Clear Waters & the Sweet Life

Yesterday was a beach day as most of the family drove down to the beach to enjoy the water. The water was warm and mostly clear compared to the beaches in San Diego. Some of us took goggles and snorkeled around the shore. We saw some fish swimming around, but I for the most part found rocks and coral. It also didn’t help that my goggles kept fogging up every 30 seconds. After we finished snorkeling, we decided to get out the boogie boards and catch some of the waves. The waves were inconsistent as we’d get a few big waves and then wait for ten minutes before another worthy wave formed. Eventually, we all rode some nice waves, but also had a few wipeouts too. I tried to jump over a wave and didn’t quite make it over the top. This caused the wave to push me back and spin me around underwater like a washing machine. My cousin Jon probably had the most memorable wipe out as he face planted and flipped over underwater (don’t worry, he was fine afterwards). We decided we’d had enough of the beach for the day and headed back to the villa for lunch.

The beach

Snorkeling

After a quick lunch, my mom, grandparents, and my brother Joe, and I went to the Sugar Museum my mom had previously seen a sign for earlier in the week. The museum was in the old supervisor’s house across the street from the actual sugar factory. The museum provided the history of the factory. The factory was formed by two gentlemen named Alexander and Baldwin, the latter which had an interesting story. In order grow sugar cane, proper irrigation was required to provide enough water for the crop. Baldwin and his workers were surveying a potential path for the irrigation route which happened to be 200 feet below them. Baldwin’s men were naturally hesitant to climb down the rope to the bottom, but Baldwin was fearless. He was first to climb down the rope with only one arm (he’d lost his other arm in a mill accident). His workers were so embarrassed, they immediately followed their boss down the rope. The museum also taught the evolution of how sugar was processed. I never realized there were so many steps to make the sugar we buy at the local grocery store. First you have to grow sugar cane, then harvest the sugar cane, then squeeze the juice out of the sugar cane, then boil the juice, then spin it in a centrifuge, then heat again with steam, then ship it to some other factory to be shot through a particle accelerator (or something like that). Knowing the complicated process of one our most important ingredients helps me appreciate it even more. After looking through the gift shop, we headed back to villa to prepare for the luau.

Sugar Museum

Different forms of sugar and its leftovers

The actual factory where the sugar is processed

The entire family attended a luau at a Sheraton hotel. There was kalua pork, salmon, and other traditional luau menu items. When they asked for volunteers to learn the hula, I went up before anyone at the table asked me. The first move they taught us was to spin our hips around and I couldn’t help being reminded of a scene from Spongebob (you can view the clip here). It was fun to learn a new dance even if I couldn’t remember all different hand motions. My cousin Alex was volunteered by the entire family to do the newlywed dance for his wife Cata. After a decent amount of peer pressure, he went up on stage and performed wonderfully. There was some entertainment that was similar to what we saw at the Polynesian Cultural Center. After the luau ended, we headed back to the villa and crashed for the night. Today, we are driving up to the Road to Hana which should offer some spectacular views of nature in Hawaii.

Playing traditional luau games

My grandparents seeking cover from the light drizzle

To read another perspective of yesterday’s events, you can read my mom’s blog here.