Day 3 Trilogy & Shave Ice!

Day Three... Up before the sun even started to break and could not wait to get outside, it was a little dark to walk on the beach so I sat on a lounge chair and listened to the waves and soaked it all in.
The flowers are so beautiful, somehow in the lights they were more beautiful to me on this morning than during the daylight; I think they just stood out so starkly against the dark sky that I could not resist them.

I headed upstairs to see if B. was up yet and no sign of him, he had gotten up and headed outside already as well.

I hit the shower and hurried to get ready, this is the day we are going on Discover Lanai with Trilogy and I couldn't wait; I knew from going 2 years ago how amazing the day would be and I could not wait to share it together.

After we were both ready for the day plenty early we decided to go for a quick beach walk and you probably notice by now you will get a selfie of us wherever we go; this is also our memory book of our trip, so many will be included. :)

We walked next door to Maui Kai and called my sister; she looked up the webcam and took a pic of us enjoying our trip; she had been on Maui in January so it was cool to say hi to her from here now that we had arrived. :)

I can't resist the view of Lanai, I took so many pictures as we came up to and around the island; it was hard to choose what to share, what a beautiful day it was!

 After getting home B. told me this is the day he was "hooked", I think I can see it here. :)

...nothing beats staring up into the Maui Sunshine.

Besides these amazing views Trilogy is keeping you fed the whole way over to Lanai. First you get juice or coffee, then they'll bring out Grandma Coon's famous cinnamon  rolls piping hot out of the oven followed by huge trays of fresh island fruit.

Later, just before you get to the island they serve wraps to tide you over until the bbq later. They have veggie, tuna & chicken salad; I LOVE the chicken salad and have not tried the other two.
You will also get chips and salsa at the beach along with POG and ice water.

It was great seeing Whales along the way!

I forgot to mention we went out with Captain Brian; he was great as well as all the crew. He does a great job of letting you see the whales along the way while still staying on schedule.
The crew is full of information about Maui, Lanai, Hawaii in general and of course Whales and Dolphins so you are always being filled with information and they make it fun. :)

Have I mentioned how I can't resist the views of Lanai? ....this is only a small portion of the pictures I took. :)

 ...one of my favorite pics of the trip!

 (oh yes, boys will be boys...)

 I can't remember the name of this rock at the moment but I don't want to ruin the story for those who have not yet visited Lanai; very great story from Hawaiian folk lore.

Enjoying the fabulous views and relaxing ride.

When you get to Lanai you will have the chance to go on a van tour of the island. I went on it last time I was here and it was fabulous, a very fun and informative look at the island and the lifestyle there throughout the history there. The tours are given by local "Aunties" and they LOVE to talk story so you get a first hand feel of the people there.
We opted to skip the tour this time and stayed at the beach for snorkeling but I recommend the tour to anyone who loves to learn about Hawaiian culture & history.

The snorkeling was a blast! If you do not take the Island tour you have 3 hours on the beach.
Trilogy does a great job with snorkel instruction and will be in the water with you the whole time and available to help.
For an upgrade you also can try snuba-diving, we did not do this, we figured we were good just getting used to snorkeling.
When we first headed out to snorkel we were stopped and asked if we were with Trilogy; turns out that if you are with them you have to wear a flotation device so we got set up and headed back out.
I had read mixed reviews on using floatation devices for snorkeling and had thought I would not like it; turns out we both loved it and decided that before our next snorkel day we would head back to Snorkel Bob's and rent them for the rest of our trip.
While they do slow you down we liked the stability they gave us while putting on our flippers out in the water as well as making it easier to take a breather or dump unwanted water out of our tubes or masks. We also felt more confident to go out further with them on. I think if you are on the fence on trying them that you should rent them for at least a day and see what you think.

Two can play at this game!

Holding onto this feeling until we can head back... (maybe in January...)

So after snorkeling they will call you to eat back up by the dock, their famous shore lunch is famous for a reason, the food is fantastic! They cater the whole meal to you starting with a salad, do yourself a favor and try they secret recipe dressing, it is a blue cheese vinaigrette and  people who don't normally even like blue cheese were trying it and loving it.

 They called for help to pull the sales and the young guys on board were pretty excited to help, we sailed for about 45 minutes on the way back to Maui.

This was taken by one of the crew; I loved how relaxing it was on the webbing.

The views were great from the dock when we came in; had to get a few quick shots before moving on.
We decided since we had parking already covered for the day we would walk around and decide what to do next; I saw Ululani's Shave Ice and that is all it took to decide.

Thank you Trip Adviser! I kept hearing don't go anywhere but Ululani's for your first Shave Ice... YOU WERE RIGHT!!!! I listened and this was so fabulous we didn't need any dinner after, we had eaten all day with Trilogy anyway so $8.00 for food for the day was a pretty sweet deal.
This is mango, pineapple and passion fruit with coconut ice cream on the  bottom and topped with toasted coconut.
We loved the mango the most but the other two flavors were great compliments to it!
I would also like to mention the great staff there, we were at the one in the marketplace, they were so helpful and patient as we made our decision.

 We finished it up in no big hurry and walked back to our car... it was a very long and fun filled day!
After hitting the hot tub we headed to bed and were fast asleep.