Lahaina

Thursday, the working sessions of the conference began so the chairs spent the morning in a meeting room while their spouses (there was a token male) went to Lahaina to shop and admire the banyan tree.  Glen told me I must take pictures as the tree was famous.  I'd never heard of it before but it certainly was impressive.

After a brief tour of the Lahaina Courthouse which housed relics of the whaling era, I left to explore the square surrounding it.

Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii (1820-1845) before it moved to Honolulu.  Near the courthouse are the tumbledown ruins of King Kamehameha's palace. The name Lahaina means 'cruel sun' as the area receives only 13 inches of rainfall per year.

In the early 1800's, missionaries were drawn to Lahaina as were the whalers who followed the humpbacks along their migration route.  This lead to conflict between the two groups.  By opening schools and building a jail, the missionaries tamed the rough town.  In 1873, the sheriff, William Owen Smith, planted a banyan tree to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Lahaina's first Christian mission.

After photographing the ruins, I returned to the courthouse.  There I found my good friend, Jennifer, admiring the local art now showcased in the jail.  We both concluded the pieces were above our price range so left to check out the banyan tree.  What appears to be a woods is a fifty foot tree with more than ten anchors (smaller trunks) that support it as its spreads over the square.  It came to Maui from India as an 8 foot sapling and is now the third largest banyan in the world (after one in India and Florida).

Passing beneath its branches, we came to Front Street, the main thoroughfare in Lahaina.  Once a hive of pubs and whaling outposts, it is now lined with shops and restaurants.  Sheilah told us to see the Peter Lik gallery as it had some amazing photographs.  It didn't disappoint and oh, to be wealthy enough to own one of his works.  The one that caught my eye was called Endless Summer, a photo of the Scripps Pier in La Jolla, California.

I guess I still had visions of Lik's photography in my head for when we crossed Front Street to see the beach, I didn't see a car and stepped in front of it.  Fortunately, it was going slowly but Jennifer said the driver looked shaken after he'd slammed on the brakes.  I was shaken, too.

The town has decorated it sidewalks and corners with wooden sculptures reminiscent of the figureheads on the whaling ships.  I had fun photographing these as we made our way to Hilo Hattie where Jennifer wanted to buy something for her great nephews and nieces.  Our bus driver said it had the best Hawaiian shirts in town so I thought I might see something for Glen.  Turned out I found something for myself as well as buying a few souvenirs.

By this time, the bus was due and we were told it wouldn't wait as some in our group had chosen to stay in town for the afternoon.  Jennifer and I had other plans.  She and her husband, Neil, had rented a car and wanted us to join them for lunch at The Plantation House to celebrate Glen's birthday.  Situated on the Kapalua Resort, it offers views of the Plantation Golf Course (a PGA Tour course) and the ocean beyond.  A truly lovely spot and the food was delicious.  We had the fish special which was excellent while Jennifer enjoyed a pasta creation.  Glen indulged in a chocolate dessert that was huge.

We returned to our rooms to relax because our next event began at 6:00.  We were to meet Sheilah in the Hyatt lobby and walk to Cirque Polynesia with the rest of the conferees.  As we settled down, Sheilah brought us popcorn as thanks for holding a seat for her (it turned out to be our supper).  The show began with 'Pepe the Clown' who was brilliant and then moved into other traditional circus acts--contortionist, balancing acts, trapeze, hula hoops, aerial acrobats (silks), singing, and hula dancing.  The show culminated with a performance on the 'Wheel of Death'.  The bright lights and excellent drumming enhanced the drama but it was the stars above that stole the show.  Orion hung overhead and we could see all this constellation's stars.  The Milky Way was like wispy gauze draped behind the stage.  What a magical evening!