Lahina on Mau

Lahaina on Maui by Wayne Dixon When we landed at Maui we sought out the Whaling Museum which was quite a distance from downtown Lahaina. We wandered around Lahaina looking for directions as our ship arrived very early in the morning. Nothing much was open except one lady was preparing her merchandise and talked to us briefly about directions. We later returned to her busy shop to pay back her hospitality with our souvenir purchases. We learned there would be a free shuttle to the Whalers Shopping Center where the museum is located. It was quite a ways from downtown and too far to walk the distance. On our way we picked up some brochures which indicated the admission to the museum was free. Upon our arrival there was a schedule of fees and I asked the clerk about the free admission. He knew nothing of that he said but if I could prove the brochure claims he would honor it. I told him I had discarded it upon our arrival to the shopping center. Not to be discouraged, I returned to every trash can we had met on our way. At the last I found the notice of free admission which I presented on a triumphant note to the clerk. It was well worth the effort. I had researched whaling history from the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, because of a distant connection to family history on my father’s side. The Pinkhams, which was his mother's maiden name, originated in England and settled in Dover, New Hampshire, at an early 1600s date. From there branches of the family moved in different directions, one of which settled on Nantucket Island. They were dependent on resources from the sea to maintain their community and an early date took up whaling. Nantucket families intermarried. The Pinkhams were related to more familiar names such as Folgers, Starbucks, and Gardners. These families at the turn of the 18th century rounded the Horn to the Pacific Ocean in relentless pursuit of whales. Many of them found islands which to this day bear their names. Although the Whaler’s Museum was small it was packed full of artifacts and I took many photos. We noted on the announcement board that there would be a speaker at 11 o'clock so I asked the person in charge if they would let us back in the museum on our free admission and he assured me that we could come and go all day. So we walked down to the beach which was bordered by luxury hotels and restaurants. We stooped down along the shore to gather our souvenir fresh from the sea which turned out to be another well-worn piece of coral. It would seem that many islands were made mainly of coral. The history of the islands includes stages in which they were formed by volcanic eruptions and then by coral growth followed by erosion, leaving behind the remains for us to pick up along the way. We returned to the museum in time to catch the speaker who was well informed about whales. His talk lasted for over an hour and it was very well illustrated by slides and the personal experiences of the speaker. We learned many interesting things we had not known before and it added to our enjoyment of our previous whale watching experiences. We had recently encountered whales in Monterey, California, that were there to feed off the anchovies in late September. We were hoping to see the Maui whales but were told they would not be there until much later in December or January. So we had to be satisfied with learning about them. Our way back on the free shuttle we stopped by a restaurant that had a suitcase on the bench with a pair of boots which we thought someone had inadvertently left behind. We soon realized it was a staged display from the Forest Gump movie after which the restaurant was themed. There were many other shops along the waterfront but for us the main attractions were the craftsmen under the huge banyan tree and the museum inside the former courthouse. Inside the old courthouse were displays illustrating the history of Maui and the conflicts between the whalers and the missionaries. It would seem that missionaries get a bad rap in these parts but perhaps more of the blame should be placed upon some of the ne'er-do-well whalers including perhaps some of my distant kinsman from Nantucket.