Black & White Night in Hilo

On November 6, 2009, Hilo held its 9th Annual Black & White celebration. My natural tendency is to avoid events like this. I much prefer to stay home and write or work in my garden. A colleague at the college convinced me that I needed to get out more. Being the “loner” I am, I begrudgingly agreed.

I’m so glad I went! Not only did it give me some good blogging material, but I actually had a good time!

She made reservations at Uncle Billy’s Hotel for us to stay over that night, rather than drive back to our homes several hours away. The hotel receptionist graciously agreed to use my camera to take these photos of the four gals. The background is the patio area of Uncle Billy’s Hotel.

 

While this picture was being made, 87 year-old Uncle Billy himself wandered by. When I first moved to the Big Island thirteen years ago, I often saw him on his bicycle cruising the main drag of Kona. You might enjoy reading this article about the award he received a couple years ago and learn a little more about Uncle Billy (William J. Kimi Jr).

On our way to start the evening with supper, we came across a panda person running down the street, a black and white dog, and a barker dressed in her black and white. Everyone was dressed in black and white – some fancy costuming and some rather plain, but fitting into the black and white theme.

 

We met a fifth friend at Puka Puka Kitchen, a little hole in the wall with outstanding food! I can hardly wait to go back. Each of us chose something different.

 

My plate was a falafel pita and like a pig, I could have eaten two plates of it! What a pleasure!

 

I tried to get a picture of the menu, but the flash kept getting in the way.

 

But I did manage to get a good shot out the door toward the street and ocean.

 

While we were there, I asked someone to take a picture of the newly formed “Black Hat Society” ladies. Need I tell you we attracted quite a lot of attention? (giggling) I’m the one on your left, in case you couldn’t tell.

 

All the stores were open, and most offered some sort of pupu (snack). We wandered in and out, enjoying the merchandise and art work. Here the fifth addition to our foursome is examining these beautiful hand-woven baskets.

 

Here are just a few of the paintings on display (and for sale).

 

There were dresses . . .

 

. . . shorts and more made from rice bags. . .

 

. . . and hand-painted shopping bags. . .

 

. . . and novelty items like coasters made to resemble “slippahs” . . .

 

. . . and lei scarves hand-painted by Maya . . .

 

. . . and turtle sculptures.

 

You could buy any kind of produce . . .

 

. . . and plenty of other homemade goodies that were for sale.

 

My favorite of all the attractions was the number of street musicians everywhere.

 

Believe it or not, this introvert intends to go back again next year! Maybe I’ll see you there? In the meantime, if you’d like to see all these pictures individually, plus others that didn’t make it to the post, check out this slideshow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

To see it in full size, click here .

A hui hou!