A visit to Lahaina, Maui

    On Sunday, we decided to take our first trip to Lahaina in over one year.

We live up-country on Maui and rarely travel out of our five mile radius, except on weekends to get to the beach in Kihei or Wailea. I also love the pond (Baby Beach) on our North Shore.

  The reason for our journey was to see a friend who is moving to the mainland. I decided to photograph from the moving vehicle as we proceeded down the mountain.

As you can see it is a pretty rugged landscape as we approach Lahaina. 

I love to see the terrain change on the dry side of our islands.

As we get closer to Olowalu market I remember how I would always stop for a manapua, and can of iced Hawaiian coffee and a cone sushi here.

  We reach Lahaina and park at the end of town so we can walk under the Banyan tree to see all the artists presenting their work.

  I see my friend Veena who loves to buy my hand-painted shirts, selling her beautiful glass jewelry. We take a few photos then she whisks me off to meet her friends of The Lahaina Art Society. She insists that I should join. I can't sell T-shirts, but I can sell paintings. So, I thank her and consider this for the future. Then it's off to my friend Joanna's to see her beautiful place before she moves off to the mainland.

   Let's talk about plants. I'm not going to name them here but as you can see this property that Joanna's step dad had built and maintained for the last ten years along with Joanna, her mother Rosina and a full time female gardener who tends the plants 5 day a week for 6 hours a day, is a work of art.   

 Each Pole cottage is open to the air and they are all connected via a series of pathways which are tiled creatively. Focal points of gardens with sculptures, or benches, bricks and stones line each little plant garden.

A real Italian Fountain.

Asian Beauty.

A touch of Tao.

A fish fountain.

Foxtail fern.

Heliconia.

Joanna gave me some gardenias that were in her vase. She said "These are for you."

Thanks for a lovely day.

I realized what a short distance it is to Lahaina.

And a beautiful drive home!

Thanks, Joanna for being my friend!

   Joanna has been coming to Ben Franklin Crafts to paint on tees in the watercolor style for over three years with me. It has been a wonderful experience getting to know Joanna and her 85 year old mother Rosina who loves to paint on tees too! I will miss her.

If you'd like to come paint with me at Ben Franklin Crafts, call 808 877-3337 to see the schedule and sign up for a class.

Also check out http://www.amaryllisofhawaii.com/ for scheduling, supplies and the map.