Today we have another craft show, this time over in Makawao at the Montessori school there. Again, totally local crafters for their Christmas craft show, and I figured, what the heck? Plus we can combine it with a visit to Makawao, a traditional Paniolo (cowboy) town turned into a craft and boutique village. The drive is, once again, beautiful as we make our way up from sea level to Makawao on the near slopes of Haleakawa. On the way to the craft show, we stop at the Makawao post office in hopes we can actually mail our package – and lo and behold – a normal post office! Not crowded, sweet and helpful employees – exactly what we are used to at home. Package mailed, customs tracking in hand, we continue our explorations today with a much happier heart.
We traverse through the center of Makawao (1 street, great old western style buildings) and head out into the countryside (literal countryside – agricultural fields line the little 2 lane road) and find the Montessori school easily enough. The craft show is being held in the school auditorium, and is crammed with great vendors – lots of really cool jewelry, bakery products, honey, kids toys and stuffed animals – an excellent mix of items. We fall into talking with Wendy, who has Cacao spices and makes Maui Bacon Crack. Well, we have to try that – and of course, we are hooked! Sweet, spicy bacon? Come on? How could you go wrong with that? We end up with 2 packages of spices and as we continue to talk, she gives me a little packet she’s made up with tongs and a zip lock bag to put the bacon in when we make it. So sweet! (And spicy – LOL.)
With those purchases made, we turn our sites on Makawao to see what we can find. We luck out with a parking space right on the main road, and wander around the town for a bit, just window shopping and examining the architecture – which is truly old west style.
By the this time, we are getting hungry, so we duck into Habibi’s – described as a Middle Eastern fusion cafe. The Chef/owner’s family lived in Saudi Arabia for 15 years, and this is where he gets his inspiration for combining typical Middle Eastern cuisine with Hawaiian flavors. We’re excited because he has shawarma, which we have not had forever. The restaurant is basically a glorified food truck in a lovely little garden with chairs and tables. We each order a lamb shawarma and wait somewhat patiently for them to be prepared. We realized our eyes were way bigger than our stomachs, when these huge sandwich monsters arrived at our table. But we make a valiant effort to eat as much as we can, because they are fabulous – excellent spices, just the right sear on the lamb, tzatziki that perfectly pairs with the other spices inside and an excellent side salad with mustard vinaigrette.
Of course, we could never in a million years finish that whole thing, so we manage to wrap up the remnants and take it home (hoping it won’t spoil while we continue our wanderings in the town). After depositing our lunch remains in the car, we head back to the Makawao museum, where we meet Joe, the docent on duty today. He’s loquacious and funny and so knowledgeable about all things Makawao. Turns out he’s been here for 30+ years and has watched the island grow and develop, and actually considered retiring to Asheville (no kidding!), but then he and his wife said, why? They’ve been here virtually their whole adult life, why throw all that away. We couldn’t agree more! And besides, as we told him, Maui and Asheville have a lot of the same vibes, so they aren’t missing much, except the weather, he’d definitely miss the weather.
At any rate, after a long conversation, we wandered around the museum which is jam packed with all sorts of exhibits and history on the island, but Makawao in particular. There is the complete history of how cattle and ranching became so important here on the islands, beginning with a late 1700’s gift of cattle to Kamehameha who then brought Mexican vaqueros to the islands to manage the cattle (and horses that were later given to the King). The word Paniolo is actually taken from the Spanish word Espaniolo, the word for Spaniard, which the Hawaiians equated with cowboys. There are saddles on display, exhibits about the oldest business in town (Kitada’s restaurant, with a replica table and actual menus dating back to the 1800s), a traditional home kitchen replica from a Portuguese grandmother (which Joe says looks exactly like his grandma’s kitchen), tracing the Baldwin’s heritage (the great plantation owner and his wife), how the USO came to be located in the town during WWII and a huge selection of rodeo photos, newspaper articles chronicling the town rodeo that has been held every July 4th since 1956 and so much more. Thoroughly fascinating and amazing that they can fit all this into such a little space. Joe said they had tons more, they just need a larger space to display it all.
After a little more chatting and the address of his daughter’s podcasts on Maui, we take our leave and continue to window shop our way through the town. You name it, it is here. More on the upscale touristy side, from clothing to souvenirs to crafts (mostly glass blowing and painting), we end up at the Stopwatch sports bar for a mid-afternoon beverage. Typical small town sports bar, this would be our hang out for sure, if we were only staying closer. Good local vibe, but with us tourons mixed in – the food looked pretty good too – so, if we are ever back in the area….
One last stop at a gallery Joe recommended – and rightly so – they have some amazing paintings and glasswork, but only one potter. Hmmmm…..I’m thinking there might be a really good market for a potter here!
Exploration over, post office success, this has been a great day! Back at the cottage we freshen up then head to Sensei Japanese restaurant for an early dinner – since they have 25% off from 5:30 to 6:00. Great sashimi and a great deal with the discount! An early night, but we don’t mind – we have the patio waiting for us back at the cottage!
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