Kula Botanical Gardens and Upcountry Fun

So I mentioned that when we went to the Kula Country Farms Pumpkin Patch we decided to make a day of it Upcountry. It was such a beautiful day and lunch at Kula Lodge sounded yummy and it was about that time, so we headed there (me, Joel, Dean and Great Grandma Joan) - this was back several week ago on October 2. Dean always loves exploring their grounds and they have a nice little store / gift shop.


After lunch at Kula Lodge, we decided to try something we've never done. There aren't many things left on Maui that we haven't done, so it was kind of exciting to have something new to do! I recently had the opportunity to get to know the owners of Kula Botanical Gardens, Warren and Helen McCord, and they are wonderful people full of knowledge about Maui's flora and fauna. Since we were in the area and had never been, we stopped by the Gardens to check them out. We were NOT disappointed! I can't believe we've been on Maui for almost 7 years and have never been there! We spent well over an hour exploring the lush grounds and didn't come close to seeing half of it - we will DEFINITELY be going back in the near future. And this place is now at the top of our list of places to take guests when they're visiting. We can't wait to pack a couple of sandwiches and head back up there and make a day of walking around and really taking our time to check everything out. Dean LOVED it. They have a huge, multi-level Koi pond, and too many tropical plants and trees to try to list (Dean especially loved reading all of the little signs labeling the plants and trees). They even have a pair of Hawaiian NeNe that hang out (we didn't make it up to see them, so we'll be doing that next time for sure). Anyway, you can see for yourself how pretty this place is. And if you ever come visit, I promise we'll take you there!