Saturday, May 11 - Maui Ocean Center/Mama's Fish House

Up at a reasonable hour this morning, then off to the Maui Ocean Center (Aquarium and Research Center).  The reviews on Trip Advisor were all over the map, so we figured we would decide for ourselves.  Turned out to be just a 15 minute drive from our hotel with the cloudy, overcast sky changing for the better with each mile.  Funny thing about island weather...even for a relatively small island, the weather is very different from one coast to the other.  We drove west into a sunny, warm day perfect for an outing.  We found the exhibits very well planned, easy to follow and informative.  The center is on the small side with entrance fees a bit on the high side (even at the senior rate which Art assured the ladies at the registers that we were eligible for :)  We thought that the cost was worth every penny for the quality of the exhibits and the very knowledgeable staff.  A staff member seemed to be available for every question with complete explanations delivered in a friendly, often funny, way.  The back and forth dialogue between the diver in the tank with the sharks and jacks and the staff member in the room with the guests observing was fun and interesting.  We stayed about 3 hours and enjoyed every minute (including the audio guide that we shared).

Starfish in the outdoor pool exhibit

Triggerfish - Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Fan worm

Moorish Idol

We had lunch (crab salad on bagels) at Maui Coffee Roasters, a very good coffee place that had a certificate available on Restaurant.com and was 5 minutes from our hotel.  We picked up a few things at Walmart to stock the kitchen at the timeshare where we will be moving tomorrow afternoon.  We were able to get a late check-out for tomorrow, so will pick up the rest of our 'eats' for the week at Costco tomorrow just before we leave for the west coast.

Back to the room to relax before our early dinner reservation - planned to spend a couple of hours at the pool...but the weather didn't cooperate.  Rain started mid-afternoon...a real bummer.  My main reason for an early dinner reservation was that the restaurant overlooks the ocean and has some fabulous photo ops.  Just didn't happen...we left for the 10 minute drive in pouring rain, and got soaked on the walk from Valet parking down a flight of steps and along a beach-side path to the restaurant (despite a large umbrella that the valet gave us for the walk). 

Not us....taken from our table (another wet couple)

Torches blowing in the rain and wind

We had been forewarned that the prices were very high (some insisted overpriced) and they were - $14 glasses of wine and $18 drinks are not the norm in our neighborhood :)  Food prices were commensurate but the food and service were exemplary and we enjoyed every minute. I had the signature dish - Stuffed Mahi Mahi with lemon-grass rice, asparagus and a small Tristan Island lobster tail on time...fabulous.

Art had Ahi...rare as he likes it, with coconut, fried bananas rice, and a small, warm, oriental salad.  

Art's meal

My meal

We were seated at a lovely table for 2 overlooking the beach (or what we could see of it through the raindrops) with a card greeting us with a private message.  

Our greeting

I had mentioned that this trip was a delayed celebration of our anniversary and they treated us accordingly.  It really was a superior meal and we were glad that we had done it (even if a bank loan might be required to pay the bill - joke!)

                                                  Another nice day in Paradise!