Our Week In Maui Day 3

Day 3
Saturday, October 16, 2010

What a great day to turn 29! Seriously, next year when I turn 30 I hope that we can go somewhere magical like this place. Okay, the denial phase is over... I am so elated to be turning 30 today. What more could I ask for? There really is no way to describe the way that I am feeling. Thousands of miles into the Pacific Ocean, I feel so loved, so appreciated, so accomplished, so determined... All things that I hoped to have and be by the age of 30. I know that, with Kelsey, I am right where I want to be, right where I need to be, right where I should be.
We went to sleep very early last night... I suppose we are not quite as acclimated to being 5 hours behind CST as we thought. Yes, we went to bed around 7p.m. But, the upside to that is we were awake by 3 a.m. Heeheehee... In all things perfectly perfect about Kelsey Kay, her first words to me were "happy birthday, baby!" in the sweetest, sleepiest voice ever. She is the most generous, appreciative, amazingly sweet and caring person that I have ever met. I feel so lucky to have her love... I feel it so strongly... Every day... Especially today. She is amazing.
Yeah yeah yeah....she's acting all lovey dovey because I just bought us tickets for a magic show here in Maui. And we all know Allison's an aspiring magician. Ok ok, her sentiments are as sweet and authentic as mine. We're both just having such an amazing time here together.
We're heading to the fitness center in a bit to get in a little cardio and then we're gonna go back to the Honolua General Store for breakfast. Sidenote: I have a serious addiction to potatoes...usually in the form of French fries or breakfast potatoes. That is all. More to come soon!
Okay, so we worked out... And I am obsessed with the treadmills that we used. Not only were they very smooth and easy to use... And not only were they Nike + iPod compatible... And not only were they situated so that we were looking out onto the ocean... They each had a fan. Gosh, I am easy to please. I definitely would have settled for a concierge standing there, blowing on me... But the fact that there was no bad breath involved really made it great.

True story. The morning's workout experience was fabulous. Breakfast was brilliant, too. Back to the general store where we got to witness girls doing a hula class and everyone around us appears to be just genuinely happy and content. Duh, it's Maui. Kelsey redeemed herself in shanghai by winning 9 hands. We didn't even play the last round, apparently too painful.

The birthday girl wanted to go for a walk so we headed back to the resort and down to the ocean to smell the salt water and see the waves crashing. We meandered through the grounds posing for outrageous photos and bitching about the uphill path until we came across the GENERAL STORE!!!!! For the past two days we had hopped in the car and driven this large out of the way route to get there all the while it's a whopping 1/4 of a mile from the Ritz. We about died.

Well, we just called room service for a cork screw since we weren't provided one....just the glasses. Makes total sense. Hey look at me, complaining about how bad we've got it here. Off to cheers a glass to the birthday girl.

The cork screw has arrived and a red wine toast has been made to a pretty solid 30 years and a healthy 30 more to come. Well, and then 30 more after that!I won't be too greedy... But I don't think living until 90 is asking too much. Uhhhmmm, right??? Okay, enough about that... Kelsey will now be telling us all about the lovely experience we had down at the Ritz poolside today.

We settled into our chairs and couldn't have chosen a better spot. Our server, Luke, remembered us from yesterday. Duh. I immediately informed him it was Allison's birthday and we got some delicious margaritas out of the deal. Well, Mike and Lynn next to us overheard this and informed Luke it was also Lynn's birthday. True story. We toasted to the lovely ladies and learned all about this charming couple from Oregon. It was so neat and relaxing...another perfect afternoon here.

The Pineapple Grill: hands down best meal both of us have ever had in our lives. But, we will get back to the food in a minute. Kelsey looked so beautiful... Pictures will come to you soon as we think we might have taken the best picture ever taken in the history of pictures... Well, maybe second only to that one of lil JFK Jr under his daddy's desk... That was pretty cute. Okay, so we walk in and every single person we pass greets us with an "aloha" as they take us to our table for two overlooking the beautiful, magical sun setting behind the neatest landscape I have seen yet. As we peruse over the wine list, neither of us can help but notice the sun sneaking it's way behind the trees... Photo time. We made magic happen with all of our scenic shots. And then, our server, Cara, the self-proclaimed goddess of compassion snaps wonderful shots of us together. Just beautiful and tranquil and lovely.

We both enjoyed a glass of red wine and devoured a luscious crab cake appetizer before indulging in our entrees. Mine, Allison, the beef eater of the two, had a succulent bone-in angus beef New York strip with local herbs and coffee rub that was served with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. BOMB.COM!

And I, Kelsey, had the most decadent fillet of mahi mahi ever. It was subtly seasoned and cooked perfectly only to be accompanied by the creamiest of risotto and chunks of pineapple. Dear god, what do all those food critics say? Oh yeah, it was the perfect marriage of flavors. We couldn't help but just sit and eat and dream that our plates would never be empty.

But we didn't have to worry about that as Tara, our server, brought Allison a divine slice of pineapple upside down cake with ice cream and caramel glaze. As I look back on the night I can't help but wonder if it was all a dream. Oops, I guess I was bound to type something worthy of a gag reflex. Y'all just don't understand. Well actually, about two thirds of you do!

The night ended pretty perfectly. We headed back to the hotel and slipped into comfy clothes and put the iPod on shuffle and basically snuggled on the lanai. We took in the last moments of Allison's birthday and went to bed at about 8:30 as we had a huge day in store.