The best Maui souvenir

Tree-ripened mangoes.

I've written about our fantastic family trip to fantastic Maui more than once on this blog. One of the great things about visiting a tropical place like Maui, is the abundance of ripe, sweet, juice, fresh fruit. I have never tasted such amazing papayas, mangoes, or pineapple anywhere else. It just makes such a difference when fruit is allowed to ripen on the plant, in the sunshine.

When we left Maui, we shopped around the airport a bit, mainly to pass the time. And then we spotted the boxes of handpicked Maui pineapple.

Maui Gold. Extra Sweet. How could we resist? We bought two boxes: one as a present for out cat-sitter. And out of all the souvenirs we brought back: t-shirts, leis, macadamia nuts and jewelry, this was definitely the prize winner. That pineapple was so delicious, I wished we'd gotten another box for ourselves.

If you go to Maui, pick some pineapple up when you head home. Your kids will enjoy it, and so will you. As an additional fun thing to do, for kids and adults, you can plant the top of the pineapple and grow your very own pineapple plant. I planted the tops from both of our pineapples, but only one took root. It's not really thriving, but it is alive and maybe some day it'll grow big enough to produce a pineapple. Or so I dream.

There are various directions on how to plant the tops, but I followed the directions provided here. Kids can have a lot of fun planting the pineapple and taking care of it afterward.