Thursday 13th July
Lay back do nothing kind of day today. Matt is celebrating his 43rd birthday today and enjoying the fact that in Australia it was yesterday and today he can do it all again. I cook up a big eggs Benedict breakfast with bacon (bacon makes any meal it better), complete with a perfect hurriedly concocted hollandaise sauce and sourdough English muffins (although I am sure the English never thought of sour dough). By the time this is prepared the time is 11.00am. We are running very late and are supposed to rendezvous with Troy, Heather and the grandchildren for lunch, but Troy has underestimated the time needed to meet with the wedding planner and finalise the last of the wedding plans back in Kahului. We eventually do catch-up with them at their hotel in Lahaina around mid afternoon, after we have had a further browse of the outlet stores and once again strolled Front street.
We go our seperate ways, the five kids need feeding as they are now famished, we head back to the hotel to dress for dinner at Fleetwood’s restaurant tonight. Mick Fleetwood, founding member and drummer for Fleetwood Mac, who lives on the island when not touring or recording has a very popular restaurant on Front Street, with a small museum-gallery-shop down stairs. Apparently he is known to play the occasional gig himself in the basement as well. Our dinner reservation is for 7.00pm and this will be the highlight of our day.
We take a cab back to Lahaina as the sun starts its journey towards the horizon. Fleetwood’s is situated facing the ocean, our cabby drops us off behind the building and we enter through a side door, then upwards into a dimly lit space with a distinctively clubby atmosphere. We enjoyed a late lunch here last year, I remember the atmosphere differently maybe because it was much earlier in the day. We check in with the receptionist who directs us upwards again to the top level of this three level building. The top level is completely open to the sky with just a chunky pergola above a bar in the centre of the floor, bartenders are frantically mixing cocktails for the thirsty patrons. We are seated at a table overlooking Front street with a view of the ocean and are quickly invited to add our cocktail to the bartenders list. The sun is rapidly descending towards the horizon, the sunset tonight will be amazing. Patrons are in turns taking photos on a small staging platform of the sunset or their partners against the ocean/sunset or selfies. Our server brings us a round of cocktails and we deliberate over the menu, none of us having a clear preference. Our server returns with an explanation of the menu adding specials of the day. One of the specials in particular catches our imagination, Beef Wellington wrapped in prosciutto, with lobster tail and shrimp accompanied by Brussels sprouts sautéed with bacon. Amanda and I decide to share this dish while Matt decides on a Filet Mignon. The wine in the US is still a mystery to me, but on instinct I order a Pinot Noir from the Sonoma valley that turns out to be spot on. All the while the sun slowly sinks into the ocean spreading all of its spectacular magnificence across the sea and reflecting its dying light across the undersides of the last of the available clouds.
Night follows, stars pop out seemingly one by one, a gentle cooling breeze blows off the ocean as we relax and enjoy our meals to the strains of blues influenced music from the Sixties. Eventually, sadly we have to leave, we recall our cab and make our way back through the warm night to our beds at Honua Kai.
