On to day three... if you care to read some more

Ah... the joys of going on vacation. No schedules, no demands, no rushing, no worrying... unless, of course, you either are me or are traveling with me, in which case you are worried, very worried, about what I'll dish out next...

However, as the picture to the left proves, naps were an option. Jim and Katarina had a chance to catch up on some yummy sleeping later on day three, after a day full of sun and running around in Wailea and Kihei.

We started like every other day, with food. And if you know me, you know I'm all about the food. The resort had a great pool side restaurant that, in addition to the now famous fru-fru umbrella drinks, offered a scrumptious breakfast buffet. Kids eat free all day long, so it was a pretty good deal. After breakfast came beach and pool time. By now, both Jim and I were down with colds and SCUBA diving was completely out of the question, so we resigned ourselves to snorkeling whenever possible and crossed our fingers hoping to have a turtle sighting (seems like the whole crossing of the fingers is a very flawed method, by the way).

While in Kihei, I did come across a turtle - a turtle pendant that is. And luck would have it that it was available both in yellow gold and silver... you get the drift. We did some shopping after eating at Alexander's, which has some of the best fish and chips I've had the pleasure of trying. I highly recommend the Ono, which as its name suggests, is delicious.

Afterwards, we headed down to Wailea to visit the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa. Wow. Visit it is all we could afford at this place... past the beautiful lobby/foyer area surrounded by Fernando Botero sculptures you see the balconies offering a view of manicured lawns. The feeling is one between European Mediterranean and something else... and it is said this is where the stars come to hide away while in Wailea - I can see why. The pool alone is made of fantasies, with its swim-up bar hidden in a grotto, the "rapids" one can play in on one of the arms, and many other features hard to describe and easy to enjoy. We gawked. We fantasized. We coveted. And then we forgot, as the cheapest room is around $650 per night, and that probably is the one on the top floor facing the parking lot. Yikes! Still, worth the visit if you have nothing pressing to do. Did I mention they welcome registering guests with fresh leis? Yeah... posh, posh, posh.

Back to the resort it was, and then out to the Whalers to meet Gina and James for some really good hamburgers, courtesy of James and his favored Huli Huli sauce (sounds kinky but it's not... it's a Hawaiian sauce made up with soy sauce, sugar and ginger.)