Alexis' Visit: Hale Koa Luau

Monday around 4pm we left the house, unfortunately the Pali was closed so we had to take the longer route into Waikiki via the H-3. Then traffic in Honolulu was dreadful, I mean dreadful... there was construction everywhere we drove and thousands of cars backed up. We were late. Plain and simple. We argued...but we got there. Lucky for us we only ended up missing the "pre-luau entertainment" and not all of it. We got to see the tree climbing occur, listen to the band, and got front row seats to watch them pull the pig out of the imu.

There was a USAA table set-up offering a chance at a $100 gift card to the Army-Airforce Exchange if you filled out a sheet and had an account with them. Our car insurance is through them, so even though the box was stuffed full of entries, I figured... why not?! ANNND OUT OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE--- I WON! Then after that I was randomly chosen to be an example sarong model/hula dancer, it was hilarious... Lex got some good photos.

The food was tasty, I was really happy they had all of the "staple" Hawaiian luau items for Lex to try... kalua pig, huli-huli chicken, mahi, fried banana, pineapple, poi, and rice. Dessert consisted of haupia pudding and coconut cake- delicious!

The show was very entertaining and it didn't seem as long and drawn out as some of the other luau's I've been to. The fire dancers were extremely impressive seeing as they were only 11 & 12yrs old!

The end of the luau had me in tears, literally... they had veterans from each war stand, then they had spouses and children stand, finally everyone stood to honor the troops past, present, and future. There were candles on the table and we were to hold one up if we knew someone who had passed away... I held mine for Jeremiah, it's crazy to think that this October will mark 7yrs. The song was Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."

This is definitely my favorite luau so far... but I could be biased.