A Coconut Crackin', Tree Climbin', Hula Dancin', Adventurously Hikin' Hawaiian Recap

We still have one more daily recap post coming later this week (fingers' crossed), but we wanted to go ahead and post this video of our luau (finally!!) and the infamous Koko Head hike (post coming soon).

Music Choice

Boy with a Coin - Iron & Wine

Beautiful Day - U2

In other news, it seems like we'll be around Huntsville for a while. Yippee! Project corner, here I come!! I've already been working on some new projects and I cannot wait to post about them, in hopes you get some inspiration. As for Huntsville, we're excited that we may finally get to check this place out and enjoy it for a while.

Do you have any suggestions for our Huntsville adventures? 

Weather willing, we are super pumped to hike Walls of Jericho this weekend. I found out today that Davy Crockett hunted there. This happily serves as Reason #104 to hike the Walls of Jericho. 

Have a happy Tuesday!!

September 24: Aloha Festivals Floral Parade & Old Friends

One of my joyful responsibilities on our trips, as it is at home, includes fetching breakfast. It’s one last thing JD has to worry about and I find pleasure in knowing that’s the case. Fortunately, we have a Starbucks below our room. What do you think of my new cuffee design? Maybe when we settle down for a few months, I'll start selling them - along with some other items I've been working on - in an Etsy shop. :)

This morning, JD had to leave early because the roads near the hotel would be blocked off for the annual Aloha Festivals Floral Parade. I, on the other hand, simply had to enjoy the festivities without my sweet husband. I took tons of video footage, enabling JD to kind of experience the event with me. I hated that he missed it.

When the first band started playing, it took me back to the Auburn football games (even though I only went to a few) and it brought wonderful memories along with the fight songs.

Aloha for Bikes

The

Polynesian Cultural Center

representatives were most certainly the liveliest of the groups. They clapped, yelled and danced around each other with Energizer Bunny stamina.

One of my favorite parts of the parade: floral-embellished old school Volkswagens.

Most of the floats were carried by 18-wheelers. I've been to quite a few parades in my lifetime, but I must admit that I've never seen anything like this. It's a pretty smart idea. Most of the people on the trailers were having mini-luaus.

The princesses of Hawaii left me a bit bewildered because when I went to research about them, most of the sites I visited said that the last princess ruled in the late 1800s. Does anyone know what the role of being a princess in Hawaii entitles?

These aren't just cute wagons... They serve as fancy waste baskets for the stinky gifts the horses left behind. The wagons are judged and tallied with the scores for the various groups' floats.

THIS is the "Largest Aloha Shirt" created.

After the parade and some early Christmas shopping around at the Village, JD made it home and we left for dinner at Shorebirds with a few high school friends of mine.

Lindsay and her husband Kent live on Oahu, as Kent is stationed there for the Navy. Luke, the brother of Kent who has been a friend of mine since elementary school, was visiting Kent and Lindsay the same time we were there so it was nice to catch up with all of them, and to introduce them to JD. Lindsay has a fantastic blog that you should check out at Tails to Tell. She also has an Etsy store filled with some sweet crocheted goodness and lovely paintings.

Shorebirds was a definite favorite of the restaurants for us in Honolulu. They bring you your choice of raw meat to the table and you grill it yourself. The guys stood at the blazing hot table grill inside while Lindsay and I chatted on the porch with the view of the beach. It was much cooler out there! The salad bar had some great choices as well. This is also a recommended restaurant from yours truly if you venture to the island.

Though Lindsay and I weren't very close during school (due to age difference), I have always admired her classiness and her kindness to everyone around her. God truly blessed our time together and I was grateful to reconnect with such a wonderful lady!

September 21: Paradise Cove Luau

The concierge told us about the Wailana Coffee House (open 24 hours) located across the road from the Kalia Tower (where we stayed). Thus, that is where we walked for our first breakfast in Hawaii. It did NOT disappoint! JD had French toast and I had the Belgian waffle. They brought us three syrups to chose from: coconut, boysenberry (JD thought the waiter called it “poisonberry”), and maple. Of course, we used only the first two, since we’re experiencing the true culture of Hawaii and all. We both enjoyed the coconut syrup the most!

Best of all, it was inexpensive - you won't find that characteristic much in Hawaii - and open 24 hours.

We left the Hilton around noon and headed to the west side of the island – KoOlina. It was quite luxurious. We spent time checking the area out, savoring the time before the luau at Paradise Cove. We went to Target, which by the way was the coolest Target we’ve ever seen. We picked up a 24-pack of Dasani waters.

There is an extra fee for the bottles that will be reimbursed after the customers return the empty bottles (surely you’ve seen the text on the bottom of bottles that say: “HI-ME-OR-CT-NY 0.05”).

For lunch, we ate at KoOlina Hawaiian Barbeque where we had a meal of Mochiko Chicken (deeply fried dark meat with several layers of grease), macaroni salad (AKA: mac and mayo), and - the only thing we ate off our plates - the steamed rice. We went to Starbucks afterward, mainly to get the taste out of our mouths from the Hawaiian BBQ – we came to the conclusion that Hawaiian food must be an acquired taste. Little did we know, the luau would have the same food.

The

Paradise Cove Luau

was pretty stinkin’ awesome. If you ever go, we would recommend the Orchid Luau Package. There are three different packages but the Orchid seemed to have just enough but not too much (it is the mid-level package). *Please note that if you have a rental car, you can drive there yourself and save about $10 as the transportation from the hotel is included in the original price.

Guests gathered around the gates, anticipating the eventful night ahead. As we walked through the gates, hula dancers greeted us with fresh orchid leis and Mai Tais. We bought a hand-carved / hand-painted lizard pencil to give my dad for Christmas and a beautiful hand-painted Hawaiian fan to place somewhere in our home. Guests were encouraged to visit the arts and crafts booths where we could make headdresses or leis and get henna tattoos. (There were also places where guests could try their hand at spear throwing or dart sliding, but we didn't see those attractions until they were closing up.)

Hawaiian Ritual:

It is customary for a woman to wear flowers on the left side of her head if she is married, the right side of her head is she is single and all across if she is "confused or ready to mingle."

The luau presents a few ceremonies prior to the actual dinner and hula show. We saw the following:

*Shower of Flowers: a guy climbed a super tall tree (probably somewhere around 50 feet) and threw flower petals down on all of us.

*Hukilau on the Beach: men drew cast nets out in the ocean and spread the nets along the shore while riding in old wooden canoes. It’s technically defined as “the ceremonial pulling of fish nets to the rhythms of the conch shell and Hawaiian chants.”

[We have some stellar video footage of this but my video editing software has a glitch. Be looking for videos coming in a few weeks though!]

*Imu Ceremony: This is where a large pit is dug in the ground. Lava rocks are heated over an open flame until they are unbearably hot. The lava rocks are placed in the pit, lined by some type of greenery which will reinforce the steaming process and add a kick of flavor. Men then place a cleaned pig inside the hot pit and cover the top with more greenery for insulation and flavor. They will lay another protective covering over the greenery, then more soil. The cooking process alone takes about eight hours. Along with luaus, you may also see this ritual brought to life at a backyard barbeque in Hawaii.

We learned several different ways to tie a sarong. During this particular demonstration, we also realized that the man demonstrating how to wear a sarong ONLY wears a sarong - nothing underneath it. As he summoned the guests to the different activities, he would blow the resounding conch shell. Thus, he was known fondly by the guests as "the half-naked conch shell blowing guy."

After the coconut-cracking demonstration, the hula dancing demonstration takes place. The women gather around the meager stage, attempting to sway our hips and our hands at the same time. Hula dancing is a very special ritual among the Polynesian / Hawaiian culture. Each movement represents a word. My favorite part was when we were required to wave our hands and arms toward “the one I love.” Cheesy, but oh so true. If you're really into learning this sacred series of dances, you must become one with the movements and objects in which you are portraying in the dance.

Travel Tip: Try to eat as much food from the culture that you can.

We tried to eat the traditional Hawaiian food at the luau. Our plates were filled with macaroni salad, pasta salad, poi (a tara root paste that looks like dirt and tastes like it too), lomi lomi salmon, mochiko chicken (the same as Hawaiian BBQ), Kalua pig, steamed rice, rolls, pineapple, haupia and banana coconut cake. Very few of the dishes appealed to our likings, yet neither of our tastebuds is accustomed to those tastes.

Music erupted from the speakers. Hula dancers, elaborate costumes and bright colors filled the stage. The spotlight centered on a woman in purple as she started singing a traditional Hawaiian song about friends and family gathering together. A loud applaud burst from the audience.

"Mahalo," she said tenderly.

"This means 'thank you' in our language."

The lively night consisted of non-stop entertainment, laughter, fire, music, and unstoppable hip movements.

We thought our favorite dance would be the “Marriage Dance” but we were saddened at the symbolism of it… the wife danced in front while the husband stood behind her by a few feet, just watching with his hands folded in front of him. Though quite contrary to the actual picture of marriage, we couldn't help but find humor in this.

If you are planning a trip to Hawaii ever in your lifetime, you MUST go to a luau. Here, you will be exposed to the history, customs, traditions and food of Hawaii. Isn’t that what traveling is all about? The treasure of travel is that we have the opportunity to experience the customs, beauty and knowledge that we are only able to attain when we truly engulf ourselves into a culture. In order to accomplish this glorious feat, both research and risks are required. Nevertheless, the experience and thrill far outweighs the time and energy spent prior to the trip.