Maui, Hawaii

~Adventured to Maui, Hawaii with my best friend this week to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary 🤙🏼 We wanted to spend this week soaking one another up so we decided to write marriage vows going into year 4 of being married. During sunrise, we went out to this hill overlooking the ocean & read our vows as the sun came up. My feet were barefoot & I wore a flower crown just like I did on our wedding day. It was emotional & truly one of the best things I’ve ever experienced with this man. The line from Nick’s vows that shook me: “You are the brightest star in the universe of mystery & infinity. My eyes are for you.” My heart is exploding with thankfulness & love for Nick. This island has been a dream & this man even dreamier. Happy Anniversary, my lil beach bum 🌈 ☀️🌊

We spent the week drinking fruity frozen Pina coladas, belting lots of Moana cuz why wouldn’t you in Hawaii, reminiscing on how the Lord has grown and blessed our marriage of 3 years, witnessing the most breathtaking scenery, making Old Town Road our theme song of the trip, holding hands on the beach, swimming with sea turtles, whale watching, & binging a lot of FRIENDS in the traveling process. We encountered the nicest people we have ever met in the most beautiful place on Earth.

Here are just a few of our favorite things Hawaii offered:

Coffee:

If you know me or have at least seen my coffee bean tattoo on my wrist then you know how coffee and I are besties. Akamai Coffee was one of our first tries and was a walking VSCO. It had a freaking plant wall and hanging chairs from the ceiling. I ordered an iced latte with soy milk and it was delicious. I highly recommend this cute, lil spot if you’re wanting a good place to work on stuff or meet with someone. Another place that was on our list to try while we were there was Paia Coffee Roasters. This place was like a garden; it was outside, plants everywhere, & just felt like a sweet little nook. It was the epitome of a tropical garden and I LOVED IT. Something that I was super blown away by that Maui had was all of the vegan friendly options. This shop had a vegan caramel coconut macedemia nut milk latte (say that without stuttering and you serve two).

Good eats:

-Paia Bowls. My new fave place on the entire earth!!! Our açaí bowls were turquoise, the avocado toast lasted .2 seconds before I ate it, & they had some bomb coffee choices.

-Star Noodle. They are known for their garlic ramen noodles which I happened to order like 5 times while we were in Hawaii.

-MonkeyPod. This spot is great for lunch, dinner, and drinks!!! It literally overlooks the water and other islands. They have a homemade Mai Tai there that should illegal for being so good. I ordered a pizza there (with no cheese cuz I’m a freak) and my hubby and I split some of their house fries with their sriracha mayo.

-Slappy Cakes. We ate here once for breakfast and absolutely loved it! I had vegan pancakes with housemate coconut syrup & a cup of Maui coffee.

-Thai Me Up Food Truck. This place is located right by the main airport so we stopped there to eat outside once our flight landed. My order was pad see ew noodles with lots of veggies. We stopped at a Greek food truck right next to it and got some amazing garlic fries and Greek cold brew.

-Maui Farmer’s Market. This. Place. Was. Everything!!! We legitimately stopped in there every single day, no shame. They had a billion different vegan options such as Mac n cheese, soups, potato salad, banana bread, mashed potatoes, & garlic bread straight outta the oven. Thank u next, summer abs. They even had a kitchen that made fresh açaí bowls (OMG bowl was everything & more). Wednesdays and Fridays they have actual farmer’s market tents outside of their parking lot which is where I got that vegan bread that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Just for fun:

-One night we went out on a party sunset cruise and it was AMAZING!! Not only will you most likely see whales and dolphins, but they offered an open bar with apps. And they blast music, which I am very into. I recommend this as an excursion if you’re looking for something that isn’t too costly and is very romantic. We chose to do just the open bar and app option because I am the pickiest eater in the world BUT they do have dinner cruise options as well (:

-Invest in a snorkeling mask because you will use it!! The water was the clearest and bluest I’ve ever seen. It reminded me of blue gatorade because it was so turquoise. We bought $12.00 masks and brought them to the beach with us everyday and it was the best, free snorkeling ever. All of the beaches are so clear, filled with coral, sea turtles, & the most colorful fish. Normally, I get v extra in the water about sharks & I refuse to go out far so I don’t get eaten. In Hawaii, the water is so clear I felt way more safe because I could see so far below me and ahead of me. We went out like 50 feet deep, maybe even more and could see the bottom clearly. Everyday we went snorkeling we saw sea turtles.

-Kaanapali Beach and Naapili beach were our favorites because they were the best for snorkeling!! Naapili beach has a Tarzan-esque trail you follow to get to this rock beach in this cove (not a place for laying out). This was a remarkable snorkeling spot. Kaanapali beach has two sides: one side has Black Rock which is a place with a ton of coral/sweet snorkeling spots AND cliff jumping! Nick cliff jumped a few times (#savage) but I wasn’t strong enough to pull myself up from the water to get up the side lolz. The other side of Kaanapali Beach was perf for laying out and snorkeling. We saw the most sea turtles on this side and there is a smaller cliff that people can jump off of.

-We watched the sunset from the beach right across the street from the Maui Farmer’s Market. If you go at sunset, all of the sea turtles come closer to the shore (I think to eat but I’m no expert) so we saw a TON. They just pop their little heads up and you can get really close to them. *It is illegal to touch sea turtles because the oils on our fingers prevent fish from cleaning their shells and then barnacles grow*

-Enjoy the rainbows!!!! There are rainbows shining in the sky every day (:

-If you are driving and see a sign that reads ’Scenic Outlook’ STOP!!! Go, pull over, and feast your eyes on some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. This scenic lookout we found is where we read our 4 year wedding vows at sunrise AND where we saw our first whale of the trip.

-Iao Valley. Great place to hike, it looks like Jurassic Park, & has a secret trail you can sneak up (; Bring your bathing suit because there’s a river that is gorgeous that people can swim in.

Things you should totally bring that you might not think of:

-Chacos or any waterproof/hiking shoe

-A Go Pro or underwater camera

-Backpack

-Sweatshirt!!!! It gets a lil chilly at night and if you do the volcano sunrise or Road to Hana tour you will want one!!

-Noise cancelling headphones. INVEST IN THESE, they are worth every single penny. The traveling there from Indy was 3 flights & essentially took up the entire day. Nick & I both have noise cancelling headphones and they were the biggest lifesavers + made traveling so much easier.

Photography Tips + BEST Insta Spots in Maui:

-Paia Bowls

-Paia Coffee

-Literally any beach

-Iao Valley if you’re wanting Jurassic Park vibez.

-Any scenic lookout

-Waterproof camera (Go Pro)

-My biggest photography tip would be to invest in a tripod & a handheld remote that triggers the shutter.