Burning Love in Lahaina

---

We finally had a day to sleep in and to wake up when our bodies told us that it was time to rise and shine. Outside our balcony view of the Pacific waters between Maui and Molokai the Pacific is a scant two hundred feet deep, a depth that is favorable to the humpback whale during their mating season. The waters are warm and here they have no predators. The orcas favor deeper waters, so when it is time for them to migrate back to Alaskan waters for feeding; then, they will face perils. That is one of the reasons the “escorts” who accompany a mother and calf are important. We were told that the escort is seldom the father. This morning we both were able to spot humpbacks breaching in the distance, making wide unmistakable splashes of white foam as their massive bodies crash back into the ocean. Several gams seemed to be present, as we spotted their distinctive spouts in the V-shaped rush of air through their blowholes as they exhale.

This morning we planned to visit another type of blowhole on the north end of Maui near our resort. We drove out the road which became a very windy slow speed crawl along the coast. Making things slower were the road crews out restriping the road. There were several sections where we needed to wait our turn to continue. It was perhaps a twenty-minute drive even though it was just a few miles away. There was plenty of parking and we walked over the volcanic flow that had created these coastal lands, flowing down to the ocean where the combination of lava tubes and ocean erosion had formed this blowhole. Far below people had gone down to stand next to the blowhole. We walked along the ridge of the lava flow and stopped before the elevation began to descend rapidly to the sea below. Beyond where we stopped the footing was much less certain, and there were those braving the obstacles of huge rocks in the lava field. Those at the site of the actual blow hole were facing another peril; whether they realized it or not. Many people have been suddenly surprised by the sudden onslaught of water and washed into the sea and drowned or dashed against the rocks and killed. A few people died just last year according to Sharon. I recall what our guide to Hana had said about people walking across lava flows such as this when we saw some locals heading off to do fishing. “It’s important to have the right footwear to cross these rocks. These locals know what they’re doing…” He then added, “Body armor wouldn’t hurt either.” We saw a couple of brief burst as the ocean crept in and spurted through the hole sending an unimpressive brief spray into the air. A couple of sea surges caused a small white foamy spout rise through the opening and fall back on the rocks. At least we now knew where to look across the wide array of coastal rock formations for the blowhole. Some who came after us had to have the location pointed out to them; although, the crowd of several people about the spout in the distance, perhaps a hundred yards away might have been a clue. We stood there, Sharon poised to capture a picture for ten minutes or so; but, all that we were to see was that first few seconds of activity when we first arrived at our promontory. Another five minutes passed, and I was beginning to feel the sun bearing down, and we decided that we’d already seen what we were going to see. We’d only taken a few steps, when too our backs we hear “Oooh, Aaah”.

We’d gotten a later start than we planned because I spent more time than expected writing up our day in Hana. We were now driving back towards the middle of Maui; as, I decided I wanted to try another piece of Outrigger Pizza. Several people in our Van to Hana had been talking about going back to a pizza place that they had gone a couple of days before, claiming that it was rated the seventh best on Maui (and they seemed pretty impressed by that fact). I had thought about mentioning Outrigger Pizza too them, but it wasn’t particularly close so I didn’t. Sharon had since looked up the best pizza places on Maui, and wouldn’t you know, Outrigger Pizza was rated number one. This time I ordered the white cheddar and mushroom pizza. Again, this pizza was unlike any other I’ve ever had. There are Chicago Style pizzas, with their thick bready crusts and ample gooey cheesy goodness. Well, this is not that. And there is New York City style pizza with their thin crusts, often sold in large pieces, and eaten by folding the pizza wedge in half over itself. Well, this is not that either. This has a thin, very crispy crust, and actually only a spattering of topping. The white cheddar on my pizza was more a sprinkling of shredded cheese over the top that has baked into the top of the pizza (there is no gooey cheese topping). And a few mushrooms and seasoning, and that is it; except, it is surprisingly good. I had no trouble eating the entire $12 pizza (they only come in one size). We had stopped at the McDonalds just before the pizza cart to get her something to drink and some French fries. I’d gotten a drink there as well, because, all there is to drink from Outrigger Pizza are cans of soda, reasonable priced at $1.

Sharon had spotted a shave ice vendor back by the turn in the road back to Lahaina. She stopped there and went with a Cherry, Lime, and Cotton Candy shave ice. I decided to skip this one. The quest for the perfect shave ice is hers. I had mentioned something to her about how our new home might need a shave ice machine, and I think that she thinks that that is a pretty neat idea.

We’d gotten some Hawaiian Shirts and Mumu’s in Lahaina, and we later noticed that although the shirt that Sharon had bought (that matched one of the shirts that I’d gotten) had its size mis-labeled. It was actually, either an ultra-petite (or perhaps a child’s size. They let us exchange it for one that she could wear.

We got back to our room, and had just an hour or so before we needed to head out for our dinner and show. We managed to find the right place to park for the theatre where they validate parking; but, we then convinced ourselves that this was not the right place because we couldn’t spot the theatre anywhere. So we parked somewhere else; which, as it turned out was as probably as far from the theatre and dinner as you could get. We arrived at Ruth Chris just prior to their 5PM opening. We were seated in a booth where the setting sun reflection on the water shined directly into Sharon’s eyes for almost the whole meal. We had a special with the 2-for-1 tickets that we’d won that gave us a fixed price 4-course meal. We both wanted the filet so that worked out pretty good. Sharon ordered the mashed potatoes and I got the mushrooms. The sides weren’t their normal table-sharable size; but, there were plenty of mashed potatoes for both of us. I managed to eat all of the mushrooms, and they were quite good. Sharon had the vanilla iced cream with chocolate sauce; while, I had their bread pudding, which was very good and seemed as if it was made with cinnamon buns.

The star of “Burning Love” actually performed in Las Vegas where he had the longest running show someone in the entry area mentioned. He and his wife brought their two daughters to Maui three years ago where they opened this show. They’d vacationed here a few years before that and fell in love with this island. The show was energetic and loud and fun. One of his supporting musicians, the keyboard player (actually he plays more instruments than you can count) is blind, and the audience is immediately clued into this fact by his entrance onto the stage and they manner which he is led to his keyboard. He is also the lead supporting vocalist. Several warm-up numbers were played, and he played keyboard and sang a very Jerry Lee Lewis-like rendition of “Great Balls of Fire”. Then, HE came out, and I can tell you, Elvis is alive and living on Maui. He did a great cross-section of the King’s songs, Blue Hawaii of course, and the one I’d expected “Love Me Tender”. The theatre didn’t have the best video back drop; but, it was used effectively to show various parts of Elvis’s life, in particular the two concerts that he did in Hawaii. Elvis made his entrance on a column that rose about twenty feet above the stage, and he appeared in a variety of the famous concert outfits similar to those Elvis had worn on stage. And his hands were bedazzled in rings. The show ends of course, with a rousing show stopper “Burning Love”.



After the show, we had to get back to do some laundry and get packed for our journey to continue to Kauai in the morning.

---