Back Home At Last & A Few Favorites from Hawaii

Welcome to the 490th Metamorphosis Monday!

Well, this is a record for the latest Met Monday has ever posted. I’ve been flying all night and most of the day but I’m finally back home from Maui. The flights were great and uneventful, just very long. It’s a long way from Georgia to Hawaii and back, especially when you go there via Seattle. It’s a long way even when you don’t go via Seattle. lol

I don’t have a Before and After to share since I’ve been on a plane for the last ten years, so just sharing a few pretties that I hope you’ll enjoy.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning as we approached the airport in Seattle.

Sunrise, Seattle Washington

 

Sunrise Flying Into Seattle

 

I posted this photo on Instagram and asked what mountain I was seeing. It was unanimous…Mount Ranier.

Mount Rainier

 

Hawaii was beautiful and I had a wonderful time. Thanks so much for encouraging me to jump on the opportunity when a friend offered me a room they weren’t going to be able to use. I stayed at the Kaanapali Beach Club, which was right next door to the Kaanapali Beach Hotel.

So, the weirdest thing happened yesterday afternoon when I stopped by the front desk to check out. I knew I’d have a small bill for the few items I had charged to the room during my week-long stay. I was surprised to see a large $82 charge, definitely didn’t remember that one. It was for two meals and some drinks…um, I didn’t recall eating two meals in one sitting, or having a Mojito during my stay.

I disputed that charge and when they pulled the ticket, I saw that it was signed by another Susan who had a similar last name as my own. Both our last names started with an H and had the same number of letters. They even sounded similar when spoken. And, get this–we were both staying in the exact same room number on the 6th floor, only I was at the Kaanapali Beach Club and she was at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel next door. Is that not crazy?! It took them about 45 minutes to finally get it straightened out.

 

My Favorite Day on Maui Island

I think my favorite day on Maui (even better than the helicopter tour I took) was the day I drove over to Lahaina, parked my rented jeep and just walked all around the harbor. I had a yummy Fish Taco meal in the Paia Fishmarket on Front Street…

Fish Taco from Paia Fish Market, Lahaina

 

… then walked across the street to gawk in amazement at the gigantic Banyan tree in the park. I’ll post photos of it soon, just need to get some sleep first before I can go through all the photos I took this past week during my stay.

Update: See the United States’ largest Banyen tree in this post: Banyen Banyan Tree.

I also did a bit of shopping in Lahaina and purchased my first ever Roberto Coin piece, a small sun pendant that will forever remind me of Maui/Hawaii. It looks like this one below, only I purchased the smaller version.

Does anyone own any Roberto Coin jewelry? Apparently, he has quite the following. I purchased the sun necklace in a jewelry store called Na Hoku. I fell in love with their signature pieces, the jewelry they design themselves. Much of it is sealife-themed and the designs are absolutely beautiful!

There are several pieces I would love to collect in the upcoming years, like this adorable crab with Opal inlay. They make a lot of their pieces in two sizes and the prices aren’t that bad, especially considering everything is made from 18K gold.

Another piece I really loved was this beautiful Hawaiian sunset. It’s 18K gold with Lapis Lazuli and pave diamonds. Such beautiful pieces and perfect reminders of Hawaii. Just Google “Na Hoku” to see all of their collections. They also have several physical locations across the U.S. Unfortunately, none are here in Georgia.

I hope you had a fabulous week! Thanks again for all your great tips of things to see and do in Hawaii. I took your advice on several things, including taking the Road to Hana tour. Can’t wait to share some pics from that day’s excursion with you!

Looking forward to all the great Before and Afters for this week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

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Metamorphosis Monday

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Comments

  1. Rose Mary Lee says

    So happy you had a wonderful trip, my husband, daughter and niece went to Maui many years ago. My husband purchased a 14 kt. gold turtle with the black opal inlay, I have always treasured that piece! He also bought our daughter and myself gold bangle bracelets with our first name inlayed in Hawaiian.

    Hope you shipped home some pineapple too!

    • Oh, I wonder if he bought the turtle in the same store I shopped in. They had several beautiful sea turtle pendants. I literally could be happy with any piece I saw in that store. I kept asking them who designed their jewelry, it’s some of the prettiest I’ve seen in a long time…and so detailed!
      What a sweet hubby you have, Rose Mary!
      No, I didn’t think to do that, but I definitely ate my fill of pineapple while there. lol

  2. You haven’t missed much in the last 10 years, lol. And you come closest to anyone I know to living in a parallel universe, regarding that mystery charge to the “other” Susan. Welcome back and glad you went too.

    • lol That’s good to know! 😉
      I thought it was pretty ironic/funny when I saw the ticket and saw it was signed by another Susan with a similar sounding/looking last name, but it blew my mind when they told me she had the same room number because these are huge hotels! My hotel had at least 11 floors and I was on the 6th floor. What are the chances of something like that!

  3. PatinCal says

    Mt. Rainier, when it wasn’t shrouded in clouds, was the view I had from my bedroom window when I was a kid. Thanks for the reminder.

  4. We’ve been to Maui a number of times and I am always ready to go back! Absolutely love it there; glad you enjoyed your impromptu vacation. We’ve picked up several pieces of jewelry from Na Hoku – at least one each time we’ve gone – their designs are lovely and unlike anything we could find here. Thanks for hosting after such a long day.

  5. Na Hoku will be happy to ship.

    • Definitely! The sales associate I talked with that works in the Whaler’s Village location was named Sheila, and she was really helpful. She said she could take an order over the phone if I order something later. I love the designs…so much prettier than anything I’ve seen before.

  6. Susan, I’m happy you made it home safely. Not sure if Hawaii is for me, but sure would love to stop there on the way to Tahiti some day. 😉
    Thanks for taking time to post and host. You’ve got to want to crash now. Take care.

    • It was fun, not sure I’ll ever go back since it’s a long ways and very expensive. I think it’s probably better for those who love the beach/ocean. Definitely glad I got to see it, though! Funny thing, I never got acclimated to the Hawaiian time zone so it was easy to get back on track when I returned. I awoke at 6 this morning, so I’m pretty much back on the Eastern time zone now.

  7. Ok. I NEED, um….want that crab necklace! Going to site now. Can’t wait for ur pics. Glad you let us talk you into going!

  8. Thank you Susan, so glad you went and had a wonderful time! I can’t believe you kept up your parties and blog during your spur of the moment LONG trip!!

  9. Thanks so much for hosting!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

  10. I envy your sense of adventure! So glad you had a great time. That is the weirdest thing about that other Susan’s name and similarity. Good thing you caught that charge and disputed it quickly- otherwise it could’ve been difficult to prove. Glad you are back safely- I remember coming back from Oregon after about 5 days there and it was hard to adjust back to our time.

    • Thanks, Liz! I know, isn’t that wild! I wish I could have met her, just to see who she was. lol
      Strange thing, I never really adjusted to the Hawaiian time zone, awoke every day around 3AM, so it was pretty easy to get up this morning when I awoke at 6 AM.

  11. Thank you for sharing your wonderful time with us! I’m so happy you went!

    Looking forward to more photos!

    Get some rest!

    Katherine

  12. So glad to hear you had a wonderful trip. And yes, that is Mt. Rainier!

  13. Cyndi Raines says

    Welcome home! Rest up, we still have lots of summertime fun here yet to be had! Hehe. Eager to see more of your pictures!

  14. I loved to read about your trip to Maui. I’ve been there about ten years ago, flew all the way from The Netherlands, from Amsterdam to Chicago to San Francisco to Honolulu. We stayed at O’ahu for five days, then went to Kaua’i, Maui and Hawai’i, five days on every island. Besides my yearly trips to Menorca it was the most beautiful trip I ever made.

    I’ve seen Lahaina and the banyan tree, too. I loved that little village, but the best thing on Maui was the hiking through Haleakala NP. So beautiful!

    I hope to go back one day, when my children are older, because I don’t think they will like 24 hours of traveling, so I have to wait a couple of years.

    Great to read about your trip. Brings back great memories!

    • Wow, that was a long, long trip! That’s awesome that you were able to see so many islands and stay for a such a nice amount of time! So glad you enjoyed it, it is beautiful! I couldn’t get over how the weather is pretty much the same every day.
      I didn’t get to hike through Haleakala, but we did visit it for a very brief amount of time on the Road to Hana tour.

      Thanks, Liz…and thanks for sharing about your trip…sounds amazing!

  15. Hello Susan,
    glad to hear you had a pleasant flight (despite the 10… years!) 😉
    Wow, that’s crazy about the other Susan! I don’t know why but this reminds me of the movie ‘Desperately seeking Susan’… :/
    Susan, (I say this to the owner of the blog BNOTP!) hahaha, because of you I added “Hawaii” on my travel bucket list 🙂 but meanwhile I may look for that beautiful, golden Hawaiian sunset!
    ~Hugs to you~
    Cecilia

  16. Hi Susan, So glad you enjoyed your trip to Hawaii! I admire you for being brave enough to go on your own. The jewelry pieces are gorgeous; I especially love the Hawaiian sunset — just beautiful.

    Thank you for hosting Met Monday and have a great week!

    Hugs,

    Denise

  17. What fun it was to witness you deciding on going to Maui and then share the trip with us! I admire your sense of adventure and spontaneity!! Love your blog as always Susan! Thank you!

  18. I LUV, LUV, LUV your jewelry!! My former office-mate was a Robert Coin fanatic… it is so beautiful!! I think I liked your “sun” necklace the best…gee, that is lovely!! We walked around the same banyan tree! franki

    • The sun necklace was the only piece I purchased of these shown in this post, but I definitely want to collect the other two pieces that are by Na Hoku. I wonder who actually designs their sealife pieces…I would love to know!
      I can see how your office-mate was a huge fan of Roberto Coin jewelry. He has some gorgeous designs. It’s also really popular with a lot of celebrities, fun to read about that online.

  19. It certainly sounds like you had a wonderful time Susan. My first and only trip to Hawaii was about 49 years ago as the airline carrier I worked for use to provide their employees with free trips and I do recall it was a very long trip in flying time then BUT was still less in comparison to the twenty-four plus hours it takes to get to Sydney Australia ‘now’ (excluding a 5 hour drive from departure point). That said; can relate to what you’ve stated re the trip can be ‘very long’ . Regarding the Na Hoku jewelry, it is gorgeous and I love that they offer some pieces in the white gold. As for the mix up with someone sharing a similar name, so happy you got it sorted out. -Brenda-
    P.S.: A Tip: If you are ever travelling to Hawaii, as part of your trip consider adding a visit to Japan or Australia to your itinerary as both are roughly an additional 8 hours in flying time.

  20. Do you ever visit Disney World Orlando as there is a Na Hoku located in Disney Springs.

    https://www.disneysprings.com/shopping/

    1676 E Buena Vista Dr
    Lake Buena Vista, FL 32836

    Phone : (407) 560-0630
    Hours: 10:00am-11:00pm (Sun-Thurs), 10:00am-11:30pm (Fri-Sat)

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