. I encountered a few other turtles during my swim. Because we had been in silence for most of the morning, I had neglected to tell Nicole that I was considering going into the water if there was a chance of seeing turtles. She didn’t have her bathing suit or goggles to join me, so I returned to the beach so as to not leave her alone for too long.
Since we had driven this far, I figured we might as well drive past some of the fancy resorts up in Kaanapali, eventually stopping at a driving range. Nicole thought it would be a good way to let off some steam and inner stress. As the men nearby in their golf shirts and golf shoes looked on, Nicole in her rainbow flip flops was sending golf balls deep into the abyss with an intensity that surely had everyone else shaking in their little golf shoes. 100 balls later, Nicole was feeling slightly better.
We were going to stop at Duke’s on the way back to Kihei, but the vibe was off. A bunch of obnoxious “bros” in MAGA hats and Trump t-shirts kept gloating with each other, and being in their presence was uncomfortable. Before ordering, we left. We ended up getting a much cheaper lunch of musubi and rice from Foodland, which we ate on our lanai. We sat by our hotel’s pool for a spell attempting to relax by doing some reading before eventually heading back out to Wailea where we did a bit of shopping.
We each got a new pair of locals (rubbah slippahs if you will) and Nicole got a snorkel for better turtle viewing tomorrow if we get the chance. After our brief shopping diversion, we walked along the Wailea beach path once again but coming at it from the other side. We watched the sun set before heading over to a place called Nalu’s, one of the few places on the island with no reviews including “food poisoning.” We each got a classic loco moco, but served in a classy way — on a real plate! It was pretty respectable and filling as always.
After dinner, we returned to the hotel to retire for the rest of the night. Tomorrow is our last full day on Maui. We are both in a bit of a funk. It is hard to truly enjoy a place and relax when there is so much anxiety from this election result. Hopefully each day becomes a bit easier to manage, otherwise this will kill us.
passports & pepto bismol 