Post #116771 by PolynesianPop on Mon, Sep 27, 2004 11:11 PM

About ready to go to bed now. When I wake up it will be back to the same old daily grind... Hukilau 2004 was the break I needed. Unfortunately, its all over now.

I know the hurricane displaced a lot of travelers on their trip this year but the good news is it looks like all of us TC'ers made it home ok. I too, don't want to make light of the impact that this hurricane made but for me, the hurricane almost seemed like a blessing. It really brought out the best in all of us and helped illustrate what a great group of people TC is comprised of.

Some of the highlights for me:

Evacuation Day -- Saturday my travelling buddies Jungletrader, Tiki Diablo, Tiki Tony, Bongofury and I evacuated the Bahia Cabana in the morning. We spent about 4 hours or so looking for another hotel/motel room (most were either closed or booked to capacity). But we were not alone - Alnshely, Floratina, King Kukulele were going in one direction while Mogambo and his assistant Christian went the other direction. Being from Southern California, it was a little eerie for me. It was dark and stormy and everything we drove by was closed and boarded up or being boarded up. We all communicated regularly on our celfones in an effort to book as many rooms as any of us could find to make sure we all had shelter. Our group actually drove out to the Everglades before we found a room when I checked in with SugarCaddyDaddy. As luck would have it, he found a room at the same motel where a lot of other TC'ers were relocated (our room sat between Humuhumu's and Martiki's). Wes (of House of Tiki) even got one with a Heart Shaped Jacuzzi! Simultaneously, Mogambo and his group found shelter as did Alnshely and their group. We had roofs over our heads - No more worries!

The Mai Kai Dinner Show -- What an incredible experience this was! Because of the hurricane, just about everything in town was closed and boarded up but not the Mai Kai. The show was excellent, the food was excellent, the drinks were excellent and the staff was so professional. King Kukulele even told me that one of the entertainers approached him and said how appreciative they were that we were willing to come out in a hurricane to watch them perform -- he replied by telling him that WE were the ones that were honored that they would come out in a hurricane to perform for US. After the show, the bar stayed open until about midnight with an impromptu set of musicians to entertain us. A highlight for me was when Patrick, one of the Restaurant Captains (a 25 year employee), gave me a private historical tour of the restaurant and their operations. He even showed me around their corporate offices in the back (no thatch, no blowfish!). Did you know the Mai Kai has their own softball league? There's about 5-6 teams that play every season for a championship, and the teams are all made up of Mai Kai employees. They've got a wall in the employee break room with pictures of all the winning teams from the past 20 years. Did you know that Bob Hope's favorite table was Table 3, top and center to the Floor Show? Its in the area where the old bar used to be over looking the main dining room. Did you know that when astronauts returned to Cape Canaveral after a mission, their first meal after decompression is always at the Mai Kai? Patrick had lots of other great info he shared with me too! But the highlight on Saturday was....

The Hukilau Hurricane Afterparty -- A small handful of the left over diehards were invited to Dave Levy's home (son of Mirielle Thornton, owner of the Mai Kai). As the caravan lined up in the valet parking area, we noticed one of the employees packing a Toyota 4runner with bottles of fresh fruit juice and a cooler full of ingredients from the bar. When we arrived at Mr. Levy's home we were welcomed with open arms. Elvis live in Hawaii blasted merrily over the Hi-Fi bigscreen entertainment system. We danced, drank homemade Rum Barrels, laughed and partied with the whole Mai Kai family - the Thorntons, Kern (the manager), Amber (one of the dancers) to name a few. You'd never know there was a hurricane just right outside! What a surreal experience -- and our hosts made us feel like part of the family.

All in all, it was an excellent trip for me. As I said before, I don't want to make light of the impact that this hurricane made for those that were displaced but for me the hurricane made the real difference in my trip. It was great to finally meet a lot of the TC'ers I've interacted with as well. Another treat -- watching Pablus perform the song he wrote for TC, "It feels so good to pass a smile along."

Now back to reality...

**Poly-Pop ***

He who dies with the most broken mugs WINS!

[ Edited by: polynesianpop on 2004-09-27 23:34 ]