We awoke and saw the southwest coast of Maui through the window. We also saw many whales surface just a kilometer or two off-shore. This is winter and the whales are here, and that is the reason Lahaina was founded. It is a small town and never participated in the great hotel development that is evident further north on the Ka’anapali coast. Today it survives as a small artists’ colony and whale-watching center. We took a stroll down the road facing the beach. Some of the early missionary homes have been preserved. Baldwin House is the same family which founded Alexander & Baldwin, the parent of the huge ocean-transport firm, Matson Navigation. The locals have preserved and refurbished a courthouse (yellow stucco)which is located right on the waterfront. It dates from the mid-19th century. I presume there was plenty of distributed justice in the days of the whalers. This was a busy place. No more. Some of the bricks from a Hawaiian fort have been dumped adjacent to the courthouse. I included a picture of a brilliant African tulip tree.
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