Day 5: Happy Trails to You
Horseback riding is a fun way to explore Maui, and there are stables island-wide, from Hana to Kahana. If you make the drive out to Hana, you’ll ride horseback right along the ocean’s edge. The offerings on the West Side and Upcountry are more mountainous, with the coolest weather found up on Haleakala.

For lunch, hit the BBQ at Fat Daddy’s in Kihei, or try the island's best-kept secret—Bruddah Willy’s Sticky Ribs on Highway 30 in Waikapu, open very limited hours. For dinner, take the Sugar Cane Train along the Lahaina Coast, learning the history of the island along the way and enjoying a barbecue feast at the end of the line. Or you can go gourmet and try the prime rib at Makawao Steakhouse in the real paniolo town of Makawao. They still have the hitching posts to prove it!
www.fatdaddysmaui.com, www.sugarcanetrain.com,

If you have a red eye or overnight flight home, you have one extra day to enjoy. Leave your suitcases with your hotel’s front desk or check in early at the airport and make the most of your last Maui No Ka Oi experience.

This abbreviated list shows how, with so many possibilities for dining and activities, there is truly something for everyone on Maui. If you take even a few of the suggestions outlined above, you will head back to the mainland with a belly full of food and a mind full of island memories, confident that you have experienced just a small sample of all Maui has to offer. Aloha!

Vanessa Ghantous, a seven-year resident of Maui, works as a travel consultant, making wholesale travel reservations for clients worldwide. She is also the mother of two small children. Read her blog at www.islandtravelgirl.blogspot.com.