Pineapples & Polynesians

How do pineapple's grow you may ask?  Surprisingly we had the same thought provoking question on our travels.  I've always loved eating the stuff (even though it does torture on my tongue) so we decided to get down to the facts of the matter and discover this answer for ourselves.  Early Monday we headed across the Oahu island to check out the pineapples first-hand at the Dole Plantation.  It was a rainy day, not surprising for a tropical location, but we made the best of it.  I think we were literally the first people to arrive at the park, we may have came in right behind the employees as they clocked in actually.  Yes, we were THAT excited!!!

Immediately upon arriving we signed up for the locomotive tour and the garden tour.  While standing in line for the train, in the rain, we happened upon these:

Actually, we were standing around these plants for quite some time before I did a double take and thought....what the heck is that growing on the end of a stick?  Whodathunk....a pineapple!  I would have guessed they grew on a tree, John was convinced they grew out of the ground....neither of us pegged the plant as growing on the end of a stick!  It was both hilarious and fascinating.  We took several pictures just to prove to everyone that it's true!  Fruit on a stick!  Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?  He probably thought, to heck with all the boring trees and gardens.....lets mix it up a bit and make something grow on the end of a stick!!  

After finishing our locomotion tour that had audio speakers turned up loud enough to deafen anyone in a five mile radius wherein we saw more of the pineapples....out in the field...growing....woohoo exciting!! (note sarcasm), we then ventured on to the garden tour.  Here we met the cutest little Hawaiian man telling us about every little plant in the garden and how it grew.  He also gave us some much valued information about picking out pineapples....such as we in the U.S. rarely ever get fresh pineapple in our stores - so don't waste your time folks.  It's true, pineapple only stay fresh for like 2 days....and no don't bother smelling them either.  Fresh pineapple don't have a smell, the rotten ones do.  Depressing isn't it?  And another pineapple fact:  In order to grow pineapple all you have to do is cut the green pokey leaves and a smidgen of the top of the pineapple and just lay it down in a pot of soil.  No digging...nuthin...just lay it there and come back in 2 YEARS!!  By then hopefully you'll have a pineapple.  John immediately tried convincing me to grow one in our house once we got back home.  I can't commit to a plant for two years...even if it doesn't require sunlight.

Our second part of the day was spent with the Polynesians!!  Yes, some of them were actually my family.  My cousin Shara lives out there with her hubby and little boy named Toah.  My aunt also lives out there working as a traveling nurse.  We were very excited to not only catch up with them but also get a guided tour through the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was a lot of fun visiting the islands and learning their skills.  We especially liked visiting Samoa (where my cousins actually derive from).  However, the reason we liked it so much was the hilarious Samoan guy who told us all about coconuts, how to pick them, shuck them, get the pulp and milk out.  All during his performance we were rolling on the ground laughing.  John and I still talk about him to this day.  I just wish I had him on video tape.  :(   

We got to see all of the islands perform their dances, some frightening, some interesting, and then we got to eat at a luau and visit some more with my family.  They were wonderful hostesses and we had a great time with them!!  Here's a picture of John & I at the PCC.