Old Wailuku Inn - Maui B&B

CELEBRATE LEI DAY AT THE OLD WAILUKU INN AT ULUPONO WITH THE KEIKI, PARENTS, KUMU

AND STAFF OF PŪNANA LEO O MAUI

AND A GROUP OF HONORED KUPUNA

“Wear a lei, give a lei” is the sentiment of the day!

            What more beautiful or appropriate place to celebrate May Day than the historic Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono? The rooms in the stunning 1924-era bed & breakfast Inn were designed with the poetry of Don Blanding in mind. Hawai‘i’s poet laureate of the ‘20s and ‘30s, Don Blanding is also the “Father of Lei Day.”*

            Innkeepers Janice and Tom Fairbanks and Shelly Harris invite the public to celebrate Hawai‘i’s special day on Friday, May 1^st from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Joining in the celebration will be the keiki, parents, kumu and staff of Pūnana Leo o Maui – our Hawaiian language immersion preschool. The children and their parents will display lei they have made for the occasion. They will all be joined by a group of honored kupuna who will judge the lei. The children will perform.    

            Come celebrate at The Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono. The Inn is located at 2199 Kaho‘okele St (corner of High St.) in Wailuku, diagonally across from Wailuku Elementary School. Please phone 244-5897 for more information or visit the Inn’s website at www.mauiinn.com

            May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i!

*“…but there was nothing (no holiday) that was peculiarly and completely Hawai‘i’s own, none that included all of the polyglot population there,” Blanding wrote in Hula Moons in 1930. “So the bright idea I presented was, ‘Why not have a lei day?’ Let everyone wear a lei and give a lei. Let it be a day of general rejoicing over the fact that one believed in a Paradise. Let it be a day for remembering old friends, renewing neglected contacts with the slogan ‘Aloha,’ allowing that flexible word to mean friendliness on that day. Lei day is so appropriately linked with the inner life of Hawai‘i that it should become an established ceremony…No heart but must beat softer and gentler under the floral chain upon its breast. It symbolizes the memory line between smiles and tears. It chants welcome and farewell. And it pleads with low-voiced eloquence to be remembered…having been born of love, the day should be immortal. Each year it should bloom as nature blooms in the springtime around the earth to make glad the heart of man. ‘Wear a lei give a lei’ was the pledge.” The day was made official in 1929 and now Lei Day is established as  a State holiday.

hawaiirama_encore

A Decent Hotel in Hawaii for Under $140 — Podcast

My friend (and Hawaiirama blogger) Bruce does a nifty podcast on how to get cheap Hawaii hotels.

Surprisingly, there are a decent number of totally decent cheap hotels for this price. And if you want

to dip into condos, then $140 per night actually can get you quite a deal in some places such as

Napili on Maui (one of the nicest, least known beaches in the state). I love the Napili Kai (which is not

that cheap) but there are others that are below the $140 mark which are perfectly serviceable. On

Kauai there are a good number of hotels and resorts below that price point in the Kapaa area on the

so-called Coconut Coast (which lacks good swimming beaches). On Maui the Old Wailuku Inn often

has rates that start just above the mark and are wonderful, particularly if you want to experience old

style charm. So there are definitely plenty of options in that range.

—ALEX, 03/23/08

One way to live greener is to stay closer to home on vacation. The Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono, Maui, takes extra steps to stay green thanks to innkeeper Janice Fairbanks.

The water in the Vagabond’s House, a three-room cottage on the property, is heated 100 percent by solar power; on-demand gas in the main Inn and the separate laundry saves water and electricity. CFL (compact fluorescent lighting) is used throughout the property and all main Inn windows have been retrofitted with specially designed Plexiglas to prevent the loss of cooled air and eliminate street noise. The Inn’s towels are of 100 percent natural fiber materials and linens are a no-iron blend to save electricity.

The bed & breakfast Inn is holding its rates of $150 to $190 a night through fall and into the winter. All rates include a full gourmet breakfast daily, high-speed DSL, the Inn’s own house blend coffee, and Aveda biodegradable personal care amenities.

The Inn’s library is well-stocked with guidebooks and Hawaiiana. The Inn is at 2199 Kaho’okele St. Call (808) 244-5897, toll free (800) 305-4899, or visit mauiinn.com

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/08/03/travel/story01.html