2018-1-28  Birthday Breakfast at Sea House, then snorkeling at Kapalua, then sunset in Kahana, then dinner at Cool Cats in Lahaina:

What a lucky guy Ken is---obviously because I married him---but also because he gets to spend his birthday in Maui!  So we decided to go out to breakfast today instead of having our usual cereal.  So we had to google and try and decide where to go.  Ended up settling on Gazebo's in Napili, but it's parking lot was full.   I had heard Sea House was really good, too, and close by, so we ended up going there.  Managed to get the last parking spot.    Then walked through the Napili resort to get to the restaurant.  That's quite a resort!  The restaurant was great, too.  Glad we went!

 Can't get banana/mac pancakes back home, so that's what I had.  They were very good. 

 Ken had the full breakfast and enjoyed it, too.  I think our bill was about $24.  Maybe a bit expensive for breakfast, but the location made it worth it. 

 Speaking of location, this is the beach right in front of the restaurant.

 more of the beach

 While Ken made a few phone calls, I took a walk along the beach trail there.

 interesting flowers---or weeds.

 Found it interesting that there were even a few informational placards along the way.

 more of the trail

 Wasn't long before the clouds started to build

 We rode to Honolua to check it out.  Got a little drizzle along the way.  Looked like a great day to snorkel there.  Too bad Ken won't go there any more!

 This is the main reason why---such a rocky shoreline.  But this does look a bit more doable then I remembered.

 I admire their stamina!!!

 Back at the resort, these chairs were sitting out by the elevator!  Just found them artistically waiting there for me.

 Ken asked if I wanted to go snorkeling---stupid question!  So we headed back to Kapalua.  Even got a spot in the little parking lot, again.

 No snorkel equipment problems today!!!!  Ken actually got to snorkel, too.
Right away I spotted this school of orange spine surgeonfish.  I don't recall seeing a school of them before.

 a cute little blenny.  I don't recall seeing one with these markings before.  Usually they're solid colored.

 more orange spine surgeonfish

 a lei triggerfish

 one of the 4 turtles we saw.

 a huge spotted puffer.

Second of the 4 turtles.

 school of goatfish

 just a wide angle with lots of different kinds of fish and different kinds of colorful coral. 

 think this was the 2nd turtle again.

one of the endemic Hawaiian damselfish

 same as the above fish.  They have the neat ability to change from almost all black to black and white.  I see a little blue eye damselfish hiding in the coral, too.

 only saw one eel today.

 ornate butterflyfish

 Pearl wrasse---don't see these guys too often.

 After about 1 1/2 hours, we got out, showered off and sat on the grass for awhile.  Then we decided it was time to head back to the condo to get ready to go eat again.  This pretty little flower was watching over our car.

 By the time we were ready to head out, it was about 5:30.  Too late for an early dinner and too near sunset to go eat yet.  So we went to a park in Kahana.  Didn't catch the name of it, but it was about a mile or 2 from our condo.

It was an interesting park.  Lots of locals picnicking and enjoying the day.

 This proves there are fish here---or was.

Poor little guy---the fish, not the fisherman. 

 Pretty nice location for a sunset

 Clouds got heavy at the horizon, but we still got a pretty sunset.

 birthday boy portrait---where's Kenny?!.

 looking East.

 Back to the West.  Another really pretty sunset.  Hope these sunsets continue!

 We decided to check out Sangrita for dinner.  We saw it the other day when we were getting pizza next door at Round Table.  I even walked over to Sangrita then and checked out their menu.  Today, though, it was closed.  By the writing on the note taped to the posts, it looks like it's a permanent thing---or closed for some legal reason?!

 So we ended up back in Lahaina!  We parked in the free lot at the South end of Front Street, again, and headed to Cool Cat's.  Even had coupons for free root beer floats---a good substitute for birthday cake. 

 My salad with mahi mahi was very good.  Love the mango relish and mango vinaigrette with it.  Ken enjoyed his turkey melt sandwich.  We both really enjoyed the entertainment.  We asked the waiter what the singer's name is, but he didn't know.  He said it was her first time there.  hopefully she'll become a regular.

 On our way out Ken found someone else to talk to.

 The other night when we were there we had gone into this store-Binky's.  The guy working it was a really interesting guy and great artist!  Mark Baagoe----an accomplished painter and artist.  I really liked his metal works.

  He digitized his paintings (took of picture of them?), then had them developed onto metal.  Seems this technique is really in right now.  There was metal artwork in many stores up and down Front Street, but I liked that his were originally paintings and not photos.  I'm still thinking about going back and getting one.

 Then we made our ride back along Front Street and on our way back to our condo.

 The place was still bustling

Another great day on Maui!  A little bit of rain, but I doubt it was even measurable.  I think the high was about 82 today, but it was a very comfortable 82.
Tomorrow we pick up friends from St. Louis.  Don't know if I'll be able to keep up with my blog then, but will get to it soon.  They're newbies to Hawaii, so we're looking forward to showing them all around in the short week that they're here.