DK Travel : Maui : Places of interest

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Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum

The sugar mill in Pu’unēnē is one of the last still operating in Hawai’i. Across the street from the mill stands the awardwinning museum, housed in the plantation superintendent’s residence of the early 20th century. Inside, the museum interestingly and informatively documents the history of Maui’s sugar industry. Photographs, clothing, models, and artifacts illustrate what daily plantation life was like for the owners and the immigrants who worked the fields and mills.
Bailey House Museum

Bailey House is a missionaryera home built on an ancient royal Hawaiian site. The building was first used as a mission school and then as the home of missionary and artist Edward Bailey. Today, it houses the largest collection of precontact Hawaiian artifacts on public display on Maui, along with various missionary-era memorabilia, Bailey’s original paintings, and fascinating historical photographs. (see Bailey House Museum)
Bellstone

This large volcanic rock, sitting on the side of the road just before Mile Marker 16 on the road past Kapalua, is so named because it sounds like a bell when struck in exactly the right spot. Use another rock or stick to gently strike the stone – it will probably take several attempts to find the right spot. By way of a hint, if you hit the rock on the side facing the mountain, it should resound with a metallic clank.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park

A statue of the revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the first president of the Republic of China, stands in this small park in Keokea. His brother, Sun Mei, was one of the many Chinese immigrants who settled in this area, and the doctor hid his family here with him during the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The park occupies around 6,000 acres of land that once belonged to his brother.
Front Street

This oceanfront thoroughfare is Lahaina’s main street. Lined with all the trappings of a vacation town, from souvenir shops and activity reservation outlets to a plethora of bars and restaurants, Front Street bustles day and night. It is the site of major festivals throughout the year (A Taste of Lahaina in September, Halloween’s Mardi Gras of the Pacific in October, the International Festival of Canoes in May) and a continual stream of smaller events, including the weekly Friday Night is Art Night. (see Front Street, Lahaina)

Pioneer Inn, Front Street
Garden of Eden Arboretum

The Garden of Eden is filled with native and indigenous species as well as exotic plants, trees, and birds from the South Pacific and tropical rain forests of the world. Botanical labels identify more than 500 plants, including the most extensive collection of ti plants in Hawai’i. Visitors can picnic, stroll, hike, or just breathe in the flowers’ aromas in these 26 acres of gardens and arboretum.
Garden of the Gods

No verdant oasis of foliage and flowers, Garden of the Gods is an eerily beautiful, windswept landscape of red, purple, and ocher rocks, sculpted by the raging forces of nature into irregular pinnacles and buttes. Sunsets are particularly spectacular here.
Hālawa Valley

The extreme eastern tip of Moloka’i is marked by the Hālawa Valley. It lies at the end of a scenic winding road, and an overlook at the valley’s entrance offers a breathtaking view of the 250-ft Moa’ula Falls cascading down the mountain and the freshwater stream running to the ocean. Take the road down into the valley, but do not cross the inlet as the other side is private property.
Hale Pa’ahao

This mid-19th century structure served as Lahaina’s prison, the inmates largely made up of ship deserters, drunks, reckless horse riders, and violators of the Sabbath. Built by convicts in the 1850s from blocks of stone salvaged from the old fort, the prison had a catwalk for use by an armed guard and wooden cells to hold the criminals.
Hale Pa’i

On the campus of Lahainaluna, the oldest high school west of the Rockies, this hillside building holds the history of the written word in Hawai’i. Until the mid-1800s, Hawaiian was a spoken language only. In order to spread the Bible’s word, Protestant missionaries used English letters to transliterate Hawaiian, and they brought a printing press with them specifically for the task. A replica of the press and the pages it printed are displayed here.