Walking Da Docks

Lahaina harbor is festooned with activity boats which provide entertainment ranging from diving and snorkeling, to submarine tours and deep sea fishing.  Tourists are constantly coming and going - people just trying to enjoy themselves.  A great day for a visit to the west side of Maui.

Have A Smile!

There are all kinds of people on Maui.  Maui attracts all kinds of people.  I don't want to judge too much here, so I'll just leave it at that.  I ran into these two free spirits on Front Street during the day Rhapsody of the Seas unloaded all its passengers into Lahaina.

What is interesting though is how these two groups of people interact with each other.  Like a sociology experiment, notice how when people walk by the girl singing perched atop a wooden stump, their reactions not only to her, but to me photographing the whole scene.

This guy is from Oregon and strummed out the instrumentals and background music.

Here's the lead singer from Vancouver Island, B.C. belting out classic rock vocals atop her perch.  The duo met in Maui.

Here are some passers-by, feel free to draw your own conclusions.  If I may suggest, notice facial expressions, physical proximities, and reactions.

Tourists = Ice Cream

Ok, I love ice cream too.  As a matter of fact, sometimes there is nothing I would rather eat than an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  Not the frozen yogurt, but the GOOD STUFF, with enough saturated fat to clog a garden hose.

It seems that if you are a tourist on Maui, you MUST eat ice cream.  Do they hand out flyers on the plane rides over here stating that you have to visit at least 3 ice cream parlors while in the Islands?  Do the cruise ships deprive people of my favorite dessert?  I was on an Alaska cruise once with Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess, and there was enough ice cream on that ship to rebuild the Bering land bridge.

Today in Lahaina, Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of The Seas was anchored off town, and I'm assuming most of the people milling about sucking on ice cream cones were from the ship.  There were signs all over Front Street stating "Boat Day" and "Welcome Cruisers."  How do I know these ice cream aficionados were tourists?  Look and tell me they're from around here.

The interesting part is that I could have gotten within five feet of their faces and taken the shot and they would not have known.  Entranced and enamored with the magical frozen sugar, dairy balls, these people were dedicated to the art of spooning, licking and completely zoning-out.   Word to pick pockets, "Go for the guys with the ice cream!"

In all seriousness, thanks for visiting Maui folks.  :-)

Even the pavement ate some ice cream today.

Here are the tourists lining up to board lifeboat tenders to return them to the mothership, where they'll spend the night.

Banyan Tree Up Close

Most people who visit the famous banyan tree on Front Street in Lahaina will remember it for its massive sprawling branches that seem to go on forever.  The limbs are so long in fact, that wooden supports have been built to hold them up.  I was trying to figure out a way to capture an image of the entire tree or somehow get an essence of the tree, but the banyan was simply too large.  As I walked closer, I noticed what looked like hundreds of scratches in the bark.  Bears?  Woodepeckers?  Can't be.  A close-up inspection revealed a plethora of love stamps.  Is that the right name?

Think about it for a second.  You and your love are sitting there under the most famous giant banyan in Maui feeling all romantic.  Furthermore, you are so enamored with each other that you are moved to actually CARVE your initials into said banyan tree in front of hundreds of other people.  The carving process must take between 6-8 minutes, and that's if you use a real knife. If you use something more handy like a pen or a bottle opener, the carving will take even longer.

I should open up a little booth under the tree and rent out carving knives.