Sunday Mass Beneath the Palms & Maui Tropical Plantation

We attended a beautiful Sunday mass service at Maria Lanakia Catholic Church.  The church was beautiful and as we sat with the windows open and the palm trees swaying outside the windows and the breeze blew in, it felt like one of the most genuine and intimate services I've attended.  Getting to visit different parishes when we are away from home is one our favorite parts of any trip and this was no exception. 
After mass we visited the Maui Tropical Plantation and enjoyed lunch at The Mill House located on the property.  This tour was one our favorite activities and our lunch view was like no other. 
The plantation grown and harvest their own bananas, pineapples, coconuts, mangos, jackfruit, avocados, coffee beans, lei flowers and much more.  Fun fact we learned, did you know you are 3 times more likely to be hit and killed by a coconut falling from the tree than being attacked by a shark?

Matt bought me these beautiful Rosary Beads from the sisters who made them.  They are made out of dried Canna Lily seeds from Indian Shot grown in Hawaii. 

This locomotive sat inside the restaurant.  It's from the 1800's and was the second one brought to Maui for transporting sugar cane and people. 

We had lunch at the open air Mill House on the Tropical Plantation and it was delicious.

This was our lunch view

The Gear Pond

The gardens and grounds of the plantation were beautiful.

Gracie and I thought these flat palms were so cool.

We thought this sign before boarding the tour tram was pretty funny.

These are the plantation chickens and you will see them roaming around.  However, in Maui it's not uncommon to see a chicken crossing the street at Target or just on the side of the road.  Maui has Feral Chickens and Cats and there are signs all around asking you not to feed or pet them. LG says this must be where the the chicken crossing the street comes from.  ha!

Did you know that grass hula skirts aren't made from grass at all?  They are actually made from these palm leaves that are turned upside down, dried and stripped. 

Coconut trees are all over the plantation and Maui.

Our guide stopped and gave us a demonstration in how to crack and open a coconut.

I was super excited to see how the pineapples grow.

Bananas

Coffee Beans are grown and roasted on the plantation.  Hawaiian coffees are the only coffees grown in the United States.

These are the trees that grow the beautiful and very fragrant flowers that leis are strung with.

Jackfruit

At the end of our tour we were treated to some delicious fresh cut pineapple.  People I won't lie there is nothing better than Maui Gold Pineapple.  We ate it almost every day while in Hawaii. 

Lily Grace got to take the coconut home from the demonstration.

After the plantation, we headed back to the condo and tried out an idea to get Gracie in the pool.  The doctor said she couldn't get the stitches wet.  The worry is staph infection.  We tried some waterproof tape in hopes of getting her little pool time.

Well...the tape made it about 10 minutes before it started to leak and she had to get out to get her leg disinfected and her antibiotic applied with a fresh bandage.  I will say, she made the most of that 10 minutes and was thrilled but really bummed when it didn't work.

Gracie and I took a walk on the beach that evening and had fun watching this turtle bob up and down .

LG captured this beautiful sunset.