Sightseeing

As we mentioned in our last blog, Guanajuato is a city rich in history.  Yesterday, we visited the Casa de las Leyendas (House of the Legends), where you walk through tunnels and view "puppet shows" depicting the legends of the city.  Most of the tales were a little like ghost stories...death, murders, etc...where some of the victims are known to still haunt the city.

After that, we drove to the Museo Exhacienda San Gabriel de Barrera (pictured), which used to be the home of a Spanish mine owner.  You could tell he was a mine owner by the amount of gold that decorated the home!  The hacienda was beautifully furnished...some of the pieces were very ornate and of course gilded in gold.  There were also many paintings and portraits of the family hanging in the various rooms.  What impressed us most were the gardens.   There were many different landscapes, each appealing in its own way.  If you'd like more information go to: http://www.guanajuatocapital.com/espanol/Tbarrera.htm.  We will have more pictures on our site soon!  

Llegamos en Guanajuato (We arrive in Guanajuato)

For all you who speak Mexican/Spanish, if the subject line is incorrect please forgive us!  Just walking through the town, and seeing the old Mexican architecture, smelling the delicious food from the street vendors, enjoying the mariachi, and listening to the passersby talking with each other just makes us want to speak along with them!  But of course other than "enchilada," "quesadilla," or "tostada," we're pretty lost!

We arrived at the tiny airport in Guanajuato (think Molokai) and the plane actually had to make a u-turn because the runway was that short.

While driving from the airport, we could see a statue of Christ off in the distance on the top of a mountain.  Our lovely promoter/host Erika Visoso told us that that statue's location was the exact center of Mexico.  We thought that was pretty cool.

Guanajuato is a very historical city.  Very picturesque...beautiful architecture...heavy Spanish/European influence.  Walking along the streets you can just feel the history and spirit of this richly romantic town.

The concert will be held at the Teatro Juarez in Guanajuato, on Saturday.  Tickets are still available.  Check our website at makahasons.com for details.

Palm Springs

A big mahalo goes out to Kumu Kekoa Yap and Halau Hula O Wailehua for putting on a wonderful concert this past Saturday!  From what we understand, this was the first Hawaiian concert in Palm Springs since Don Ho came here in the 60's!  If the show was any indication of the interest in Hawaiian music over here, we will probably return in 2009.  

The concert was standing room only (literally...the volunteers kept trying to steal the Sons' chairs because so many people kept pouring in) and started with the group Mehana and the sweet vocals of Aunty Geri Kuhia.  Then the conch shell was blown and Kumu Kekoa entered the room, chanting, as kumu hula Nani Aiu-Quezada, Ululani Cortez and Mahiehie Arana waited for him onstage.  The dancers of Halau Hula O Wailehua, Hula Halau Ka Lehua Uluwehi I Ka Lani, and Halau Hula Moani'a'ala Anuhea danced the traditional hula kahiko, dressed in colorful Hawaiian print costumes.  Faaabulous mistress of ceremonies Alaka'i Paleka gave the Sons a rousing intro and the room went silent as the crowd was mesmerized by the Sons' beautiful harmonies and the enchanting Kealo Koko on "Hawaiian Lullabye."  Hula fans were treated to many beautiful dance numbers, including the showstopping "Waikoloa," which originally was Keoni Nunez' solo number.  Kumu Kekoa joined him onstage, and then Uncle Moon surprised everyone by taking off his guitar and joining his hula brothers on the ha'ina.  Everyone started shouting "hana hou!" so the three chose "Lumaha'i" as their second number.  As another surprise, Aunty Sunbeam Beamer sang the haunting "Ho'onanea" as Aunty Loke Halemanu shared her hula.  Everyone enjoyed every second until the finale..."Hawaii Aloha."

We were happy to see a bunch of our friends from LA...Linda Wilkes, Ruth & Jim Edens, Robin & Geoff Goss...and our San Diego promoter Tula Striffler and Genie Montoya.  It was like a big reunion! 

Palm Springs is an awesome place to visit.  There are lots of trendy shops downtown, casinos, a big outlet mall, beautiful resorts, etc.  We'll post photos soon!  RJ got some great photos of downtown Palm Springs and the tram ride.

Mahalo again to everyone involved in the concert, for your hospitality and aloha, but mostly for keeping the spirit of Hawaii and the culture alive in Palm Springs!

Ho'ike Hawaii

We know, we're late, but we still wanted to write a little something about the Ho'ike Hawaii show in Orlando last month.  The concert was a huge success...thank you soooo much to Marina "Goddess" Butler, Uncle Hank Ohumukini, Nicole Ohumukini, Aunty Kau'i Brandt, Dave Dickinson (Sound Tech) and his crew, Andrea Constantineau - Catering Manager/Hilton at Walt Disney World, Sefa Leapai for the upright bass, Ed Kaleimamahu, Aunty Kau'i, Iris Navarez, Jeanne "Baby", for Disney & Universal passes, and Marina for the Sea World passes. Thanks to Jet Belleza for the MSI concert programs, U'ilani Kam and halau for good eats at her condo, Hoike Hawaii for everything else...the leis, gift baskets, etc!!!!  We are looking forward to going back to Orlando again hopefully next year!  For more info on Ho'ike Hawaii, go to their website at www.hoikehawaii.com

Orlando!

Orlando is like this super-huge playground.  Kinda like Disneyland on steroids.  So that is the reason we haven't been able to write for the past few days!  We finally got to Orlando at like 1:30am on Friday morning.  But bright and early, some of us were up and ready to go to MGM Studios.  Others just stayed and hung out around the hotel, and some went to get pampered at the spa next door.  

Orlando is hot.  Like super-hot.  And super-humid.  Even just standing still and breathing will cause you to perspire.  Okay, that's too delicate.  Cause you to sweat.  Or should we say "super-sweat."  

If you're wondering where all this "super" terminology is coming from, it's our latest "Makaha Son-ism" or whatever you call it.  There was a waiter back in Oregon who described every menu item as "super" this or "super" that and Kealo picked up on it and pretty soon everything was "super" superb and "super" fantastic.  It's kinda like last year's "MEAN!" and "reeeaaaallllly."  But...don't look for any "super" shirts to be coming out "super" soon.  We are currently working on Kealo's "ha" line (some of you might have seen the "ohana" shirts at Take a Walk in the Country).  It's "super" terrific.

Friday night we were joined by Marina (our promoter), her daughter Kanoa, and her niece and her boyfriend, and Uncle Pat from Ua Mau, at Benihana's.  The food was so good but as always we ate too much.  John's son Kapua, his wife Misty, and grandson Pai'ea also drove in late Friday night.

On Saturday, some of us went to Universal Studios (see picture above).  Saturday night was the show, and we'll write about that later on.  

For now, we have more things to do, places to go, people to see!  And music to practice for tonight!  hahahaha!

Hope you all are having a "super" Sunday!

OOPS forgot one!

Upon arriving in Nashville, Nathan & Linda Crawford took us to this quaint little restaurant called Monell's...and they had the most awesome southern cooking we've tasted!  When you arrive you walk into this cute little garden area, and then entering the restaurant, it looks like you're a guest in a big southern home.  Meals are served family style, and on this night their main courses were spinach lasagna, pulled pork (which tastes very similar to kalua), and fried chicken (yum!)  They also serve broccoli, cucumber salad, green beans, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and strawberry shortcake.  We ate soooo much that we could barely walk out of there.  We will definitely make Monell's a stop next time we're in Nashville.  Thank you Nathan & Linda!

On the Road Again!

Well here we are, on our last leg of our tour...headed to Orlando.  We left at around 10am this morning and it's close to 8:30pm now.  We have 225 miles to go and are shooting for Orlando at 12:48am.  Wow!  For a bunch of Hawaiians, we're not used to this!  But we're having a blast.  We stopped off to eat at this little diner somewhere close to Macon, Georgia.  Apparently Macon is known for their cherry blossom trees.

Thank goodness we have tomorrow off, although some of us were planning to go to Disneyworld and check out the parks there.  

Well, Sharlene's computer is just about to run out of batteries and we have one more blog to write so better sign off here!