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.

Sunset Sail

We originally booked a sailing trip to do some snorkeling.  After LG cut her knee, we changed our plans and did a sunset sail instead.  We are so glad we did!!!!  We had the BEST time and it was amazing!!  
We were catered to throughout the trip with cocktails, appetizers and entertainment from our hilarious ukulele player.  
Lily Grace quickly made friends with some twins her age from Colorado and those girls had so much fun sitting on one of the nets suspended above the ocean at the front of the boat.  And the sunset....beautiful!
It really was a highlight of our vacation!

Hawaii Fun

Gracie and I loved walking the streets of Old Lahaina Town which is filled with shops and Maui made items like these wood carvings.  

Gracie liked the Maui fishhook.

I couldn't get enough of these tiki carvings.  They totally made me think of the Brady Bunch every time I saw one.  Remember that episode where the Brady's take a vacation to Hawaii and Bobby finds that Tiki idol?  

You really have to see this Banyan tree to appreciate the size and spread of it.  It was planted in 1873 and the entire park has several other trees that have grown off of this one but still stay connected to this main tree in the middle of the park.  It's quite the attraction in the town square. 

Lily Grace got to learn how to make a lei.  She managed to keep it fresh enough to get it home and now has it drying out to save.

Yep! Told you, it's a real thing and it applies to the chickens too.  They may look like regular house cats but they are wild an all over.