12/14–Sugar Museum and Friday evening on Maui

The drive out of Haiku is simple- I mean there aren’t that many roads on this island!  And we are treated to some great views of Puu Kukui in the distance above Kahului and Wailuku.

The Alexander and Baldwin Sugar Museum turns out to be a great little find.  We must have driven past here a bazillion times and never really thought twice about it.  They’ve been here for 20+ years, and have a wonderful assortment of exhibits, paraphernalia and videos that provide a really deep history of the sugar industry on the island.

Exhibits range from geography to plantation life to a miniature replica of  sugar processing machinery.  We refreshed our memory on how Maui was named (The demi-God Maui climbed Haleakala, the House of the Sun, with a net to capture the sun to provide more sunshine on the island for crops to grow), learned how Maui’s climate and geography affects the sugar planting and growing, how they had to change/create irrigation (still a big sticky political issue today), the history of Alexander and Baldwin (they were friends in school), what life on the plantation was like and how B&A tried to improve the worker’s life and living quarters by developing the “dream city,” which became Kahului.  Photos and videos took you through the entire process of sugar cane planting and processing (we had no idea that the cane actually is what survives and is collected after they burned the fields), and they also had a mannequin that was dressed exactly like that bizarre mannequin in the Bellas Artes museum in Tenerife!  Know we understand those bizarre glove like shields on the hands – to protect from stinging insects, snakes – and those nasty sugar canes. The last exhibit is a room that takes you through the whole processing with the aforementioned miniature processing machinery. 

As we leave, we wander around the yard, marveling at the huge pieces of machinery used to harvest and process the sugar cane. 

Fascinating!  Also fascinating is that the sugar processing plant across the street is completely empty and awaiting demolition.  The sugar company stopped production on Maui 2 years ago, and while there is some interest in converting the factory into a huge artistic and commercial venue, the museum docent said they were tearing it down because it was too old and dilapidated to be renovated.  Understandable, but a little bit of a shame, since the facade is so iconic and has such a connection to the island and its history.  (There is tons more to this story, like fears about what will happen to the thousands of acres owned by A&B that is no longer being planted – resort? overdevelopment?, arguments over the East Maui Irrigation company and redirecting streams back to their natural state, and plenty additional topics swirling around that we can’t even try to wrap our minds around!)

But, regardless of the drama, the museum itself is a great little find, inside and out. 

On the way home, we want to do a little shopping (Safeway’s $5 Friday deals are the ticket), but first decide we want to go to happy hour at Nalu’s – a restaurant that get great reviews and a couple of locals have said is the best.  We arrive, and as on 2 previous occasions, there are no seats at the bar.  And really none out in the dining area either.  Since this is a counter service place, we’re not sure we can even order drinks and then wait to sit, so we bag it – and go to Life’s a Beach.  First time here on this trip – after hanging out here so much last year!  It is just as fun as before, with great wine pours, fun people to chat with and sports on the TV.  We get involved in a conversation with a sweet girl who is studying for her PhD in marine biology and who actually lives in Haiku!  Small island.  So many interesting people you meet here – everyone has a story, and most are more interesting than not.

Happy hour accomplished, shopping complete, we head to Moose Mcgillycuddy’s for dinner because they have fish and chips for a special tonight – and I want another quesadilla.  We manage to get there right after sunset and the roads and sidewalks are packed, including this Buddha in the back of a pick up truck parked on the side of the road. Love it!

It is tons busier than last week, so much so, that there isn’t a space to be had in Moose’s parking lot.  We end up parking (shh…don’t tell) in the shopping center lot next door.  Fingers crossed we don’t get caught (we didn’t), we are not hopeful about getting seats at the bar, but once again, we luck out and get the last 2 seats (same exact seats as before) at the bar.

Another successful day – and evening!  The fish and chips are excellent, the quesadilla even bigger than before (I can’t even eat 2 pieces and have to take virtually 2/3 of the thing home), and the beer is cold – what more can you ask for?  Nothing – and as the car is still in the lot where we left it – we’re quite happy as we make our way back to the cottage for our 2nd to last night on the island.