I slept peacefully to the sound of the ocean’s waves crashing gently against the beach at the bottom of our hotel. When I woke, the sun was just coming up – it was great.
We started the day off by getting our bearings on the island. We went to an orientation provided by the hotel, detailing some of the activities available on the island, all of which were paid. I felt it was a waste of our time – I felt like we were listening to a hour long advertising campaign for the various ways to see the island. I got frustrated to no end and I don’t think my parents were really listening to half of what was being said.
We spent the day in Lahaina, wandering around the core area and seeing some of the historical buildings. Before Hawaii's annexation by the United States, Lahaina was the "Royal Capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom" something people at the lu’au we attended later mentioned over and over again.
One particularly cool "attraction” was the banyan tree located just outside what was once their courthouse. Its huge and despite the numerous trunks, was just one tree. It grew by dropping roots from its branches that then became additional trunks, allowing it to cover two-thirds of an acre.
We went to a Chinese temple, a gathering place for Chinese workers on the island. Now its used as museum and a celebration place for special occasions.
Some random observations:
- Hello Kitty is everywhere – drug stores, tourist traps, supermarkets, etc
- It was weird seeing Christmas-y things in the warm sun
- Obama fever!
All in all it was a pretty quiet day. We went to sleep early in preparation for the next day. We had to wake up at 2 in the morning, but about that another day…
0 comments:
Post a Comment