I’ve never been the type to run away from winter by jetting off to somewhere tropical, but there’s a first time for everything. A few gems and images from my week in Maui:
Best place to time your fancy dinner reservation for sunset and then it’s the only day there’s not really a sunset (the food was amazing though): Pacific’O in Lahaina.
Best place to freeze your butt off on top of a mountain:Â Haleakala. Head’s up, you need a reservation to go at sunrise now, and it’s booked out weeks in advance.
Best place to swim with a sea turtle (more accurately: the beach where I found myself accidentally swimming in very close proximity to a turtle and it was AWESOME):Â Kamaole Beach Park II.
Best food truck: Kina’ole Grill Food Truck, Kehei.
My dad and I ate a ridiculous amount of pulled pork from this food truck, considering how many days we were there. So. Freaking. Delicious. I’m going to try and figure out how to make their garlic ginger rice at home. It’s also cheap, mostly because the portions are so generous – one plate is perfect for two people.
Best place to resurrect your faith in humanity: The tiny pond at mile marker 17 on the Road to Hana.
I campaigned hard to search out a tiny swimming hole, and we found this one on the way home just as the sun started to dip back behind the mountains. Wedged into a tiny pullout by the cliffside, we got out of the car just as another car pulled up – two women who navigated the area like they had been there a hundred times before – and I realized this was probably a local hangout. We all traipsed down to the pool together, and it was clear that the two locals hadn’t brought swimsuits; they had probably figured they’d have the place to themselves for an after-work swim. Then, as we were slippping on our swimsuits – like it was the most natural thing to do (and it is the most natural thing to do, ultimately)- the two women pulled off thier clothes and dove in. Did I ever think I’d find myself explaining that my favorite memory from Hawaii was swimming with two naked stragers and my father? Definitely not. But let me try do justice to how beautiful the moment was. It was so… human, in the way I love humans most. Free and fearless and connected. Women who felt unabashedly comfortable in their own skin, and the trust between strangers that things wouldn’t get wierd or judgemental or sexual. And they didn’t. Bracingly cold water, perfectly clear, running down from the mountainside and on past us to ultimately meet the ocean. I get this feeling at weddings a lot, that I witness these flashes of the best of who we are. Soul-stirring moments. This was one of those, in a humble way. After a few minutes the stragers got out, dried off, and left. I stayed in the water until my fingers went numb and we drove back to the apartment. A sudden burst of rain mingling with the lingering rays of light made it feel like we were driving through fire, just as I got reception back on my phone and read the CNN notification calling the results of the Alabama senate race. Later that night my dad joked that maybe the instant those women threw off their clothes and jumped into the pool with strangers was the same instant that Roy Moore lost. Who knows? Maybe he’s right.
Anna Peters is a Portland and Seattle Wedding Photographer creating fine photographs for people-focused weddings. Anna uses traditional fine art film photography techniques to capture imagery for her couples that is both effortlessly beautiful and deeply honest.Â
Based in the Pacific Northwest, Anna is inspired by the rich and varied landscapes of Washington but also travels often, capturing destination wedding photography for couples worldwide, from intimate Iceland Elopements to elegant Tuscany weddings. You can view her full body of fine art wedding photography, here.
