It was really, really tough… but somehow Sophia and I dragged ourselves away from the perfect crystal blue waters of Maui and came back to Massachusetts. We were only there for six days, but those fresh breezes from the sea and gorgeous sunny days seem to be still with us. And it’s not just the splotches of peeling skin from sunburn, and the occasional shake of sand out of my clothes, but a genuine balm of paradise that came back with us, refreshing, calming, and healing…

What can be said about that absolutely golden sunset at Makena? The German-Canadian guy’s mantra: “it was so fast! it went down so fast!” punctuated by my own mantra: “awesome! awesome! awesome!” After days of swimming at Wailea Beach and enjoying the fantastic food of Cuatro & Pita Paradise, Makena was just the shimmering melted golden icing on the tropical cake!

Sure, I expected a tourist rip-off environment, full of honeymooners and frenetic Americans, but except for a moribund afternoon in Lahaina, I managed to avoid the entire tourist scene. I attended no Luau’s, no magic shows, took no helicopter rides over the volcano, nor any snorkel tours, deep-sea fishing boats, whale watches, nightclub acts, or swap meets. Never set foot in a blaring sports bar, saw any hula dancers, took a surfing lesson, chopped coconuts, or ate any taro. Above all, I did not join any stupid caravan of rental cars and tour buses on the nauseating thousand hairpin turns of the “road to Hana,” the top must-do activity for all visits to Maui! Nope, Sophia and I earned our turtle wings as two of the laziest, good-for-nothing beach bums to ever set foot on that gorgeous slab of a’a. We twiddled our toes, listened to the surf, picked starfruit from the trees, and lazed around in the Japanese spa. If only we could extend that feeling forever! A flower tucked behind the ear and a long walk up the hill to Wailea. It was super choka, dudes!