February 15 - Celebrating the life of King Kaumualiʻi

      OK, so we didn't know who he was, either.  But the small town of Waimea on the southwest coast of Kauai thinks he was an awesome guy, so they celebrate him at an annual festival.  We found out about it and thought it would be a good place to experience a little bit of Hawaiiana.  Like any small town festival, it was high on enthusiasm and local pride.  We stayed for a few hours, and really had a good time.

 We each started out with a bowl of smoked pork on rice - fatty and scrumptious.

 This father and son duo from Kona, on the big island, revved up the crowd with soulful Hawaiian music.  They were very good.  You can check them out at http://www.meleuhane.com/

 Then some hula.  That's the good king's portrait behind the dancer.

"Are you going to make a move, or what?"  We learned how to play Hawaiian checkers.

 Then we strolled around the old fort located at the mouth of the Waimea river and checked out the beach scene.

There is a county campground at the beach.  It would be a nice location to stay.  Unfortunately, it's the home of a small contingent of homeless souls.  The bathroom was foul, and the ukulele-strumming local chief of the assembled entourage was not especially friendly to us when we walked the grounds to check it out.

So we drove back up the canyon road to the YWCA camp.  Ah, home!