SeanBlog: Lahaina Lani - Dispatch 2


It's day two of my 2008 Maui trip and I think I've made my best find EVER!!! A local, organic gelato maker - on Maui! That's right, in downtown Paia there's a new gelato maker that features local and organic (whenever possible) flavors. Along with the classic gelato flavors they feature seasonal fruit flavors that are out of this world. Ono Gelato Company is not to be missed. They also have several other lines of goodies and the one that really got my taste buds all riled up was Jeff's Jams and Jellies. Jeff's strawberry butter was tasty indeed. I couldn't tell if the items were organic, but they certainly get points for local and seasonal. The gelato did come after a tasty lunch at the Paia Fish Market that features all local fish, meats, and produce.

Another great find of the day in Paia was vintage textile Aloha shirts at a men's store called Moonbow Tropics.

After some tasty local-fish sushi for dinner we dropped in on a local bookstore and I came across a great book called "West Maui Natural History. Being a conservation biologist and all, I can't wait to read it from cover to cover and start checking off the plants, animals, insects, and other 'must sees' in the book.

To end the evening, I wanted to track down a local fashion boutique that I read about in an article in the Hawaiian Airlines Magazine Hana Hou! titled "Green Chic". The designer was Maggie Coulombe. Maggie's business partner, the fabulous Mr. Arid Chappell, was in the house and gave us all the garmento scoop on their apparel...not only do they try to make everything on Maui - getting points for staying local - they incorporate social messages in many of their t-shirt designs and are starting down the sustainable fabric path. I couldn't help buying one of the "Black is always in style" t-shirts.