Oh HIIIIIIIIIIIII, OHIO! So nice of us to join you!

Two weeks ago (oh man - I can't believe it was still so recent!) we packed up our car and took our little family to Ohio! Why, oh why, oh why-oh? Why did we ever go Ohio?? (I know for sure Hoku will get this song reference. The only reason I know it is from Mr. Bright's plays! But I digress...) 

Kamuela had informed us a few months ago that he would be in Ohio in January with Uncle Jerry for a concert, and that we should meet up with him. Um, yes please! So pretty much from that time, we had been eagerly looking forward to this reunion. For myself, obviously it was the chance to get to spend time with my brother (and the first member of my family since we moved to Maryland) and for Rob, the same, in addition to getting to go with Kamuela to a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game! (Kamuela had them include tickets to the game in his music contract - hows that guy? SCORE!) The commute was about 6 hours, so after Michigan's 12-13, it felt like a breeze! Even though we got in super late (it was after midnight!), Kamuela came out to meet us. It was so exciting getting to see him! 

Look how excited we look despite our long travel times!!

The lu'au that Kamuela and Uncle Jerry played for was really nice. The program had all of Mapuana deSilva's Ms. Aloha Hula dancers, including one who was a winner a few years ago! They were beautiful dancers, and as always, the music was really nice. The FOOD was a different story! I know I can't expect real hawaiian food in the mainland, but I told Kamuela if I could get kalua pig, some white rice, and pineapple, I'd be happy. MAAAAYBE chicken long rice or lomi tomato. There wasn't even any of those simple things!! There was fried rice, sautéed vegetables, "hulihuli chicken" (it was just grilled chicken breast), sesame cabbage salad (what? eew!) and the REAL kicker - "kalua pig." The kalua pig was crockpot BBQ sauce kalua pig!! lol. Don't get me wrong, the food was still pretty good, but just not lu`au. Luckily, the show was so awesome it made up for the $55 per ticket price (and let's face it - I wasn't there for the food...though that would've been a nice bonus!) Several audience members commented how well-behaved Uriah was during the show, and it's true! Thankfully, he loves music so he did really well through the concert up until about 10pm (I think it went til 11:30?!)   

Though we were only there for 3 full days, we maximized our time! Rob and I drove around to check ou the city before the lu'au since we had some time. We were blown away with one section of housing developments that had 3 story homes going for under $300k! They were beautiful, and it's such a stark reminder of the sacrifices Hawaii locals make for "living in paradise." $300k would realistically be a condo in Hawaii! Also found this along the way..

one potagee at portage Co. LOL

Rob and I were able to go to Cracker Barrel, which is a popular southern/home-cooking diner known for their biscuits and gravy. The food was OK, but the best part was that the front of the restaurant had a store with all kinds of candies and specialty goodies! They had a lot of classic/old-school candies, and TONS of chocolate marshmallow candies (my favorites!) It was great having Kamuela there because I could send home goodies for the family without having to pay for shipping. This was also a benefit because Kamuela brought me a care package from Mom as well as some goodies he and Roxy got for me (highlights - sushi rice mix, kimchee sauce, and diamond soda crackers!!) 

On Sunday, we went down to Cleveland and got to go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It was such a cool experience! It was really interesting to see some hand-scribbled lyrics from different artists, read the history of various genres, and see actual costumes worn onstage by 

some of the greats! Uncle Jerry treated us all, so that was a very generous and nice surprise.

The Beatles drumset!!

Green Day song lyrics

Rob checking out his home state's Motown history

ZZ Top guitars w/chain straps. Check da drums! Fraggle rock! 

Of COURSE I had to get my Beyonce in! SO TINY by the way... 

I thought this was a ladies outfit. Nooope. Little Richard's! 

Took me a sec to get it. haha Rolling Stones dresser.


Lady Gaga's meat dress from the VMAs. Now dehydrated, so..beef jerky dress?
Also check my photo bomber!!

There was a get together at the Taylor home (who were in charge of the function) for all the musicians and dancers that night, and we were graciously invited! Their home was SO beautiful (both are dentists! Ka-ching!), and they were both such nice people. The most remarkable memory of that night was Sam's (Mr. Taylor's) basement "man cave." It was the most elaborate, decked out man cave I have ever seen, and more ornate then I could've ever imagined! Even as someone who doesn't really follow sports, I could appreciate the hard work and value that was put into the basement, as well as how priceless some of the memorabilia was! Even more exciting, Sam is from Michigan and is a DIE HARD fan of all things Michigan (including Rob's rival MSU - but we forgive him!). He had signed baseballs, footballs, various figurines, photos with players, collector cards (basketball, baseball, football - including some very hard to come by rookie cards!)! It was set up like a sports museum. There were a few items in his collection that seriously could have been in a museum, that's how rare and/or unique the items were. His collector cards were in a huge closet, all organized in binders by year, first with his Detroit players, then in order of how each team in the league ranked that year! Talk about organization! It was SO impressive! Rob took some pictures and sent to his brother, who obviously would also be able to appreciate the room. I think Sam was particularly excited to show the room to us because he knew that Rob is also a die hard fan, and out of all of us, would be able to really grasp the grandeur of the memorabilia! After the tour, we all went upstairs and had a low-key kaikapila session. It was so fun just being able to sit around and share and enjoy one another's talents!

The following day, Uncle Jerry flew home, and Kamuela really wanted to check out the Kirtland temple visitor center. The visitor center was actually closed for the temple side (it is owned by a non LDS religious sect, and the owner's were out of town), but we were able to go to the schoolhouse and the store/home of Newel K. Whitney! It was snowing pretty hard when we got there, but they confirmed they were still open! It was a very cool experience getting to walk through and witness such significant sites in church history!

Ready for our cold day out!

Beautiful snowflake patterns on the windowsills

Someone is not a fan of the snow!

Hearth, with cooking kettles

Bedroom Joseph Smith and family stayed in for awhile

We ran across the street to take some quick pics

In front of the (closed) Kirkland Temple

Such a fun, snowy day!

That night, Kamuela and Rob got to go to the game. They were both so excited to be able to go, and it was a great rivalry - it was Golden State vs. the Cavs, who were both in the NBA finals last year. Though the Cavs lost, it was still a memorable night for them. We had such a great time on the trip, and were sad to see the time go! Luckily, I have family coming to visit in March, April, and then we are going home to Hawaii in the summer, so it won't be too long before I get my next dose of Kimokeo :)