The islands of Hawaii and I have a long history.

That may sound a bit self-centered, linking my personal history with that of this archipelago that comprises our 50th state. But some of the most important events of my life have occurred here, so ...

And by the way, I’m writing this while looking out from the lanai of our rented condo, over the expanse of water that separates this part of Maui from the island of Lanai. My wife, Mary Pat, and I are spending the week in the Wailea neighborhood of south Maui.

Back to history, I first visited in the summer of 1958 when my naval officer father was stationed on Oahu. We spent a year here, during which Hawaii – formerly a kingdom and then an independent republic – was admitted to statehood.

That was on Aug. 21, 1959. After leaving for a year (a forgettable time spent in Rhode Island), we returned to Oahu. Our family stay this time lasted a full three years.

Since then, Mary Pat and I have returned a half dozen times, visiting all the places a non-Hawaiian can, from Oahu to Maui (where we celebrated our honeymoon), Kauai, Lanai, Molokai and the Big Island. We’re not likely to ever see the privately owned Ni’ihau, limited mostly to native Hawaiians, and no one I know has ever stepped foot on uninhabitable Kaho’olawe.

This is our third trip to Maui, which, frankly, isn’t my favorite. (I’ll always love Oahu since I went to school there and first played football, and I find both the Big Island and Molokai far more charming and old-school Hawaii.) But we’re staying in a different part just to see if we’ve missed anything.

So many people I know love Maui, so we felt the need to give it another chance. And the mid-range, non-resort part where we're staying feels a lot less congested (and fancy) than other parts of the island.

Yet I was reluctant at first. You may remember that last Aug. 8 the town of Lahaina suffered a catastrophic series of wildfires. Not only did the disaster kill more than 100 people, and cause some $5.5 billion in damage, it destroyed much of the scenic, historic whaling village (where our honeymoon stay began).

Some part of me was reluctant to come spend time in the sun when not that long ago some Maui residents were suffering the worst pain of their lives. But friends convinced us that if we were going to spend money some place, we should do so on Maui, since tourism is one of the main sources of income here. (I should add that we’d made our plans well before the fire, and that we’d also contributed to a Lahaina restoration fund.)

Anyway, we arrived on a Thursday evening and since then have mostly relaxed, though I’ll run down some of our activities.

Golf: We brought our own clubs, which at least at some courses will provide for a fee. We first played Manu Nui Golf Course, which perfectly fit our requirements. It’s a bit rough around the edges, with fairway and green that aren’t PGA-perfectly groomed, and it isn’t particularly difficult.

We played only 9 holes, and we started out with another pair. One was a guy who left us after the second hole, saying that he was going to play the back 9 – though I suspect he’d lost patience with our ineptitude. That left us with Catherine, a Maui resident from Samoa, who could hit the ball a ton, even if her short game let her down more than once.

The last we saw of her she went back to the first tee saying she needed to “redeem herself.”

Water: Maui can get crowded, especially during the weekend, so we scouted beaches in the vicinity that we plan to visit beginning on Monday, depending on the weather (the forecast is for overcast skies with a chance of rains). We did hit the pool at our condo facility, which was nice.

Eating: One of the activities that every visitor to Hawaii enjoys is eating. And we’re no different, though our tastes are diverse. Though we plan to eat at one or two gourmet spots, my own preference would be to hit a taco truck.

That’s where we began, in fact, at the South Maui Fish Co., a shack set in an open market where you can order off a limited menu that features grilled fish and poke. We ordered a fish plate (mahi mahi, slaw and rice) and fish (again, big slabs of grilled mahi mahi) tacos. And two Diet Cokes.

The next day we stopped at a place that my Vancouver friend Tom suggested. It’s called, simply enough, The Cinnamon Roll Place, and the home-made cinnamon rolls are maybe half the size of a typical Cinnabon pastry but feature twice the deliciousness. That night, as if our sweet teeth hadn’t been soothed enough, we stopped at Lappert’s Hawaii, located in the upscale Shops at Wailea, for some ice cream (the Heavenly Hana – a blend of dark and white chocolate, marshmallow, almonds and macadamia nuts – is to die for).

Our first trending-toward-upscale dinner was at the Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman. Good thing we made a reservation, because the popular place was jammed, with a dozen or more people waiting to get a table – either on the lanai or inside the massive dining room.

After lucking into finding a parking spot in the rather smallish lot, we enjoyed the efforts of our fast-on-his-feet server Jayson (“That’s Jayson with a Y,” he said). My fish sandwich was tasty enough, though the buns should have been toasted and got soggy halfway through. Mary Pat’s fish and chips were just what she wanted.

And since we were in Hawaii, we needed a taste of coconut, so we opted to share a slice of coconut-cream pie. So many sweet things to eat, so little time.

The week continues. I’ll note more next time.