Maui Hi! - Wailuku

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exploring
Planning Your Trip
Free & Affordable Things To Do
OGG, the airport
Iao Valley, the spiritual center
Wailuku, old Maui
Kahului, the shopping center
Paia, windsurfing capitol
Hana, the last Hawaiian place

Lahaina, sin city 1860
Maalaea, ocean center
Kihei, condos, malls, beaches
Wailea, big hotels
Haleakala Crater
Upcountry. cowboys, shopping

Wailuku, Maui of yesteryear

Mix a charming old town with Maui's government center and you get Wailuku, a town that's still trying to decide what it wants to be. The center of town is mostly low-rise office buildings with some interesting shops and restaurants. Drive around the back streets and you'll see the wooden buildings and homes of yesterday.

Ka'ahumanu Church

Pretty as a picture, this old Congregational church was built in 1876 on the site of the grass thatched original where Queen Ka'ahumanu used to worship. You're welcome at the services where the invocations and hymns are in Hawaiian. The church is locked, but if you see the caretaker, you may ask for a quick tour.

Bailey House

-Bailey House

Missionary sugar planter Edward Bailey's 1833 home is filled with Hawaiian treasure. Nice old stone and timber house holds precontact artifacts like dog tooth necklaces, and a lei of tree snail shells. More recent stuff like Duke Kahanamoku's redwood surfboard. A gallery of Bailey's 1866 landscapes show a Maui we no longer know. Open 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 2375-A Main St., 244-3326
• Bailey House

-Bailey House 2

Market Street

Iao Theater

If you like antiquing, this is the place to look. Interesting galleries and resale shops make Market street worth a walk. Downtown Wailuku is still a work in process, moving from the olden days to full gentrification. There are a couple of good Thai restaurants, too.

This theater has gone through every change in the island's recent history from local kung fu movie palace to hippie foreign film haven, gradually decaying as it went. But people cared enough to get it renovated and now it's home to the local theater group.

Maui Tropical Plantation

-Maui Tropical Plantation

You can take a 30 minute narrated tram ride around 50 acres of a working plantation. Fields of sugar cane, pineapple, coffee, macadamia nut, avocado, star fruit and papaya trees. Interesting exhibits detail their history. The Plantation shop sells fresh and dried fruit. Dried papaya is a real treat. There is a restaurant. Open 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 1670 Honopiilani Hwy, 244-7643

-Maui Tropical Plantation 2

Waikupu Golf and Country Club

Waikupu Golf

Known locally as "Marilyn's," this could be Maui's most unusual building. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the building. Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller wanted to build it in Connecticut but then they split up. One of the local moguls had it redesigned (puffed up) and built for a clubhouse. Walk in and look around. 2500 Honopiilani Hwy. 244-2011

Haleki'i and Pihana Heiau

On the way out of Kahului to the north are two restored Hawaiian temples or "heiau." King Kahakili used the Haleki'i heiau during his reign in the late 1700's. A plaque explains the layout of the walls and terraces. A few steps up the path brings you to the Pihana heiau which was a sacrificial temple from about 1779. Good view of the harbor from here.

Waiehu Beach Park

Here is a beach with a different experience for you. Just below the Waihee Municipal Golf Course. Brown sand and rubble from the wide coral reef. Good beachcombing. Often windy when the trades are up, but good swimming and snorkeling on a calm day.

Waiehu Municipal Course

Built in 1929, this 18 hole course (5330 yards, par 72) is where local folks play. Stiff trade winds and great ocean views make this an interesting and difficult course. Greens fees are $25 weekdays and $30 weekends and holidays. Cart optional. 243-7400

You'll find more places to see on our Maui HI! Tour Guide CD-ROM