Maui has quickly become one of my favorite travel destinations.

And not just because we’ve got awesome friends on the island we love visiting.

Maui’s got great restaurants, hiking trails, friendly farms and gorgeous views (like the one of the sunrise at Haleakala above) that make any excuse to travel here a good one.

So when I got a writing assignment on the Valley Isle, I took it — and packed in a weekend of eating, hiking and cruising.

The only downside is, at some point, I gotta come home.

Here’s what the first part of the trip looked like:

As soon as we arrived on Maui on Friday, we visited a start-up farm in Kula on the slopes of Haleakala. This farm is going to utilize aquaponics — the integration of aquaculture and hydroponics — to grow a variety of veggies. We lucked out with the weather, too. It was a balmy 70 degrees during the day in Kula.

This farm is right next to the huge stretch of land owned by Oprah Winfrey. Not a bad view, right?

We stopped off at Kula Bistro, which opened in this rural town in 2012, for a quick lunch. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with a pesto aioli.

After visiting the farm, we headed to Makawao to stay with some friends — and immediately went to dinner at Makawao Steak House on Baldwin Avenue. This popular steakhouse started as a six-table restaurant in Makawao more than 10 years ago. Now it’s turned into a full-service restaurant and catering company with locations in Kihei, Kahului and Waiehu.

We started with focaccia bread, calamari rings and this flatbread ($8).

Here’s the slow-roasted 14-ounce certified Angus prime rib ($25) with an alaea salt crust and au jus.

And here’s the fall-off-the-bone Asian-style braised beef short ribs ($23) with ginger, sesame, anise, sriracha, shoyu and steamed white rice.

It was great to spend time with the Doyle family — here’s my pal, Anuhea — at dinner. This was really the best part of the entire trip.

The next morning greeted us with nice weather again — Honolulu was getting hit with rain — so we planned our day around the sunshine.

Well, after eating breakfast, of course. We stopped off at the locally owned Koho Grill & Bar at the Queen Kaahumanu Center in Kahului first.

Here’s the King Platter, with eggs, corned beef hash and the best potatoes I’ve had.

Honestly, I could have just eaten these potatoes as a meal. They were topped with green onions, bacon and cheese. Totally crave-able.

Next stop: surf check at the world-famous Hookipa Beach. It was Saturday and the break was crowded (though windy). But it was still fun to watch surfers take off on shoulder-high sets — and wish we had brought our boards.

Our friend, Tanya, took us to the Waihou Spring Trail in Makawao for a quick hike this forest reserve established in 1909 to protect one of the few perennial springs on the west slope of Haleakala.

This reserve spans 186 acres, though the area we walked was fairly small. We turned off the loop trail and headed down to some old irrigation tunnels through this forest-lined stream bed.

Those holes are the tunnels — and yes, you can climb into them.

The next morning Tanya took me to La Provence in Kula that serves up authentic French pastries and other dishes. (We are already planning a girl’s trip to Paris.)

It’s a quaint little place with views of the Central Maui Valley. And the pastries here — though it does offer a lunch menu with salads and sandwiches — were why we make the trek.

Here’s chef Thierry J. Michelier making Hollandaise sauce. He was born in France and has lived on Maui for more than 20 years.

I’m a sucker for chocolate croissants and these were the best I’ve had — in Paris or Japan.

There were also three different kinds of quiches.

This was one of the three boxes we took home. It was a great starter to Super Bowl Sunday and what will likely be another gorgefest. Until then, though, this will keep me happy for awhile.

Follow my #CatTravels adventures on Maui on Twitter @thedailydish and on Instagram @catherinetoth.