An Hawaiian Pool Table

We've had a pretty busy weekend here in BB as on Saturday we had a Luau & Pool Party and then yesterday we had relatives call in for a stop over on their way down to the Florida Keys where they will be spending the winter. They stayed the night and left this morning to continue on down to Key West.

Back to Saturday and it was busy even before the pool party. We went shopping for a reclining chair for me - as I'm old and like my feet up ! As well as that, Debby and Dennis have THEIR recliners so why should I be the only one not sitting in comfort ??

Exactly.

So we went to the local branch of Habitat For Humanity (ok I said I wanted comfort but I never said anything about paying for it !! You should know me by now.) and what a lovely Aladdin's cave of furniture we found there - all neatly laid out and in great condition. Within seconds I found my recliner chair and it was half price so I got it for $35. A steal.

I'm sitting here with my feet up and typing away in comfort. Life is good.

I'm easily pleased.

Later that afternoon it was Luau time and everyone dressed accordingly. I'd brought a few Hawaiian t-shirts with me (globetrotter that I am) so I was set to go. Sadly it was an overcast and wet day and the tables and chairs that had been beautifully decorated and set up around the sides of the swimming pool had to be brought inside the community centre and the overflow arranged under the covered area next to it.

As we entered the centre, we all got leid.

Stop tittering at the back, Jones Minor.

We were each garlanded with a traditional Hawaiian lei to help get us into the party mood.

It soon became apparent that 99.9% of the 226 people who were there had entered into the spirit of the event and were wearing brightly coloured shirts which, added to the hot muggy weather, certainly gave a flavour of being in Hawaii.

Many sported additional themed apparel ranging from equally dazzling shorts to outrageous sunglasses that Elton herself would've been proud to have worn a decade or so ago.

Once garlanded, we came to the tables which were as colourful as the guests. Thankfully every type of dish was labelled for those of us who had no idea what was what.

These 2 photos show some of the salads and desserts which you could pick up before getting to the 'heavy stuff' - the fish and meat.

The full menu was as follows :-

Salad bar: Five Cup salad, Crab Salad, Spinach Salad, Hawaiian Coleslaw and Sesame Cabbage Salad. Meats included: Slow Roasted Sirloin Tip, Hawaiian Ham, Pork Loin, Shrimp, Sweet and Sour Pork and Sweet and Sour Chicken. Vegetables: Rice, Stir Fry, Red Potatoes, Roman Noodles and Sweet Potatoes. Desserts: Key lime pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Hawaiian Wedding Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Fresh Fruit, Island Spice cake and Fruit Pizza.

I guess I was too busy talking to people as I certainly missed the announcement that everyone was only supposed to take 1 dessert.

All I know is that I liked several of those on offer so I was piling them up when finally one of the helpers spotted my groaning tray and with some panic in her voice, told me I needed to keep one and put the rest back.

I felt like a naughty schoolboy and of course I'd long since passed the location of my choices on the table so had to sheepishly pass my discarded (but certainly not unwanted) plates back down the line to the ribald comments from those behind me.

And they say kids can be cruel !

We returned to our table, started eating and the musical entertainment burst into life. This involved someone called Frank E who played a keyboard and sang to a backing track of, well it's hard to classify the music as it ranged from Beach Boys to The Village People. You can't beat a bit of YMCA to get the arthritic joints a'crackin. And those were just mine.

The rain eased off for a while and dancing was possible.

This lady was the one brave soul who turned up wearing a grass skirt.

I'd briefly thought about it but decided that I had too much to hide.

You can make up your own comments about that and Jones Minor, see the headmaster.

Many people removed their candle decorations from their tables and floated them in the pool. It wasn't a co-ordinated thing and if it had involved every table, it would've added to the ambiance of the occasion as it was now dark, the pool area was ringed with tiny lights and bamboo tiki torches, the free alcohol was starting to kick in and Frank E was crooning in the background.

Yes the luau party by the pool was in full swing and all thoughts of aching limbs and throbbing heads were put on hold till the following morning.

Some of the table decorations floated down to a corner of the pool (maybe it's a tidal pool !) and even though the candles had gone out, the colourful surrounds still made for a pleasing sight.

I went back home for my little tripod as I wanted to get a shot of the pool area to have as a memory of the night and knew a time exposure just wasn't possible without it.

By this time most people had left and so the photo doesn't do justice to the earlier scene when line dancing and all sorts of jitterbugging shenanigans were going on. I'm telling ya, give a load of oldies some free booze and anything loosely resembling music and they'll par-tay like it's 1899.

Sorry Prince.

Thankfully nobody fell into the water as a combination of low body mass and excessive alcohol might have dulled the senses of many.

By 9pm everyone made (slow) tracks to their golf carts and cars, the kevlar wearing SWAT team were stood down, Frank E was unplugged and the normal peace and quiet returned to the park.

A fine time was had by all and now, 2 days later the pool area is closed as it's being drained to allow repair work to start on a crack in the bottom concrete step.

You'd think someone would've developed a substance that would seal an underwater crack without the need to drain the pool.

It's probably why concrete hulled ships were never a huge success. That and their tendency to sink seconds after launch.