Lahaina (Maui) - October 31, 2013

Land ho at last.  We've had four days at sea.  At first it was cool and mostly cloudy, but each day was a bit warmer than the previous one, and sunnier.  The last day was warm and humid.

Lahaina is a tender port, so we waited until the crowd thinned by about 9:30 and went ashore.

There isn't a lot to Lahaina.  Just one main street several blocks long, surrounded by neighborhoods.  We walked around looking for birds and anything else interesting.

Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845.  Its main claim to fame is a gigantic banyan tree in the center of town.  It was planted in 1873 and has grown sixteen secondary trunks.  It's the largest banyan in Hawaii.

There are a number of historic buildings in Lahaina.  The Pioneer Inn, which is still in operation, was built in 1909.

The old Lahaina courthouse, built in 1859, is the oldest public building on Maui.

The U.S. Seaman's Hospital, which is now a commercial building, was built in 1833.
























In 1832 a fort was built, after the town was fired upon by an English whaling ship.  The fort was built of coral blocks and fortified with 47 cannons which were salvaged from ships that had sunk in nearby waters.

The prison gatehouse dates to the early 1900s.

The Baldwin house was built in 1834.

We had lunch at a restaurant on the second level overlooking the main street.

By 2:30 we had pretty much done Lahaina, and it was starting to get crowded in preparation for their Halloween festival and parade, so we returned to the ship. 


On board the kitchen staff had been busy carving pumpkins.