Allerton Garden Kauai

Hawaii…even the word sounds tropical. Much better than The Sandwich Isles, as they were dubbed by Capt Cook in 1778 on his third voyage to the South Pacific. Of the five major islands in this South Pacific chain of islands, Kauai is the oldest and most eroded by the wind and over 400 inches of rains that deluge Mt Weialia in the average year. The erosion caused by all this rain is what makes the Na Pali coast so spectacular. This coastline on the western side of the island is one of the most scenic locations you’ll find anywhere in the world. Along with the multitude of sandy beaches and Wiamia Canyon, Kauai has many natural treasures worthy of a visit. It is often referred to as the Garden Isle, and lives up to its name in many ways. The lush foliage covering the island is wondrous to behold for a visitor from one of the drier states in the more mundane “Lower 48”. The fiftieth anniversary of statehood for the 50^th state seemed like a good time to visit and of the 3 islands we had previously enjoyed, Kauai beckoned us back the loudest.

This would be the first visit without our two now grown children and although we missed  them, it made the trip very different than it would have been if we had brought them. There is no way we would have been allowed to schedule a tour of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens on the dry side southern side of the island, just past Poipu. And these gardens are definitely worth a visit. They are the cumulative efforts of a Hawaiian, Queen Emma, a sugar baron, Duncan McBride and a Midwestern millionaire. The Queen was an increbilge Hawaiian, a true renaissance woman. She was the first Hawaiian royal to tour the White House. She was ¼ haole, but the other ¾ Hawaiian was of royal descent. Born in 1836, she was educated in the European fashion as well as learning the standard Hawaiin lessons as a young wahine. She was born on Ohau and married King???,She wa certainly one of a kind.. She was Hawaii’s first renaissance queen. And she loved to garden. Not much exists about McBride, other than his family made their money in sugarcand and Duncan bought the property from Qween Emma in 1886

The Midwesterner, Robert Allerton, was the heir of the founder of the First National Bank of Chicago.Robert showed little interest in banking and after a few years of dabbling in the arts, he began to study landscaped architecture. He had found his passion. In 1938 he bought these 80 acres of tropical splendor that are now a showcase for the art of landscape design. Allerton sculpted open-air rooms with plants of all shapes, sizes and colors. He was constantly evolving it until his death in 1986. And its evolution goes on today.

The National Tropical Botanical organization that currently operates the gardens takes its responsibility seriously. The Congressional charter that started the group in 1964 designed it to aid in the research, education and preservation of tropical plants. In 1970, they purchased 171 acres of the Lawai Valley and they now care for and administrate the Allerton garden as well as the neighboring McBride gardens and the Lumihuli Gardens on Kauai’s northshore and the Kahanu gardens on the Hana side of Mauai. It must be tough to get employees in these desolate places. Although we only got to the Allerton garden, I’m sure they are all worth a visit if you get a chance.

These gardens are a botanist’s paradise, and I overheard our botanist guide quietly humming to herself as she led our tour group through the wide variety of magical plant life. The native species are far outnumbered by the imports, much like Hawaii itself.

The Lawa’i Valley, as the Hawaiian’s call it, is blessed with a picturesque stream, rich volcanic soil and a golden sandy beach that merges with the ocean just past the house where Allerton lived most of his later years. Evidence of Queen Emma also abounds with plantings of incredible colors, including lots of purples, her favorite color, scattered around the grounds. Allerton used the natural valley vegetation as well as the trees and shrubs that had been planted by his predecessors as a frame to build on. And, take it from someone who doesn’t know the Latin name of a single plant, the gardens now are a sight to see. And anyone who knows more of botany than your author, that would be most readers, will surely be moved by this collection of plants selected to enhance the already splendid surroundings. Water features of all kinds add to the beauty of the place.

Our tour begins with a short wait while all three parties load the tram for the short trip down a private lane, with distant views of the blue Pacific to the south. Our botanist, who is a classically trained harpist, conducts the tour and drives the tram. As the descent into the valley begins, a fern tunnel welcomes you to this peaceful paradise. The tram comes to a stop and we begin our walk through a group of keikis (the Hawaiian work for kids) setting up tents on some field trip. The gardens welcome you slowly, unfolding green outdoor room after green outdoor room. Everything flows together seamlessly and before you realize it, you’ve been through more plant education in a few hours than you had in your entire 16 years of schooling.

Since Kauai is the most isolated of the islands, the garden has a selection of plants that grow nowhere else in the world. Our guide showed us a plant that grew nowhere else in the world and was thought to be one of the last of its kind. In addition to the native flora, the embellishments added to the garden by Mc Bride and Allerton came from all over the world and most seem to like their new location. The tour continues and the outdoor rooms each showcase a selection of plants that compliment each other and form a memorable landscape unrivaled in less tropical gardens anywhere. The statuary adds to the exotic atmosphere, with stone Buddha’s and ironwork creations becoming the focal point of many of these rooms.

Then there are the water features, ranging from very natural looking waterfalls to geometrically shaped water-courses that are tuned to give a melodic symphony of gurgles.

As we wind our way through the gardens, we relax and enjoy the sheer beauty of the place. It is as if time has no meaning, or maybe it’s just that time is measured in plant years and we humans are forced to slow down and appreciate nature’s beauty on it’s own terms. The prehistoric nature of some of the plantings is best exemplified by the fig trees made famous in the Jurassic Park movie where they found the dinosaur eggs. These trees are enormous and their roots can easily hide small children as well as the occasional dinosaur egg.

We make our way into the Bambuddah room, where a stone stature of Buddah in front of a grove of bamboo welcomes us. We are shown a mark on a bamboo shoot about five feet above the ground and informed that the mark was only four feet above the ground last week. This certainly brings home the amazing growth rate of the bamboo plant.    

              

At our next stop, one of our younger tour-mates raised his hand after listening politely to 5 or 6 minutes of elucidation by our botanist. He asked if we could get going since the mosquitoes were eating him up. At the very end of the tour, his older brother was running his hand along a rope barrier and ran right into one of Hawaii’s more colorful insects.

After we tasted a pomelo, the largest of the citrus family, much like a grapefruit with an extremely thick skin, and boarded our tram to return to the visitor’s center, we all sat quietly and soaked in the serenity and beauty of this sacred valley that has been cultivated by Hawaiian royalty and Chicago financial failures for hundreds of years. When Kauai was clobbered by Hurricane Inike in 1992, volunteers managed to save hundreds of plants, although there was enough damage to close the garden for 3 years while the visitor’s center was rebuilt and the gardens were replanted. It’s all back together now, waiting for your visit.

Los Lobos/John Hiatt

On an unseasonably cool late August Saturday nite, a small but enthusiast crowd was treated to a double-bill of classic melting pot American music. The combination of John Hiatt, a mostly under-the-radar singer/songwriter and Los Lobos, one of the premier Latin influenced rock bands, was a great pairing that should have packed the Eagle venue. Both bands are promoting new releases, Los Lobos with Tin Can Trust, their first release in over 4 years and Hiatt showcasing Open Road, the latest of the 25 albums in his catalog.

The windy, brisk night probably prevented some last minute ticket sales to the less dedicated fans, but the rain held off and the music heated up the hardcore that braved the elements. First up was Los Lobos, the self proclaimed “just another band from East LA” Their mix of rock and Chicano sounds got the audience up and dancing. Together since 1973, with the newest member honorary Chicano Steve Berlin joining the band in 1984 to add another dimension with his saxophone, this is one band that shows the advantages of playing together for decades. Tight doesn’t do it justice…these guys instruments join seamlessly but they still allow each member room when it comes time to solo. David Hildago on lead guitar and accordion plays with a concise sound, not wasting a note, and his vocals highlight the spare lyrics with a feel that brings back memories of warmer places. David and drummer Louie Perez are the songwriters of the group and they performed a cross-section of hits from their deep catalog, joined by Conrad Lozan on bass and Cesar Rosas, wearing his ever-present shades, on guitar and vocals.

 They opened with “How Will the Wolf Survive” from way back and then got everyone dancing in the aisles with “Mas y Mas.” After nailing their breakthrough hit, “La Bamba,” they segued into the Spencer Davis hit “Good Lovin”. The crowd brought them back for a well deserved encore; unusual for an opening act, but then, Los Lobos have been headliners here before.

After a quick intermission with the rain still holding off, John Hiatt took the stage. Hiatt songs have been recorded by everyone from Joe Cocker to Roseanne Cash, with Dylan and even Bon Jovi covering his tunes. His current band consists of Doug Lancia on lead guitar, Patrick O’Hearn on bass and Kenny Blevins behind the drum kit. Hiatt has recorded and toured with some very talented player, from Ry Cooder, to Sonny Landreth to Benmont Tench, better know for playing keyboards with Tom Petty. His songs attract talented, knowledgeable musicians and he always has a great band behind him. Tonight was no exception.  He opened with “Perfectly Good Guitar” his song lamenting the tendency of some rock stars to destroy their instruments. The title song from his latest release, “Open Road” was well received and he soon played his most commercially successful, the #1 hit for Bonnie Raitt, “Thing Called Love.” Hiatt thanked Bonnie for helping put his two daughters through college. After a few more tunes worthy of anyone’s “Best Of’ release, he took time to thank the audience for coming and supporting him through the years and allowing him to make a living doing the thing he loved. Things ended all too soon, but the Hiatt did come back for a final encore and the audience scattered into the night having enjoyed two great performances from two great bands.

Chasing Icons

Chasing icons has gotten easier this year. If you live in Boise Idaho your opportunity for catching iconic musicians is usually limited. This year, things have been easier. Kicking off the outdoor concert season at a new venue in Eagle was CSN. Then it was Jackson Browne/David Lindley, then the Steve Miller Band, Los Lobos/John Hiatt and Bob Dylan. Since no one called at the last minute to offer free tickets, I missed Bob. But then it was Willie Nelson. I had seen Dylan a couple of times before, so I couldn’t rationalize spending $50 on Bob, but since I had never seen Willie before, rationalization rules. Then when my buddy H said he was interested in going, and I found myself with the Wednesday after the Tuesday concert off, the deal was done.

Our first indication that this was going to be crowded was when we hit backed up traffic on Warm Springs at Broadway. We were waved on past the turnoff to the Garden and ended up parking in the LDS church lot. The stream of cars and people arriving for the concert was interesting, families with kids, Wrangler wearing wannabe cowboys/girls as well as some senior citizens that listened to Willie back before his “outlaw” days and wanted to remember when…

We found a spot on the grass with a higher vantage and surveyed our near neighbors, a nice cross-section of Idahoan. The opening act, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, took the stage and got the crowd warmed up with a mix of mandolin and guitar even rocking out a bit at the end. During intermission, I showed H a Waylon & Willie belt buckle I had gotten in my record store days decades ago and never wore. I thought I might find a buyer here tonight. I told him I’d be happy getting $20 for it and he wished me luck.

Heading down to the souvenir stand, I watched as fans bought t-shirts, bandanas and other bling. When there was a lull, I asked a kid behind the counter if they ever bought Willie stuff. He informed me I would have talk to “Ruth” over at the next table talking to a security gal. After asking if she was Ruth, I told her my belt buckle story and pulled out the buckle. She wouldn’t take it from me but after examining it for a few seconds, asked what I wanted for it. I almost blurted out “$20” but decided to see what she thought it might be worth. When she said, “I’ll give you $40 for it” I immediately said sold. Ruth walked over to the till and pulled out two twenties and we consummated the deal. I wonder who wearing it now…maybe Willie?

When Willie came onstage, most of the crowd stood up and paid tribute to the 77 year old musician who has spanned categories and generations. His voice is still strong and he proceeded to entertain the audience with a selection of his many hits. He even laid down a few solos on guitar and seemed to be enjoying himself on stage. I had to wander down to the front to get a good look at him and he is a lot smaller than I imagined. There was one group of fans standing and the people behind them weren't happy about their view being blocked. I won't get into the concert protocol of standing or sitting during the show here, except to say that most concert security will follow the perfomer's request to allow fans to move down to the front of the stage. No one wants to get caught in the surge of people went every one is trying to get closer, but the fan that just has to stand up and move to the music should be allowed, for a tune or two anyway.

I won't print the setlist here, but whether you were a new Nelson fan or one who first heard Willie back in the day, you had to hear something you liked.

My only complaint was the lack of an encore...we were on our way out with the early departures and Willie's bus was already loaded and on the road again. I guess Willie has to get his beauty rest these days.