Maui 5: Discovering New Foods and Goodbye

Not really the selfie I was hoping for, but I wanted to show off the pet parrot that was in this menagerie in the yard of the inn we stayed at.  He was a grumpy bird that was not afraid of biting at people, but was Mr. Good-Natured when you had a peanut to feed him.

Steve and I had some time to kill after we had checked out of our room at 10am since our flight to Oahu didn't leave until 9:30pm.  We decided to stop off at a touristy-looking spot- a plantation.

There were some nice places to walk around there, but most of the shopping and tours they did were really expensive, so we just kinda moseyed around, taking pictures.

We then stopped off at my cousin's rental room in Kihei.  They were busy packing and needed us to help shuttle people to the airport.  When we got there we got to enjoy a guava growing right outside the apartment.  They are tasty and super seedy.

After we had a carload of people, we headed out to eat some tasty things.  First we went to a place that served the best mochi around, according to Aunty Kathy's source.  No joke, it really was the best mochi!  It was so soft!  And the peanut butter one was the best.  Steve loved it!

Then it was off to a place called Da Kitchen.  We knew we'd have to wait to get in, but the food was good and worth it.  Steve and I got the fried spam musubi and a teri burger to split.  He decided he liked it!  Everyone was excited to watch him try island food for the first time.

And then we just had to get a slice of chocolate haupia pie.  I love haupia (sorta like coconut pudding)!  It was ono!

My daughters Google Duo'd me when we were leaving and I showed them the place.

After we dropped people off at the airport, Uncle Joe and Tyler were our companions because their flight didn't leave until night time, too.  So, we took them to a few of the places the Hanohanos showed us.  The beauty was so remarkable that we didn't mind going back there to say our goodbyes to that majestic island.

This is what it looks like inside one of those "hot-dog" shaped seed pods.

When we went to see if there were sea turtles at the beach, we found one!

We took Tyler and Uncle Joe to the airport and then before we dropped off our rental car, we stopped by this food truck with good reviews.  It was parked in a really sketchy looking part of town.  There were 2 homeless people hunkering down in the front of a closed store.  I was just glad there was still some daylight.  I actually ended up getting brave and approaching the homeless people and asking if they'd like our leftover bananas, fruit, and water that we couldn't take on the plane with us.  They accepted graciously.  I think I probably frightened them just as much as they frightened me as I sat there in my car staring at them and contemplating what to do.  At least it all worked out.

Anyway, the ice cream here was AWESOME!  They pour the ice cream into a sheet on a very cold surface, then as it freezes, they roll it up and add the toppings.  Steve like mochi so much from earlier that day that he ordered that on his ice cream.  I went with what reminded me of my girls, cookies and cream with oreos.

Steve's Ube ice cream with popping boba and mini mochi.

Cookies and cream with oreo and nutella

It was a good day and a good way to say farewell to Maui!