Ukeing in Paradise is Over

I'm sitting at the airport in Honolulu waiting for my flight home. The week went by so fast!

Here I am with my "band", third from the left.

The whole retreat experience was fun, exhausting, hot, sweaty, humid and amazing. I learned a lot, but am not sure how much I will retain! We had 5 sessions to attend every day and not much time to jam or process. My "band" did OK on Friday night, but we wanted to go back to Uncle Roberts, so Brit, Natalie, Joe and I all ditched the "sing along" and "open mic" performances.

Uncle Roberts was dead! We got there around 9:15 and the band was playing, but there were maybe 10 people in the audience. The bar was open, we ordered, sat down and listened to the music. They were fantastic. They played until 10 or so and us girls went up to tell them how much we enjoyed the music. They were happy for the compliments. I asked if they had a CD and was told they "were working on one." I asked what the band's name was so I could look it up and was told "you will only be able to get it here." Shoot!

Earlier in the day we had a field trip to the home and workshop of Chuck Moore, an incredible ukulele luthier, and his wife, Bonnie, who makes beautiful jewelry. They live on some gorgeous property outside Pahoa with their 2 dogs. We got a crash course in how Chuck makes his ukes (some had been on display at the visitor's center in Hilo), from how he chooses the wood to how he makes the inlay designs out of abalone shell and other materials, cut with his handheld jeweler's saw. For amazing pictures, check out his web site at http://www.moorebettahukes.com/

Their home is fabulous -- the kitchen has Koa wood cabinets that Chuck custom made and is completely open to the back garden, with a huge mango tree growing through the middle of the room. They have a "tree house" built over the kitchen in the mango tree and, up there, you can see the ocean. The second bathroom is also open -- the tub looks out into the garden and the toilet has a ukulele hung on the wall so you can practice while sitting there.

Bonnie's workshop is back to back with Chuck's and her jewelry is silver set with semi precious stones. They are wonderful people, so welcoming and accommodating. We drank passion fruit juice that Bonnie had fresh squeezed from their tree and, even though it was the last of the season's crop, she said she was glad to share with us. Most of the group was anxious to get back for the next session, but Brit, Natalie and I wanted to stay forever. I asked if I could move in and they said, "Sure!" Hmmmm...

I'll say more about the last day in Hilo in the next post.
(Photos courtesy of Brit O.)

Uke Camp

It's day 3 at Uke Camp. I've been playing every day and my fingers are sore, but I don't care! We've all been assigned groups to play in the Jam session on the last day and have "band practice" every afternoon. I've got a great band leader in Sarah Maisel, who is fabulous. Natalie and Brit got into other bands, so we'll see who comes out on top!

Yesterday included a trip to Hilo to Hilo Ukulele and Guitar Shop, owned by a Scottish guy(!). Wow. What a selection! But I refrained and only bought some music.

The big Farmers Market is in Hilo on Wednesdays, so we strolled around afterwards, looking at the fruits, veggies and tie-dyed T shirts. I bought some presents (hee hee) and then we decided to go get some lunch. The resort had provided sack lunches, so while us girls were in the ukulele store, Joe found a homeless woman with a couple of dogs and gave all 4 lunches to her. She said thanks and god bless you, so I feel we all were blessed.

We went to the fish market for lunch. It was highly rated in Natalie's Lonely Planet guide and it was exactly that -- a fish market with an outdoor window to order a meal. There were wooden benches and tables outside to sit and enjoy the ocean breeze. It was DELICIOUS! Joe and Brit had the healthy grilled ono and Natalie and I had the fried tempura shrimp and ono. All the meals come with 2 big scoops of white rice and a side of green salad or the very Hawaiian macaroni salad, made with macaroni, potatoes and, I think I detected some tuna.

They were having an exhibit of handmade ukuleles at the visitor's center. They were all so beautiful, many with inlaid abalone and/or wood on the body and on the head. The display contained about 40 ukes, all different sizes and were made of Kona wood (of course), spruce, mango -- anything! One of my favorites was a little soprano uke made from some of the koa wood from the torn down Kamehakameha Hotel.

Last night, though, was the best. Natalie and Joe brought some bottles of wine over to our hut and we had fun talking about surfing, dishing the other people here at the camp and how hippie-dippy the place was. On the schedule for the evening was an outing to the closest town (Pahoa) to see the evening Farmer's Market and have a drink at Uncle Roberts Awa Bar. After a few glasses of wine, we decided to try and find the place. NO PROBLEM. There were cars parked on either side of the road for about a mile. It was really hopping! The bar is an outdoor setup at the end of the road and on the outdoor stage were 5 huge Hawaiian guys playing some amazing music on guitars and ukuleles. (Someone at the camp told us this morning that those guys were all related and I believe it. It sounded like they had been playing together for years.)

Natalie found a lady who was selling a dish her grandmother used to make for her when she was a kid and hasn't had since -- Hamburger Curry. She was gracious enough to share with me. It was delicious. Back at the bar, Natalie asked the bartender to make us her best drink -- it was an Hawaiian Sunrise. I'm not sure what was in it, but it was yummy -- fruity, coconutty with who knows how many different kinds of alcohol. We danced the night away -- it was amazing and so much fun. We found out this morning they are doing it all again on Friday night and we may have to be there.

It's an interesting group at the camp. Mostly older people and they are mostly very serious about playing. Some of them are pretty good, but most, I'd say, are about the same level as we are or even less experienced. Some of them Brit refers to as "old biddies" and they are rigid and demanding, but all the instructors are great. We all eat together at the covered outdoor patio, along with another group here -- something to do with body balance and energy. You can imagine.

Today was terrific. I woke up to a torrent of rain on the roof. I had a massage this afternoon and am now waiting for Natalie and Joe to show up with more wine. Life is good.

Ukulele time!

We spent the day yesterday with Natalie and Joe. We were going to go to Wal-Mart (Ugh!) for MuMus, but Hilo Hattie's was right across the street, so we went there instead. I got 2 short sleeveless dresses and Natalie and Brit each got one. One of the dresses I got has little ukuleles all over it! No muumuus though... I don't think I can pull off a muumuu.

The classes start today. I was a dope -- I forgot to pack a camera! I'm using the one on the phone and Brit said I could use hers.

The WiFi here is pretty weak, so Brit and I are surfing madly at 6 AM. Our phones also get no reception. As Joe said, this is a "hippie petting zoo", almost completely off the grid!

I will try to take some photos today.

Hawaii!!

It's finally come -- my trip to the Big Island starts today! I'm going to the West Coast Ukulele Retreat with the friends I took ukulele lessons with -- Natalie, her husband, Joe, and Brit. I'm rooming with Brit. I'm so excited!! Hawaii and ukulele together -- too much fun!