Four years ago, a few months before the Flyers last played in the Maui Invitational, La Famille Swampy vacationed in Lahaina and I wrote about what to do and see in Maui for the now-departed FlyerHoops.com website. The following is an updated version of Part 2 of the FTS Maui Preview, focusing on the two main island attractions — restaurants and golf. One improvement I can offer in the 4 year interim is links to the websites for all of these places, so you can check them out for yourself.

Restaurants

Somehow, even a normal meal can become extraordinary when you are watching some of the most spectacular sunsets you have ever witnessed. Fortunately, in Lahaina it’s not simply all view and lousy food — the dining is actually surprisingly good. Here are some thumbnails on places we visited:

Cheeseburger in Paradise

I’ve actually been to the real ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’ on Cabbage Key in Southwest Florida. It’s only accessible by boat and it’s the place that inspired Jimmy Buffet to write the song of the same name. So here you are, smack dab in the middle of Front Street and there’s a restaurant named after the tune. My rip-off radar was activated, but I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, the burgers are not all that great — adequate, but I’ve had better. However, the atmosphere was really the strong selling point: it’s 2 stories, open air and has a familiar feel to it. Try and get seated upstairs — at night they had 3 singers who rotated and provided live music. The guy who performed when we were there 4 years ago was really funny and when he sang 3 Don Henley songs in a row, including “Annabelle” from DH’s newest CD, I was sold.

Link: http://www.cheeseburgermaui.com/

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

First a place named after a song, now another down the street inspired by a movie — the rip-off radar was on full alert here, but Bubba’s was even better than Cheeseburger. The food was outstanding — it sure helps if you love shrimp! I had a dish called Dunking Shrimp, which is a mess of shrimp in a bucket full of broth, with bread to soak it up. It was heavy on the garlic, which usually gives me agita (as Joe Sutherland would say), but it didn’t bother me at all. The wait staff asks trivia questions from the movie and they have “Run Bubba Run”/ “Stop Bubba Stop” signs for you to get your servers’ attention. It has a really long, narrow layout, which gives more tables a view of the water/sunsets. This place was better than I expected. We recently ate at the BGSC on Navy Pier in Chicago when we were visiting Loyola of Chicago with the Younger Swampette and it was just as good as Lahaina, even if it was about 40 degrees cooler outside and raining.

Link: http://www.bubbagump.com/html/maui.html

Hula Grill

Over at Whaler’s Village there are several restaurants, including the Rusty Harpoon, which looked intriguing, albeit a tad pricey. We were all set to eat there but encountered a 40 minute wait. At this point we had adjusted to the leisurely pace of “Hawaiian Time” but 40 minutes was still too long. So instead, we sauntered over to the Hula Grill, which is on the beach in front of the Rusty Harpoon — voila, no waiting! When I say it’s on the beach, I mean it — there is no floor, only beach sand. Makes for easy clean-up! The prices were much more reasonable than the Harpoon and the sunset was the best we saw the entire trip. I had Ahi with rice and vegetables for $8.95 (1999 prices) which is a bargain, even if the portion wasn’t huge. This was my personal favorite.

Link: http://www.hulagrill.com/

Kimo’s

Back to Front Street. Kimo’s is noted for its fish and it didn’t disappoint. I forget what I had, but Mrs. Swampy and the Swampettes and I really enjoyed it. Super atmosphere right on the water, a little pricey, but worth it.

Link: http://www.kimosmaui.com/

Lahaina Fish Company

Again right on the water on Front Street. Mrs. Swampy and I had lunch here, minus the Swampettes who were snorkeling. The hostess cut us a break and suggested that we wait a few minutes for a table right on the ocean…good call. I believe I had Mahi Mahi and it was great. Prices at lunch were decent, but you obviously give up the chance to watch the sunset.

Link: http://www.lahainafishcompany.com/

Hard Rock Café

Yeah, the menu is identical to all of the other HRCs, but they do have daily specials that include fish. I had the Ono sandwich and it was excellent…not to be confused with the Yoko Ono sandwich. Check out the local edition T-shirts — I got the previous year’s model that was tastefully done in flowers and Hawaiian motif, but not overdone. The Swampettes are HRC fanatics and collect pins and T-shirts, so this was a must-stop on our trip, as it is in any town with a Hard Rock Cafe.

Link: http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes/Cafes.asp?lc=MAUI

Others

Moose Mcgillicuddy’s: We didn’t make it here, but a friend who was there recently said she and her gal pals spent a lot of time there. Sounds like a Flyer kinda place.

Link: http://www.maui.net/~mooses/

Roy’s: Supposed to be the best on the island, part of a small chain featuring Hawaiian fusion cuisine. It’s up Route 30 in a shopping center. Didn’t get there, but heard good things about it.

Link: http://roysrestaurants.com/

Longhi’s: Every town has a restaurant that looks like it has been there forever and it’s always popular. Longhi’s is that place in Lahaina.

Link: http://www.maui.net/~longhi/

McDonald’s: Yeah, that’s right, Mickey D’s! A couple of island differences: rice is served as a side dish with every meal, even breakfast. They had a Portuguese Sausage Sandwich for breakfast that was righteous, as we used to say back in the ’70s.

Link:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?address=4403+Honoapiilani+Hwy&city=Lahaina&state=HI&country=United+States

Ruth’s Chris Steak House: I didn’t travel all this way to get a huge steak, just like the one I can get at the Ruth’s Chris down the street from my office. Then again, maybe you did — if so, welcome to cholesterol heaven!

Link: http://www.ruthschris.com/

Luaus: As outlined in Part 1 of the FTS Maui Preview, the Old Lahaina Luau is right on Front Street. A friend of mine went there and said it was super.

Link: http://hawaiiguide.com/entert~1/maui/luaulah.htm

We opted to drive down to Wailea to the Marriott Outrigger Resort, which was also outstanding. Be prepared to pay ($29 per person), but the price includes all you can eat, open bar (could be dangerous) and of course, the entertainment.

Link: http://www.marriottluau.com/

Finally, I will repeat my warning about poi — avoid it at all costs! It looks like baby crap for a very good reason — because it tastes like baby crap. Having no calories and no fat might be a good thing, but poi isn’t.

Link: http://www.maui-info.com/2poi.html

Golf

I didn’t bring my sticks with me 4 years ago. On my first visit to Maui 24 years ago, I played both courses at Kaanapali twice and sent a lot of golf balls to a watery grave. You basically have 3 areas to tee it up: Wailea, Kaanapali and Kapalua. Expect to pay $$$ for the best courses, but hey, it’s only money, right?

Wailea

Again, I didn’t play, but we did drive around the resort and past the golf courses while killing time before the luau. They looked lush and challenging. There are 3 courses at Wailea — Blue, Gold and Emerald and fees range from $145-160. The ConAgra Foods Skins Game Series (Seniors and LPGA) is played at Wailea every January.

Link: http://www.wailea-resort.com/pages/w_golf.html

Kaanapali

There are 2 courses, North and South. Our condo overlooked them and they drove me nuts on occasion, when the Golf Jones hit. The Seniors play the EMC Classic here and if you’ve watched it, the course appears to be a little burnt around the edges, as this part of the island doesn’t get near the amount of rain that falls over by Hana. Rates range from $142-150, but if you tee off after 2:30, it’s only $74-77. Keep in mind it’s November, so the sun goes down early!

Link: http://www.maui.net/~kgcgolf/

Kapalua

We cruised thru the resort one day, just to scope it out. Man, talk about lush. If you’re going to drop the big bucks to play a round, might as well do it right! The Mercedes Classic is played here and is the kickoff to every PGA season. There are 3 courses: Plantation, Bay and Village. The Plantation is $195 and the others are $185. After 2:30, it’s $125. Such a deal!

Link: http://www.kapaluamaui.com/

If you are thinking about dragging your clubs 4,500 miles, you might want to reconsider. I saw vans at our condos for a place that rented name brand clubs for $15 a day and delivered them to your hotel. All of the above courses also have rentals available for around $30.

Link: http://www.mauiclubrentals.com/

If you know in advance when you will have time to play, you can book tee times online before you leave the Mainland.

Link: http://www.teetimeshawaii.com/

Hope all of you Flyer Fans have a great time…we’ll be thinking about you and, if all goes according to plan, watching all three of the Flyer victories on ESPN and ESPN2, starting with CMU on Monday the 24th at 5:00PM EST.