Maui Is Populated By Hippies
Today's day trip is a drive around the central and southern areas of Maui - specifically to the towns of Makawao (mah-ka-WAH-oh) and Paia (pa-EE-ah). These towns are the equivalent of places like Woodstock, Vermont; they're little villages that have been converted into tourist traps, except for the fact that they're populated by hippies. Ex-patriate Californians, surfer dudes, maui wowie growers... they come in all flavors here.
We get lunch in Makawao at a nice Italian place called Casanova's. It's pretty tasty, and afterwards we spend some time shopping around the little stores in the area. I get a couple books at the freaky New Age bookstore, and then walk back towards the car - and find myself staring at a hot sauce and barbeque supply store emblazoned with a sign saying "CHILEHEADS WELCOME".
Truly, this is paradise.
I Finally Get To Meet Dustin
One of the people that my parents are constantly talking about is a young man by the name of Dustin. Dustin is the owner of Big Bugga, a clothing store in Paia that caters to larger patrons. His shirt sizes go all the way up to 10X, which to folks like me and my dad sounds like the holy grail of clothing. And it's all good stuff too, not the lame shit you find in most "big and tall" stores.
Dustin's story is an interesting one. He was born to a single mom in the Carribean, and grew up in different places all over the world. His mom has been described to me as a "free spirit" type, very much the hippie / free love kind of person. In any case, Dustin has lived in many places all over the globe, mostly island type places, and has learned how to surf expertly as a result.
My parents met him several years ago when he was starting his business in a little hole in the wall in Paia - my dad was his first customer. They've continued corresponding and hanging out during visits since then, and have essentially adopted one another as family judging by the reactions we get when we enter his store. Although, to be fair, Dustin had accidentally taken two antihistimines (instead of the dosage of one) prior to our arrival, so he may have been especially happy and wound up.
First impression: He's a nice looking guy, of average height and build. Probably somewhere near my age, maybe early thirties; he's got the buzz cut down to less than a centimeter, and the hairline is receding quite a bit. Totally native Hawaiian accent, very slow and something of a drawl. There's also something ethnic about his features, but I can't really place it at all. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of my uncle Danny, my mom's brother (very likely one of the reasons she takes to him so well).
It turns out that Dustin is a fan of hot sauce. We make friends pretty much instantaneously. He's a really hip guy, he's totally laid back and really an artistic type. He tells great stories, and does cool stuff like carve fish hooks out of walrus tusk ivory.
Dustin's coming over for dinner to the condo on Wednesday night. We'll be cooking our sausage for him and will probably end up chatting the night away.
Sunset On The Rocks
The last mission of the day is to find the sunset. There is this place off the road which my mom calls her "turtle spot". It's an area of lava rock outcropping with crashing surf past Wailea (wah-ee-LAY-ah) off some unimproved roads. Turtles get thrown towards the shore here by the powerful waves, and sometimes get tossed into tidepools or onto the crags.
We stand on the rocks while awaiting the sunset. There are little fish everywhere. Crabs are scuttling across the rocks, moving in and out of the water. I scout around for a while, and find a really cool shark tooth. I continue looking around, and pick up a great oyster shell, some fishing line, and another half dozen shark teeth of the same variety. The plan is to make these items into a necklace, but I have to figure out how to get the fishing line really tied tightly around the teeth.
Unfortunately, the sunset wasn't too great - Maui is really surrounded by clouds a lot of the time. Other islands usually have clouds in the mornings and evenings, but Maui is a lot more overcast and windier because it's so mountainous.
Last Words
We went to the Safeway down the road and bought groceries to cook dinner. Aunt Gloria, Linda, and my mom all got together and made us a terrific meal of pasta with scallops and broccoli and a caesar salad with a lemon juice dressing and a nice white wine.
We spent about two hours just telling stories, remembering late relatives and sharing tales of mischief and misadventure. It's been a very long time since I've had the chance to do this, and I absolutely relish it. I even got to hear some "new" old stories about my uncle Mickey that I'd never heard before.
I'm beat... off to bed!