Friday, March 6, 2009

The S.P.A.M. Chronicles - Day 18




The vacation concludes with no sign of disaster
The pace seems to pick up and move a lot faster
We journey north toward the shores of Bali Hai
As our friends from Seattle, John & Sally sigh
Over the melodic musings of a slack key master

The final full day of our Hawaiian vacation comes to a close with an enjoyable slack-key guitar concert at the north end of the island. The morning was low key as Mary & Dianna finished up some last minute shopping and sightseeing with Merlin at the wheel. We headed out on our road trip at noon for about an 80 mile roundtrip and took the scenic route east and north. We revisited Anini Beach for some views and to stretch our legs and then checked on progress at the Princeville Westin Hotel which has been closed for major renovations since September. You usually can get great sunset views over the mountain called Bali Hai but we had no access and the clouds ended up thickening by days end. As we arrived in the town of Hanalei, the rain greeted us and kept us company as we drove 8 more miles to the end of the road to Haena Beach, the jumping off point for the hike along the NaPali coastline. We returned to Hanalei and dined at Tropical Taco where orders were placed for fresh fish tacos and “Fat Jack”s, a filling deep-fried burrito. Today’s concert was at the Hanalei Community Center. The largely famous and famously large late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a sweet-voiced native Hawaiian ukulele player helped raise the money to fund construction of this wonderful gathering spot

Doug and Sandy McMaster have been performing on Kauai since they moved here in 1999 and performed 100’s of Sunset concerts at the picturesque Hanalei Bay until they became too disruptive. They now perform twice-weekly 2 hour concerts for 40-50 people and share music and stories of their responsibility to continue the tradition of old-style slack key guitar. As the skies opened up outside the Center, the sun was shining inside as we were treated to a wonderful and relaxing performance. John and Sally were able to attend with John’s daughter and son-in-law and grandson Gabe but were only able to stay for half the show as a 2-year-old’s priorities are sometimes different from those of the older folks.

We worked our way back toward home, pausing at a vista overlooking the Taro feils of Hanalei, with final stops at Wal-Mart and Costco to shop up and gas up respectively and then we wound down with a little ice cream and games until 10:00. Most of tomorrow will be a lost day of travel, especially since our clocks jump 3 hours ahead before we get up Sunday morning. It’s been an enjoyable and relaxing stay with plenty of good memories so we return home bearing gifts of “He mea waiwai loas, maluhia, pomaika’i, and luana” (very valuable things, peace, good fortune, & enjoyment) Mahalo -MTP

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