Earlier this week my aunt gave me a magazine to look and see what I wanted to do Saturday. I saw that the annual Hale’iwa Arts Festival was happening. Neither my aunt nor uncle had been before, so it was a GO.
Hale’iwa is on the North Shore so we had a nice little drive on the way up there. We talked a lot about traveling and how my best friend I want to tour Europe (hopefully) after we graduate. My aunt has traveled everywhere it seems, so she had a lot of really valuable advice for me.
Beautiful drive
Immediately when we entered town, I saw a store called Killer Tacos. Ok, then…
Next my aunt said the shrimp trucks here were phenomenal.
I also saw several tattoo places within just a quarter mile stretch. Gosh, basically everyone here has tattoos (like huge ones), and they don’t care how visible they are. I just don’t know what to do with myself. I love it. Let me get off that tangent while I can…
Random fact, the Hawaiian call their children “keiki”.
The art festival was stunning. My aunt and I arrived a little before lunch and spent almost six hours out there!
The booths carried all sorts of things. Jewelry. Glass blown pieces. Koa wood furniture. Clothes. Paintings. Photographs. Etc.
These are just a few things we saw
it’s a dancer!
turtle soap dishes
I like turtles
One badass ukulele player, Kalei Gamiao
lovely bathroom stall decor
The wind made these sound like chimes.
many artists had paintings that spread across multiple canvases
cool ear jewelry
Catch the surf!
Just remarkable
I love sunflowers, plus this reminds me of a piece I did in high school.
Wolverine and Iron Man. This guy was unbelievable. go to http://www.up-hawaii.com
also on www.up-hawaii.com
shell chimes
Shave Ice is a popular icon here, much like the mustache icon on the Mainland.
Koa furniture
scarfies
Lots of food booths, too. The Greek cashier said to us in passing “the falafel is heaven; it’s all organic.” I’ve eaten a lot of organic food this week, so I think I’ll pass for today.
Clever tip bucket
“the falafel is heaven…”
I ate kalua pork and slaw while my aunt had garlic shrimp. This was probably the hottest day of my trip so far. Later on we also split a Lilikoi ice cream sandwich (which was exquisite).
our view from the lunch table
At one point, I took the chance to wash off my feet by the beach side of the park. I looked down past the rocks and a sea turtle was there! I’m hoping to see more of these when I go snorkeling later.
SEA TURTLE
We also ran into the most precious dog, which turned out to be famous. He’s been in lots of commercials and owns over 100 outfits. Yes, that’s a fan for the dog in the baby stroller.
One precious dog, Hokulani. Like his Facebook page and find my picture with him
The people were incredibly nice, even when I couldn’t make up my mind about buying something.
On the way home, I saw tall blonde grass on my right and red dirt on my left. The fields were nothing like back home. Maybe the dirt was throwing me off; the fields looked much more fruitful. We stopped at the Dole Plantation too. We mainly toured the gardens they had open to everyone and stopped in the gift shop.
sorry if you can’t clearly read this
they probably didn’t appreciate me getting this close
Jim Dole, the Man.
Look, Mom, I’m a hula dancin’ pineapple
Even though I love Karo syrup on my pancakes, I bought some coconut syrup to take home with me!
second rainbow!
We drove home to go to church this evening since tomorrow we are leaving the house bright and early. We went to St. Patrick’s Church. The church was really pretty and spacious. I felt really comfortable there even though I was stinky from the day’s activities and still wearing jean shorts.
St. Thomas Church
Any shirt. Shoes optional. Hawaiian service.
Literally, two of the altar servers didn’t wear shoes at all. My aunt said this might be a more poor church in the area. The girls definitely had tan lines on their feet, so I know they own shoes that they could’ve worn. Oh well. The songs they used were really familiar to my home churches and the choir used a chime a lot. As I walked to my seat after the Eucharist, I felt like I had forgotten something; this was the first Catholic service I’ve attended that didn’t offer the Blood of Christ. Maybe they are a poor church. I also noticed that their stain glass windows were open, and they had fans everywhere.
Fr. Damien tile work in the back of the church.
Opening all the windows is pretty normal in Hawaii. At our house, every day when we leave for work we turn off the AC and open all the windows. I love how wonderful the air feels; plus it saves a ton of electricity. (Plus, they all talk about how the humidity is rising, but I literally don’t feel this humidity they are talking about. In comparison to Mississippi, humidity doesn’t exist here.)
sunset
(Thank you to all the Delta Gamma ladies that sent me lots of Snapchat’s to make me feel a little like I was at workshop with you guys this weekend. I really miss you and can’t wait to see everyone!)
(I love you, Mom, and I can’t wait to see our big ole family when I come home!)
luckett me now 