Much clearer day than yesterday. We could watch the cruise ship from our room, and actually read the name.
The West Maui Mountains, which were the only thing cloud covered on Thursday afternoon…too late to save the last chance at a dive on Maui, but still, it meant that at least the only Luau we still do anymore on the islands, "The Old Lahaina Luau” was ON! So our last night would NOT be spent watching movies, working on this blog and packing!
Eric at the Old Lahaina Luau right before sunset, getting his camera ready to go over to the Imu pit to see them pull out the main portion of our dinner. I think he is SO handsome in that blue Tommy Bahama Hawaiian shirt. It was the last one they put out with Asian motifs mixed in with Hawaiian motifs (put out in 2008) that we have seen. He has one from 2004 also, that has a huge koi on it that I think is a cooler print, but this one brings out his eyes. Yes, I’m crushing on my husband. That particular luau does it to me and since I’m writing this at Turtle Bay while waiting for him to get out of the shower before we go hit the surfer beaches to see if the contest is going on due to the high surf today and to make a trip to Haleiwa, the 1960’s surfer town nearby, obviously I still crush on him here too.
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Several shots of the Imu pit where they cooked two lovely pigs for the Kailua Pork, which was the main meat portion of the meal at the luau (although there was lots of fish and some chicken too for none pork eaters and many types of veggie dishes for vegetarians). They wrap the pig in ti leaves and put this into what is here a permanent stone pit, but can be just dug in the ground and the bottom covered with heated lava stones. Then the top of the whole is covered with palm fronds and the pig is cooked for many hours slowly. That is why it is so moist and just falls apart when taken out. It is very salty, although I (Simone) love to dip it in the poi to cut the saltiness. I don’t like poi any other way, and Eric can’t abide it, but it really makes the pork even moister and really does cut the saltiness…besides, I get strange looks from other tourists when they see me eating it and I rather like it. The kudos from the occasional local waiter who seems me eat it that way (over the years) doesn’t hurt either (wink)!
The moon over the palm trees to the east of us, during twilight. Later, during the night it started to cloud up again and we got a few sprinkles, but the moon kept popping out and it shown on the dancers at times and made the luau even more magical than it normally is for me. Really, if you can only do one luau when you are visiting Maui (or any of the islands) do The Old Lahaina Luau, as they really do focus mostly on Hawaiian hula through the history of it (although, since the Hawaiians originally came from Tahiti, they do show some Tahitian dances at the beginning of the luau to show the soon to be Hawaiians on their way to colonizing Hawaii).
Our neighbors at the table right before the show started. The extended twilight, the first we could see for a few days due to the storm, was lovely and really lit up the clouds to the west of us for a good half hour. Really, we got some lovely professional photos of Eric and I posing after the sun went down and we will post them (even though I don’t like the way I look in them) just to show you how lovely that sky was.
