Hello Friends and Family,

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Maui: Morning Walk, Part 5

As I mentioned previously, the Kapalua Shoreline Trail crosses the Ritz-Carlton's property down where the old lower road used to be. Thus, as we cross the property, we cannot help but notice the opulence that is mere steps from us. In case you are curious, the rooms here start at $500 per night. Of course that is for a standard room (quite nice, I am sure, by my standards) — for a bigger pile of dollars you can stay in a Ritz-Carlton Suite (2560 square feet, living room, dining room, walk-in closet, two lanais with gorgeous ocean views, marble bath with soaker tub, separate shower, dual vanities and powder room) which is probably bigger and nicer than any of our personal homes.



Oh well, the trail ends at Fleming Beach, which is the Ritz-Carlton's beach, sort of, since all beaches in Hawai‘i are open to the public. They provide lounges plus services to their guests who chose to enjoy the beach.


The beach is lovely but the waves here are frequently quite rough — notice the red flags posted along the beach to warn swimmers of the potentially dangerous conditions.

However, it is also the spot where I captured one of my favorite Maui photos of a little beach boy — click here to see it.


Overlooking Fleming Beach is The Beach House Restaurant primarily serving Ritz-Carlton guests but also open to the general public. They serve drinks, snacks and light meals.


Crossing the grounds, one cannot help but notice the landscaping — here one of my favorites, bougainvillea.


Nearby is what used to be the Ritz-Carlton's tennis facility but is how used by Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program. They offer a wide variety of activities for all members of the family including hikes, snorkeling and cultural history. Tennis moved to the Kapalua Tennis Garden which was previously operated in conjunction with the Kapalua Bay Hotel (now demolished).


On this particular day, a handful of egrets were feeding on grubs (or whatever) in the lawn surrounding the Cousteau facility. They were watching me carefully but did not seem to be too frightened by my camera.


Retracing our steps, we are now leaving the Ritz-Carlton property from the same direction we entered. That is the Wedding Chapel directly in front of us with the Ridge Villas condos beyond on the left.


The Kapalua Bay Course runs along one side of the Ritz-Carlton — here is hole number three. It is a par 3, so hopefully there are not too many terribly errant shots striking the lanais on this side of the hotel.


Although we have completed the formal Kapalua Shoreline Trail, my morning walk always continues up Office Road. On one side stands a huge hedge of Hibiscus plants — standing some 10 feet high — which protects us from golf balls from the third hole (that we just looked at in the previous photo).


We close this week looking up Office Road. Note the person on the sidewalk to the left — now you can really see the scale of the Hibiscus hedge as well as the Cook's Pine Trees which line both sides of the road.


To be continued...

Life is good.

Aloha,
B. David

P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com