Maui and the Feast at Lele

We decided to make it a lazy morning. The only thing we had to do was the luau in the evening. We used our cappuccino machine and had our first cup of coffee lounging in bed. The TV channel selection was limited, but we were able to find MSNBC (better than the other news option, FOX!).

We headed to a late breakfast at the Lazy J and realized that we were not going to lose any weight this week. They had a buffet table laid out with juices, breads, rolls, croissants, fruits, cereals and breakfast meats. But who could indulge in any of that when the menu featured things like “Tahitian Vanilla Challah French Toast with cinnamon-scented macerated berries and mascarpone” (Mom’s choice) or “Buttermilk Hot Cakes with walnut butter and caramelized bananas” (My choice). With coffee brewed fresh at the table, we managed to eat almost all of this scrumptious breakfast.

The weather wasn’t ideal as we headed off the ship. We got our Thrifty rental car and directions to Lahaina. But first, we made a stop at the local Walmart. We wanted to pick up a copy of “The Help” to watch in our room and also check out the prices and see how the locals shop. Wine was priced reasonably, but milk at $4.00 a gallon—and gas at $4.84 took our breath away. We checked out, surprised to find that Walmart doesn’t use ANY plastic bags. You bring your own bag—or buy a cloth bag when you check out. Hooray for Walmart!

The drive to Lahaina was on a 2 lane, twisty road over a small mountain. The good news about these islands—it’s easy navigating. There aren’t that many roads and the signage is good. We got into Lahaina—a coastal town of shop after shop after shop and 3 hour parking (which is enforced). We got a great parking lot on the main drag and walked and walked and walked, in and out of small stores selling pearls, black coral and Hawaiian souvenirs. It was interesting to talk with one of the local shop keepers about the harvesting of black coral. Hawaiian Black Coral -- the Hawaii State Gemstone -- is collected by hand by divers at depths that exceed 200 feet.
At Banyan Tree Square, we saw the largest Banyan tree in the U.S.

It was planted in 1873 and today stands 60 feet tall, with its branches reaching across the better part of an acre.
We had to move the car (our 3 hours were over) so we took a drive north to see the resort area, Ka’anapali. It’s lined with high rise ocean front hotels and condos and lots of golf courses. With time to spare, we stopped at a local beach shack, Aloha Mixed Plate, for a glass of wine and a taste of their famous “chutney coconut prawns”.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the Feast of LeLe on Lahaina Beach.

We were greeted with an orchid lei and escorted to our front row table. They handed us the traditional Hawaiian ‘mai-tai’ when we walked in. We promptly took a sip and ordered wine.
The menu was a four course gourmet dining experience. Each course represented a modern twist on traditional island cuisine We started off with traditional polynesian banana, taro and sweet potato chips served with a tropical ginger salsa.

As the sun began to set, the show began with chants, songs and hula dance from Hawaii. John had warned us of the “fat hula dancers”. Boy was he wrong- these girls were gorgeous!

As we watched the show, we were served the first course-- mango sauce poi, kalua pork, fresh island fish with pohole ferns and heart of palms salad.

The luaus second course came from New Zealand, with very athletic dances of the Maori culture. Our Maui luau course included country green duck salad with poha berry dressing, kukupatties-Maori fishcake with mussels, salmon and scallops and harore kumara – roasted mushrooms with sweet potato.

The Tahitian creation chant set the scene for the third course including Fafa- steamed chicken and taro leaf in coconut milk, marinated scallops on the shell and E’iota – posson cru.

The final luau dish represented Samoa, celebrating Flag Day--a Samoan two day festival of food, fun, dancing and singing. At this point, we were about to burst, but managed to try the supasui, a grilled steak dish with baked breadfruit and a shrimp and avocado dish with passion fruit. When they brought a dessert tray out, we thought we couldn’t eat another bite, but did try the Caramel Macadamia Nut Tart and the Chocolate Truffles.

The Samoan fire knife dance was amazing—and we were so close we could feel the heat from his torches. The weather held out and we had a wonderful evening.

The drive home was less than fun….driving through the mountains with a trail of cars behind me. We managed to re-fuel the car (although a power outage had caused major problems with the computers across the island—no credit card transactions could be processed. We got back to the boat, exhausted and very full.