Our view of the Ocean with Lanai in the background from our room’s porch.

The Blog is on vacation this week, Dear Readers.  No, I’m not taking a leave of absence from writing and maintaining the site, but The Wife and I have arrived in Maui.

My phone and the alarm clock in the room tell me it’s just after 5:00 p.m. local time, but my watch, computer, and eyelids tell me it closer to a quarter past 11:00 p.m.  So, as a decidedly morning person of the past couple years, this is going to be interesting.

The scenery on the drive from the airport to the Ka’anapali Beach Club was just as amazing as I expected, and I will have more on the vistas as the week progresses.

On an overcast day, so I’m not certain I have a proper appreciation for all the new and vibrant flora colors native to Maui yet.

I don’t know if the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky ever gets THIS green, and this is just a shot from the hotel balcony.

I’m sure that between the Kapalua Golf Resort, Wailea Golf Club, and any other yet undecided golf excursions, there will be plenty of Blog material by week’s end.

 At this point, all I know is that its 73 degrees and misting, that I’m severely overdressed in my khaki slacks and long sleeve polo, and that The Beard is in serious danger of receiving a shearing by week’s end.

Also, I plan to take as many precautions as possible, but the fact remains that I’m descended from a long line of pasty Scots and Scot-Irishmen.  If there is one fundamental truth I know about ethnicity and heritage, it’s that my people don’t tan well.

So, there is a one in three chance that by Friday you may be reading The One Boiled Lobster-Man Blog.

Home sweet home, at least for a week.

Besides the warmth and the omnipresent views of the ocean, the most obvious characteristic of being in Maui is that everything is different here.

The flora is overwhelming to someone that’s been locked indoors for the last several bleak, grey months.  Every leaf, every flower, every tree is so vibrant and so different than the forest hardwoods and evergreens that we’re accustomed to in Kentucky.

Likewise, coming from the intersection of large swaths of corn fields and cattle pastures, finding not one, but several, types of freshly caught fish on every menu is an exotic and wonderful new experience that I expect to take full advantage of shortly.

Maui makes a helluva first impression, which I hope desperately continues on the island’s golf courses this week.