20. Second Week in Maui

Our second week on Maui was spent enjoying the pool, swimming and snorkeling in the ocean, and spending evenings in Lahaina and the Whaler’s Village shopping complex. We made our way back to Leilani’s Restaurant a couple more times before leaving Maui. It is such a winsome setting, and the meals are both very good and also reasonably priced. We also made another visit to the Sheraton Black Rock, to snorkel alongside the outcropping of black lava that is the signature trademark of the Sheraton hotel. The hotel is built into the lava hillside, with several units perched atop the huge black Rock. One night, while the Browns were still on the island with us, we made our way to the Black Rock just at sunset. Every evening, a Hawaiian makes his way running through the hotel grounds lighting the torches for the evening. Then he carries his torch up the side of the black rock, goes out to the extremity, bows to the four compass points, throws his lei into the ocean, tosses his torch in a different direction and then dives into the surf where he had just tossed the lei. It is a very beautiful tradition, and crowds gather each evening to await the spectacle just as the sun falls into the ocean in the distance behind the diver. The sunset ceremony is but one more of the traditions and memories that linger long after one’s departure from these islands. It is no wonder to me that these islands are one of the most popular vacation destinations in all the world. The leisure week also allowed for keeping up with church e-mails and updating this blog on an occasional basis, to capture our memories of this very special vacation. It is amazing to us both that the last time we made this journey, it was only a few days after Cynthia’s retirement from the Boy Scout Council office in Richmond. We wonder how the past five years could have passed so swiftly, even as we feel the same way about the past two weeks of this vacation travel.