Lanai’i and a Luau

Hi all. Well the booming metropolis of Maui got too crowded for me so I decided 
to head across the water to its sister island of Lanai'i (population 4000). By 
the way, on the drive to Lahaina to catch the ferry, I saw a rainbow since it 
was clear on the Maui side and raining on the Lanai'i side. But when I got to 
Lanai'i, is was all cleared up. I decided to do a tour since it would be good to 
hear all the history and be chauffeured around. The island was really cool. It 
was a half day tour but including the ferry ride over and back it went from 
about 9 AM to 3 PM. I also saw a ton of whales on the ride over and back. This 
time of year, the whales are everywhere! 
 
Some things I didn't know about the island that I learned... David Murdock owns 
it! For those in Charlotte, he's the billionaire that bought the 
Fieldcrest/Cannon plants in Kannapolis and has converted them to a research park 
focused a lot on nutrition coupled with Duke, Carolina and NC State. This island 
is also where Bill Gates got married. So figured I was in pretty good company! I 
was with 5 other people in this suburban with 4 wheel drive and we needed it 
since some of the back roads were really rough but it was a blast. There's this 
huge area called the Garden of the Gods that looked like the lunar service 
similar to the volcano from day 1. Tons of rocks all over, which make up the 
"garden". There was also this spooky forest we drove through where they say lots 
of ghosts live. The history way back is that one of the other chiefs of the 
other islands tried to conquer Maui but couldn't, so he came across the bay to 
Lanai'i and killed all of the inhabitants, since it was under Maui rule. Those 
people back then were crazy! 
 
We also drove down to this cool secluded beach called shipwreck beach, so named 
since many ships have wrecked right off the coast. There's actually one still in 
the harbor and I included a picture of it. After I got back to Maui, I had an 
hour or so to kill before I went to the Luau. I had kept hearing about and had 
read about the "shave ice" and how it was so good. I kept thinking, are they 
just talking about a sno-cone as we used to call it as a kid. What's so great 
about that? Well, I found out. Those things are awesome! I went into the store 
in Lahaina that the guide book recommended had the best ones and it did not 
disappoint. These things are huge. Think of a sno-cone on steroids! It's served 
in a big bowl and has ice cream on the bottom, a ton of shaved ice packed on 
top, 3 different syrups spread on it (I got mango, guava and coconut) and topped 
off with what they call a Hawaiian snow cap which is sweetened condensed milk. 
This thing was decadent! 
 
Then I walked down the street to the Luau. I went to the Old Lahaina Luau which 
everyone said was the best. It was cool to watch them "unearth" the pig that had 
been roasting all day under hot coals, banana leaves and sand. So while I'm 
standing there waiting for them to get the pig, I see this huge guy standing 
next to me with an NFC/Pro Bowl football hat on. I figured he had to be a pro 
football player since he was so huge. We started talking and yep, he was Scott 
Wells, who is the center for the Green Bay Packers. He played in the Pro Bowl 
and just stayed around Hawaii for 3 weeks with his family. He was a really cool 
guy and he said he was good friends with Ryan Khalil the center for the Carolina 
Panthers. Cool stuff. By the way, the food at the luau was awesome. They 
actually do pulled pork right up there with the best of the North Carolina 
places! 
 
Well, I hope everyone is having a good week. Happy Tuesday!