I waited to write this update so long, it's probably going to be a little terse and short on details.
What I did: take a snorkel boat trip to the Molokini crater and turtle reef (or as the captain said, "Well, it's a reef and there are turtles."); wander around old Lahaina (very touristy, and none of the museums were open during advertised hours); drive up to Haleakala and get my National Park Passport stamped; attend a lovely wedding by the ocean and drink a lot of wine; hike in Iao Valley with my brother; run on the beach and watch sunsets; drink local beer (nothing spectacular, but the pineapple-wheat is interesting and the Longboard lager is solid); visit the very good Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum; ate a plate lunch and food with spam in it.
What I think: I don't grok Hawaii. Yes, the beaches are nice and the weather is consistently stunning. But everything I did was touristy and I sort of feel like the trip was the equivalent of visiting New Orleans and never leaving the French Quarter. My confusion about "authenticity" is compounded by the fact that I read Sarah Vowell's Unfamiliar Fishes while I was visiting--I highly recommend it. Man, Hawaii has a complicated history, and I felt a little awful about being an American tourist over there.
TL;DR: Uniquely pretty with excellent weather, but my favorite beach vacation is still Fort Pickens.
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