Lahaina Store Grille & Oyster Bar on Front St. has closed down!!

Use to be the only place on the west side to go out on a Friday or Saturday night. Kind of hard to believe that a restaurant that serves decent food, ocean front dining and rootop dining, could go out of business. Something about that location...Tony Roma's used to be next door, opened in Spring of 2007 and was gone within the year.

Lulu's in the Cannery Mall just recently opened. Have to check it out.

Out with the old...

Last sunset of 2008

In with the new...

First sunrise of 2009

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy NEW YEAR!
あけましておめでとう!

ES

Labor Day set the stage for a classic college football matchup, Pac-10 vs. SEC. On paper, TENN had this game in the bag. Oddsmakers had this game at TENN -8 by kickoff. UCLA, with an inexperienced offensive line and 3rd string QB, wasn't given much of a chance against the size and speed of a powerhouse from the SEC. In an exciting finish, the Bruins pulled off the impossible stunning #18 ranked TENN at the Rose Bowl in overtime 27-24.
At halftime, I was ready to throw in the towel...UCLA QB Craft throws 4 picks, one for a touchdown right before half. Was not pleased with the JUCO transfer's performance. Running game was non-existent, 3 starters go out with injuries on offense, and the defense, their only bright spot, was wearing down. They were only down 14-7 at half, but it felt like it was a matter of time before TENN turned it up a notch. That never happened.
I don't know what happened a halftime, but the credit has to go to Offensive Coordinator, Norm Chow. They picked apart the TENN defense in the second half. This game was suppose to be a clinic on how SEC football is played. Now, I see TENN as a marginal team in the SEC, down with the ranks of Ole Miss, Miss St., Arkansas, Kentucky, and Vandy. Coach Neuheisel has brought excitement and hope back to Westwood. It's only one game, but it was on national TV for everyone to see prime time. Looking forward to a great season.
Go Bruins!!

High School football season kicked off this past week. I'm usually not that interested in any of the local teams, but this past Friday had an unusually matchup: #5 ranked (in the state of Hawaii) Baldwin Bears vs. #40 ranked in the nation (USA Today Poll - I don't know how they come up with these rankings every year??) Mission Viejo Diablos. Yes, a team from the O.C. came to play in Maui! Of particular interest to me in this game was the play of MV senior QB Allan Bridgman, on his way to Cal next year, and MV senior WR Alex Mascarenas, who will play for UCLA next year!!

From the get-go, MV dominated the undersized and much slower Baldwin side. Bridgman was impressive, picking apart the Baldwin D at will and Mascarenas returned a punt for a TD...he's got some wheels! It was like watching a freshman team play the varsity team. Lucky for me, a squall came through at halftime with the score 41-0 MV, so I bailed. MV ended up winning 48-21. Bridgman was pulled from the game before the 1st half ended...don't know how many starters played in the second half. MV looked scary good, but they are only the #4 ranked team in Orange County.

Crowd was decent, but no BAND?! What's up with that?? Didn't have the feel of a classic high school football game. Made me reminisce about the Wilson days...we had a horrible football team (playing L.B. Poly every year didn't help) but had a kick ass band with an amazing drum corps. Before entering high school, I remember hearing those drums from my house on Friday night home games...those drums fire you up, no doubt.

I was driving into town tonight and noticed the Chevron on Kaahumanu listing regular unleaded gas at $4.59/gal, yes, people, $4.59! This is the first drop, $.04, in gas prices in over a month. I've had issue with this, like a lot of other people on Maui, because with the drop in the price of oil from $147 down to $112 in the past month, we have not received any relief at the pump. From L.A. to Miami, gas prices have dropped at least $.30 - $.40 with the national average at around $.30. I saw a spokesperson for one of the gasoline wholesalers on T.V. saying that they replenish their gasoline stocks weekly and will reset prices based on what they pay for their gasoline. He further added that they do, upon occasion, keep prices static to "make-up" for losses incurred when dealing with the daily gyrations in the prices of crude and the finished product they purchase. Well, they sure have made up the difference this past month! At the expense of the Maui residents and visitors, of course.

Funny how the day that they decide to lower gas prices, crude oil shoots up $6 to $121/barrel. Does that make any sense? Will they reset gas prices on Sunday to reflect the recent rise in oil prices? Probably. In the meantime, I'm doing my part...I've resurrected my mountain bike and can been seen daily around the greater Kahului/Wailuku area. I realize "doing my part" won't contribute to any form of demand destruction for gasoline on Maui, as long as everyone continues to drive their lifted trucks around. Just got to remember that every day is Earth Day.

ES

Coffee lovers out there were probably stunned to hear Starbucks closing 600 stores around the U.S. to cut costs and boost profits. Five are slated to be closed in the "808" state, one of them in Maui. I'm assuming it's the one inside of Borders, but I could be wrong...the other one is next to Jamba Juice across the parking lot.

Since the announcement, Starbucks has (1) Launched a smoothie line (aren't most Starbucks next to Jamba's?), (2) Decided to bring back the breakfast sandwiches that weren't selling well (they don't even look all that appetizing through the display glass), (3) They acquire a company that makes a high-end coffee brew machine, called the Clover ($11,000 a machine), so they can charge more for a cup of coffee??

Who is running this company? I'm a Starbucks fan in Tokyo because they're everywhere and it's the thing to do over there. Don't really hit Starbucks all that much here on Maui, but I know it's really big here. Seems like a lot of bad calls are being made post closings - Stock will hit single digits by the end of the year!!

McGregor Point, Ma'alaea

I think I've passed up on surfing at this spot too many times to count. It rarely looks good from the road. Man, have I been wrong! Got a call from CD today saying McGregor's was overhead with little wind. It usually blows pretty good there daily...the new wind turbines are just above this spot on the mountain.
Got in the water around 1pm with 8 people in the water. Wind picked up a bit and the tide started coming in. Sets had long lulls, sometimes 20 minutes! But it was definitely worth the wait. CD and I caught the best waves of the afternoon. My first ride - paddled for a wave I thought was about shoulder high. By the time you drop in, it jacks up and gets steep. A long wall forms and if you can get through the first part of the wave without getting taken out, the ride is awesome! Fast, long rights. Next to Kanaha, one of my favorite waves on Maui.

I'd like to thank Pua for inviting me to her big fundraiser aboard NCL's Pride of Aloha this past Sunday. Great time with friends, good food, good service, open bar (nice!). The event was a huge success, so I hope the committee can pull off this again next year!

See this ship docked at Kahului Harbor a couple times a week...I wonder what people think when they pull into Kahului??

Chris and Pualani Enos, Executive Director, Hui Malama Learning Center

Table 19, Front - Matt, Chris, Pua, Jennifer, Junior. Back - Reggie, Kai, ES

Interesting story about getting on the ship...there's a guard gate at the dock, they check your name and ID. Inside the ship they take your ID and put you through the metal detector and scan anything you have on you. Junior was ahead of me in line and jokingly asked me if I brought my knife...I had no idea what he was talking about?? I don't carry a knife around. Ends up he had a knife in his pocket, for some reason...I suppose the Maui waterman needs to have that with him in case he needs to...I can't think of anything??
Anyway, he goes through security, hands the knife to the security staff, the gentleman examines knife measuring it against his badge, determines that the blade, at 4", is not long enough to confiscate, so he hands the knife back to Junior and tells him to enjoy his evening on the ship. WTF!? "Here sir, enjoy your killing spree aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines."
So much for post-911 security measures...

Random Musings:
John Merrick, Long Beach Wilson Alum and UCLA Alum, finished 6th at the U.S. Open. Nice to see him along with Paul Goydos doing well on the Tour...LBC Represent!!
Celtics win. That game was hard to watch. Didn't feel bad for the Lakers because they didn't come to play. What was going on with KG in his post-game interview?? "Impossible is Nothinggggg!"

Big Beach in Makena, on the south shore of Maui, is probably one of my favorite beaches on Maui. I haven't been in over a year and when I was there this past Sunday, wondered why I don't make down there more often??

North End of Big Beach

You can see Molokini and Kaho'olawe in the background

South End of Big Beach

Hit the beach at the end of a recent south swell...still some decent-sized sets.

Current can be strong and the shorebreak pretty vicious

Lots of broken bones and spinal injuries every year

It's no Waimea, but you definitely have to know what you're doing out there

Dropping in at Big Beach

Drop Knee Bodyboarder Getting Barreled

It's a big bodyboarding, bodysurfing and skimboarding beach...a lot of fun seeing the local kids rip it up.

Good place to people watch as well...

Six years of construction and $87 Million later...the construction work to widen Mokulele, is DONE!! The completed highway will open today. There is now a four-lane highway linking Kahului to Kihei. Access from Kihei to Lahaina/Wailuku will open as well. Finally!! Should cut down travel time from Kahului to Kihei/Wailea.