“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.”
– Matthew 22:8-10
One thing we heard from almost everyone we talked to that had been to Hawaii before is that we would have to attend a Luau, which in the native language means, “feast”. Our Wednesday plans were made around attending the Smith Family Luau in Wailua in the evening.
Ironically, thousands of miles away, back home at our church, many of our friends were also preparing for our annual church Thanksgiving Meal that same night (though 5 hours earlier due to the time difference). It’s a fun tradition we were sad to miss this year. All are welcome and many get invited, but only those that attend experience the joy and blessing of the feast and the hospitality of the hosts.
More on the Luau later but first a few things from the earlier part of our day. We set out in the morning and made a short stop in Princeville to explore the nearby library and post office, both of which were unfortunately closed until noon. We love libraries and have been borrowing a mobile hotspot from our home library in Erwin (UCPL) which has been very useful.
We also finally got to go snorkeling for the first time all week. We went back to Anini Beach which seemed like our best nearby option. We had fun and got some underwater videos of the reef and fish that we will share later (no photos though). It was pretty windy and there was a strong current though so it was exhausting.
Snorkeling: I/Kim was very exhausted!!! Snorkeling was well worth it to see the little fish and some of the coral – and somehow I saw more than a few people we talked to. And even the frozen peas I bought didn’t make it through the current to the few fish I could see (the peas pretty much washed downstream as soon as I released or threw them, except I watched one fish picking at it!!). But all the walking I did to prepare for Hawaii and even the climbing was nothing to wear me out like the current. We had a “High Surf Advisory” and were told not to swim in certain areas because the rip current or current would be too much to fight. They were on point! I am glad we did what we could as long as we could and we will be out tomorrow/Day 7.
We went back to the resort to eat some leftovers for lunch then started making our way towards the Wailua area. On the way we stopped by a local thrift store in Kilauea called Shared Blessings. Later we also stopped by a farm stand to get some chocolate, sourdough bread and real Hawaiian Punch!
After that we set out to see some waterfalls more in the central area of the island. We didn’t really notice the time or think about it being a school day so we ended up in some traffic by the high school. The first waterfall we tried to visit was no longer accessible from the place we tried to go. The 2nd one we planned to go to turned out to be a longer drive in the wrong direction and was going to require a short hike, so we skipped that also. However, we did see waterfall #3, Opaeka’a Falls which is easy to get to on the road. Here are some photos of that and the Wailua River view across the street
We still had some time to kill before the Luau so did some more shopping at the Ho’omana Thrift Store (found a few local shirts for Kim and the younger kids) and Coconut Marketplace (yet again! Kim just had to get one of their t-shirts and the mug) before heading to the Luau location. When we first arrived we happened to catch a row boat race at the nearby marina (video to come later)
Finally, it was Luau time! The evening began with shell leis, a photo with 2 hula dancers, and a tram tour of the property and it’s various gardens. After the tram we had time to walk around and enjoy the grounds before the Imu ceremony.
Our final thoughts on the luau – first of all: well worth it!!! We really enjoyed the beautiful grounds of the Smith Family’s Garden (some 30 acres of well maintained and manicured gardens) and hearing the history of both the “golden people” and the hula dance and how things have changed over time. But, we both think once is good. The Kaula Pork was very delicious but I/Kim have had so much great pulled pork I wouldn’t say it was my absolute favorite style of pork. It was very tender and very good but would have found some kind of bbq sauce instead of the poi to dip (interesting, the poi was…). However, the Teriyaki Beef (found the few rare pieces) was Ono and delicious!!! I went back for another plate of mostly beef. We also enjoyed the different breads – pineapple, sweet Hawaiian, and guava breads (top right in the picture.
The music / dancing… I don’t have the best descriptive so from the website:
“Food may be the heart of a luau, but music is the soul. Our Hawaiian ancestors preserved their history by passing down songs and chants called mele. At our luau, we celebrate these traditions, as well as the songs and dances from other cultures that live in our tropical paradise. The lyrical sway of the Hawaiian hula, the colorful precision of the Tahitian drum dances and the fiery emotion of the Samoan fire knife dance all speak deeply of the people who have come to call Hawaii home. We proudly share this rhythm of aloha with you.“
It was amazing! Andy will get some videos uploaded soon/sometime but well worth seeing in person!! Last thought is I wonder how different some of the other island hula dances & luau feasts might be and would be interested to check out…maybe, possibly one day.
