Talk Story; Maui - Hawaiian A2, the Rogue's notes.

"Admiral, there be whales here!" -Commander Montgomery Scott, STIV.
Humpback sighting off the Ka'anapali Coast, Maui. 3/14/2018

Breach between Lanai and Maui; Teralani Cat 3/15/2018.

    Maui. The Valley Isle. Number 2 and probably our favorite of the three islands on schedule. Slated for three days and four nights. We were running from the moment we got here. No get wet experience, but plenty of surf to be seen. Like I said. It is a true lifestyle here. They do it all the time. Two feet or twenty. Knee high on the southern shores of Olowalu/Ukumehame Beach to mountainous off northern Haiku-Pauwela, aka Peahi, aka Jaws.

Knee to thigh Ukumehame (left), 3/14/2018.

Someone is gettin' out there. Call of the Wild everywhere. Very first evening at the Maui Ocean Club, on the beach of Ka'anapali. No sooner after taking in the full badass view, we caught the fluke shot. A lone humpback in dive mode. Made the next day's decision easy. Whale watch on board the catamaran Teralani III.
   Evening spent in neighboring Lahaina. Small town surf community. If you're gonna live the lifestyle ya need to feed the soul! No diff here. Down The Hatch fish house.

Tasty lobster grilled cheese to the rockin' Talk Story Pale Ale from local Kohola Brewery. Walk up to the counter. Order your grub. Take a table. Got a butt-hair's worth of patience and a little time to wait. Git a seat at the bar. This place was great. Mahalo to the "Big Guy."  Our bartender. Full of Aloha. Very social and helpful. Ya wanna talk story? Gotta do a local dive bar. We did. Loved it.

Kohola Talk Story Pale Ale

Poured a hazy gold with aromas

of tangerine and grapefruit.

Heavy citrus and mango taste

with a sharp 42 IBU bite. Perfect

with Maui seafood. Sessionable 

at 5.1%, i.e. more than one.

Rated an A.

Walked it off by the harbor. Another break; more surf right off the harbor entrance. Couldn't help but be entranced by the aura of it all. Stoke everywhere.

Active harbor break. Lahaina sunset, 3/15/2018.

   To this point, the word of choice would have been: fascinating. Hawaii...an island chain full of legend, history, and culture. Appealed to both of us. Kinda explains all the links. The longest road was to Hana.

Ho'okipa break, Hana Highway. 3/16/2018

Jaws country.

Two lane road full of cliffside ocean views, valleys, waterfalls, rivers, black sand coves, farms, cattle, BBQ, and switchbacks. Liked shredding the curves. My wife, not so much. Good thing the SUV we rented had a grab bar. Needless to say we did the up and back. Left in the sun, arrived in the clouds. Passed through the inland portion of the Peahi coast. Jaws Country Store. Chained gates kept us from viewing the break. That was tough (damn tourists). 

Waianapanapa Black Sand Beach

In Hana- put down mahi tacos, washed 'em back with water and a chocolate/avocado smoothie, returned to a sunset. Maui's archetypal town. Hawaii's archetypal drive. Long drive. Local feel.Touristy? Yes. Fascinating? Definitely. Do it again? No. Did I say long drive? Very scenic though. Maui again? Absolutely!

Don't blame the locals...didn't wanna leave either. Ka'anapali, 3/15/2018.

Strength & Honour, The Hawaiian Archipelago Pt.1, the Rogue's notes.

"There is a feeling of pono (righteousness) you experience when you see the ancient break under Le'ahi's watch."  -SW.
Waikiki Beach outside of Duke's backdoor, and the ensuing crowd in the lineup (below), 3/13/2018

Out there somewhere...

   A phenomenal Hawaiian trip. Oahu first couple of days. Maui the next few days after. Finished in Kaua'i. This is surfing's homeland. I mean boards were everywhere. Like bicycles. Locked up in racks along the beach entrance walkways. Inside bars and stores. Every hotel...both rented and stored 'em. Under porches. In yards.

Common sight, board lockers...

...beach rentals.

You get the point. Everywhere. The place is a Mecca. And, a true paradise. Now that being said, would I want to live there forever? No. A year or so, maybe. But, then what. Stuck. Gotta fly just to get between islands. Forget the cost of livin.' Costly to go anywhere from the Archipelago. And the airports make Philly and O'Hare look like cakewalks. Crazy. But, I digress. A paradise. Badass. A blast. Like the Duke...stoked. Leaves you wanting.

The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. 
The Arizona signifying the U.S. entrance into WWII,
and the Missouri on which the peace treaty was signed.

   O'ahu. No car here so, we either took a shuttle or hoofed it. Two primary goals and we did them both. 1)The Arizona/Pearl Harbor Memorial...WWII Valor in the Pacific. Reverent. Could feel it as I scanned across the harbor to the labeled moorings of Battleship Row. Strength of the US in the Pacific. Place was full of placards outlining the events that led up to and defined America's entrance into WWII. A stunning gallery of pictures and historical testimony that guided you to the transports out to the Memorial.

The Wreck. Always encircled with a mix of plumeria and the shimmering pools of ever leaking fuel oil. Screaming whispers of the 1,177 of it's crew that are forever entombed, still float across the deck of the Memorial. Somber. Awe inspiring.

   2) Surf Waikiki. We stayed at the Outrigger Waikiki. Home of Dukes. In honor of Kahanamoku himself. Guarded by Le'ahi. Diamond Head. Hawaiian sentinel. Did what ya see on the postcards. Surfed in the clouded shadows. Nothing big. Thigh to waist slow rollers. As I would learn throughout the trip...strictly longboardable.

And they rent longboards like boogie boards back East. Haolies lined up across the front of the impact zone. Jammin' up the line. Oblivious in many cases. Didn't care. This was Waikiki. We were just stoked to be here. Native land of Surfing. Plenty of sets rollin' in. Always another wave.  Another pleasure ride of the archipelago was the food. Seafood especially. Poke even more so. Sushi style cooking would be featured on just about every menu. Follow it all up with superb local beer. Finished off the afternoon at Dukes. The evening at Maui Brewing. Good $hit!

LuLu's poke' bowl; Ahi at it's best!

Maui Brewing's Night Diver, a pitch black Imperial Stout

sporting a knockout 55 IBUS of hop punch. Aromas of dark 

chocolate and coffee. All comes together with sweet

molasses in the taste. Thick, viscous winter brew. Paired
with BBQ Pork Belly Bao. At 9.6% ABV, a sweet surrender
to the day.

 

Peace out.

Nor'east Hangover, the Rogue notes.

Heavy contorted A-frame spray; greenroom morphing as afternoon winds intensify. 70th street, 3/4/2018.

   Want head to double overhead...and not go to Hawaii? Try OCMD after a northeast winter storm. Riley didn't, what you call "slam" into the Eastern Shore, but it did blow a helluva squall through the area. As the weekend came to a close, Sunday AM saw a calming and the swell off the ocean had laid out clean backside sets.

By the afternoon however, the ENE winds had gotten back on 'em and the orderly greenrooms became disheveled slab-like brownstones. No matter. Water's still around 42F, (checked Hawaii surf reports...water in the mid-70s- just sayin'). I could feel the impact through the sand of the shoreline. Chilled upper 30's, lower 40's air temps didn't provide any additional initiative. I ain't in it. Rubber or no.
   Call 'em late fall/early spring seasonals. Two heavy, deep amber, local beers that I jumped all over... Dogfish Head's Pennsylvania Tuxedo, a Pale Ale brewed with spruce tips. A collaboration with that seasonal flannel giant, Woolrich. Hazy, with the smell of evergreens, fruit, and toffee. Nice sweet malt backbone to balance the 50 IBUs of piney-sprucey-hoppy resin and raw peach in the taste. At 8.5%? It's a warmer and a Dogfish winner. Rated a B+.

   Sunday's crock pot dinner was an early Gaelic feast of corned beef, cabbage, and carrots slow cooked in Heavy Seas' Winter Storm ESB. At 7.5%, an Imperial ESB. Not big on ESBs, but I like Imperials! Put a couple back with the grub. Cloudy amber pour with a finger and a half tan head. Thick tan lacing led to notes of nutty malts and caramel. Tasted of dark fruits and toast with a deceptively mild bitter finish considering the 50 IBUs. Bought a six of this. Growing on me, which is sayin' something for an ESB. Rated a B.

"They say there is more to life than
beer...who is 'they' and why would
 I trust them?"                     -Anon.