Banyan Tree & Blowholes

So I have to catch up on my blog because, according to my mom, I’m been way past the deadline for my last few posts. Apparently spending time with family and participating in different activities on vacation is no excuse for posting blog entries on time. I’m burning the midnight oil this quiet Thursday night to please all my followers.

Today, a group of my family went to the Lahaina shopping district to browse stores and eat lunch. The Lahaina reminded me a lot of Seaport Village in San Diego and it had plenty of tourist type stores. We walked down the street looking in the windows of a few stores until we reached the famous Banyan tree. I’ve personally never knew a tree could be famous, but I’ll go out on a limb and say there aren’t many other celebrity trees. The Banyan tree was planted in the late 19^th century and has grown considerably taking up almost half a block with its extensive branches and roots. After taking a few pictures we met my Uncle Marc and Aunt Jackie, my Uncle Mike my cousin Alex, his wife Cata, my cousin Jon, and his girlfriend Kelsey at Kimo’s for lunch. After finishing our entrees, we ordered a slice of Kimo’s original hula pie which I’d wager was at least a quarter of the full pie. It had macadamia ice cream with an Oreo cookie crust and was about six inches high. It was delicious and each of us took turns eating away at it.

Lahaina

Banyan Tree

Inside the Banyan Tree

After lunch, we drove to Nakalele Point to see the blowhole. After driving on narrow and windy roads, we made it to the turn off where some of us hiked down to the actual site of the blowhole. I hiked down the rocky and steep path to a section just above the blowhole to take some pictures. The blowhole kind of looked like a mini Old Faithful geyser as it shot water into the air when the waves crashed on the shore under it. As I hiked down, I noticed a sign which warned readers, the blowhole was not a waterpark and people had died because of coming too close to the blowhole or its surrounding area. So naturally, my adventurous Uncle Marc and cousins decided it’d be fun to make a circle around the blowhole and wait for it to shoot off its water at them. I have to admit it did look like a lot of fun, though it made my Aunt Jackie a bit tense. After, we hiked back up, we drove back to the villa for dinner.

Hiking down the rocky path

There she blows

Dinner was made by my Uncle Martin, Aunt Traci, and grandparents. My Uncle Martin slowed cooked seasoned pork for five and a half hours and it was served with beans, coleslaw, and roasted carrots. It was all yummy and ice cream sandwiches were for dessert. After dinner, I taught some of the family to play a game called Coup that I’d played with my floor mates at Biola University. After a few rounds of Coup, we all watched an old 50^th anniversary video for my grandparents (I guess the last ten years don’t matter) and it was interesting to see all the changes and adventures over the years my grandparents have experienced in their life together. After playing some more games, we called it quits and went to bed (well except for me who’s finishing this blog post).

Tomorrow, we will visit a beach (apparently Hawaii has them) to go snorkeling and then attend a luau in the evening. Good night everyone.

For a different perspective of today’s events, you can read my mom’s blog here.