The store actually had some surprisingly beautiful hand-crafted items. But it got me thinking about the word "free" and how I'd spent the entire afternoon sightseeing in Lahaina for next to nothing. Of 61 listed attractions I managed to get to about two dozen, and only encountered an admission price twice, and even then it was under $3.
Lahaina is a historic city on Maui, and no trip to the island is complete without a visit to the former Hawaiian capital. For freebie lovers it's got everything.
First, it's a walkable city so there's no need to pay for buses or taxis to get around. Many visitors arrive on cruise ships, but if you're staying in Kaanapali, it's just a short shuttle bus ride away.
And, with the help of one of the complimentary self-guided tour maps, there's no need to hire a guide or join a tour group unless you want to. You can learn at your own pace about Hawaiian customs when royalty ruled the island, see artifacts from city's rowdy whaling days or marvel at the landmarks built by early Chinese and Japanese immigrants.
The free map I like best is published by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation but any map with a legend will suffice, as historical markers around town provide lots of information.
A good place to start a tour is at the court house, an attractive building dating to 1859, in the heart of the city. It houses a visitor information centre on the main level (where you can pick up maps and brochures) and the Lahaina Heritage Museum, with changing exhibits, on the second floor.
In the basement, a former jail now functions as an art gallery, where photographs and colourful oil paintings hang on white-washed walls around, and in some cases inside, the cells.
There was even more art outside, where dozens of vendors selling anything from watercolours of Maui scenes to Polynesian carvings displayed their work on tables under an enormous Banyan tree. Planted in 1873 to mark the 50th anniversary of Lahaina's first Protestant Christian mission, the tree is an attraction in itself. It measures about a half of kilometre in circumference!
Under the shade of its sprawling branches, I met local musician Michael Kollwitz, who was playing a new and unusual instrument called a Chapman Stick. Invented in Los Angeles in 1974 by Emmett Chapman, it resembles the neck of a guitar but wider and has 10 strings, which are tapped against the frets producing a very distinctive sound. Kollwitz was one of the first students of the instrument.
You never know what you'll find under the Banyan tree, which seems to be a hive of activity, and not just for humans. In the evenings, it becomes a roosting place for thousands of raucous mynah birds!
Nearby are several other places worth seeing:
- Baldwin Museum, once the home of missionary and doctor Dwight Baldwin who helped inoculate 10,000 Maui residents for small pox.
- Master's Reading Room, constructed in 1834. It's believed to be Maui's oldest building and was a hangout for visiting sea captains, after missionaries banned prostitution and the sale of alcohol.
- Wo Hing Museum. The first Chinese who came to Maui in the 1800s worked on sugar plantations and built tunnels and irrigation systems. This two-storey building, with a Taoist altar upstairs, was their social gathering place. The former cookhouse next door now shows some of Thomas Edison's first films, which were shot in Hawaii, circa 1898.
- Hauola Stone. In the harbour -- close to shore and visible above the tide -- is a large angular stone-shaped like a low-backed chair. Used by ancient Hawaiians as a birthing stone, it was also believed to promote health and healing.
- Pioneer Inn. Lahaina's first hotel was built in 1901 and has a Canadian connection. George Freeland, an RCMP officer from Vancouver was sent to Hawaii to "get his man," but when he failed his mission, he decided to stay in Maui and built this inn, which was the only hotel in West Maui until the 1960s. It's still in operation today.
- About 10 minutes from Lahaina, the Kaanapali Beach Hotel stages free nightly hula shows in the Tiki Courtyard from 6 to 9. There's also a free hula show during the Sunday brunch from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. See kbhmaui.com.
WRITER@INTERLOG.COM
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IF YOU GO TO MAUI
For more, check visitlahaina.com or call 808-667-9193. With the money you save on your self-guided tour, you might want to splurge and see an evening cultural performance. Ulalena is an award-winning show depicting Hawaii's history in music, dance and drama. It runs at the Maui Theatre in Lahaina. Check MauiTheatre.com or call 877-688-4800 or 808-856-7900.
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