The Luau was well attended and the tables were nearly full when Steve and I got there around 5:30. Luckily we found some friends that we could sit with!
I have to admit, I got a little teary when we parked behind Hangar 2 and I walked past Joy's parking place and of course there was no little silver Miata convertible there. I still miss our Joy.
We got our arm bands for the food and a couple of drinks; we said hello to our friends Tay and Rose. I didn't get my usual picture with Rose because she was busy getting food ready but here is me (needing to lose a few pounds) and the beautiful, sweet Tay:
I'm going to put this on my refrigerator so I can get motivated to start running again.
They had long rows of tents set up where you could sample more than forty food items from the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Hawaii. It smelled fabulous! They also had a couple of pigs roasting! Margaritaville Casino donated much, if not all, of the food for the event. Great supporters of the military at Margaritaville!
It was a tasty pig. I ate some.
Luckily we got in the food line pretty early because that line snaked all through and around the festival site. It was a crazy-long line, but moved pretty quickly.
I didn't get a sample of everything that was offered but I did get a full plate. I loved the spicy cole slaw and there was some chicken or pork on a stick that was really good.
Yes, I had two beers sitting there; I didn't want to stand in the uber long beer line again.
We ate and visited with friends for a while and then went to watch the entertainment. While I was in the food line there was one of those cool Chinese dragons in the performance area but I missed it and the Lion puppet, too. The dragon was beautiful -- gold and sparkling in the late evening light. I hate I missed it.
I did catch the Japanese taiko drum performance, though:
By this time the crowd was huge.
The food line went on for hours.
After the Japanese drummers there was a beautifully costumed lady dancing and tossing rose petals.
Later there was a hula dance that was awesome; the ladies danced, then these guys came out and danced, and later they all danced together.
I wish I knew the names for these dances but I don't. They were fascinating to watch, though.
There was a cool fire dance:
After the cultural performances, our favorite DJ, Larry, opened the floor for dancing while all the volunteers worked to clean up after the festival. Of course once he started to play "Wobble" the floor filled up!
One of the performance dancers came out and danced for a while; I got a great video of him dancing the Wop. He was like a rubber band! Great dancer!
Folks eventually began to dwindle away and go home. By 10 or 10:30 it was just these cool kids doing the "Thriller" dance:
Steve and I hung out until the last song, or close to it before packing it up and heading home.
It was a great night and a really fun festival. The staff at BAFB did a great job considering this was the first Luau; they will tweak some things for next year I'm sure. This was no Oktoberfest -- there was one beer truck and a location to get mixed drinks, but for the most part this was a true family event with lots of things for the kids to see and do. And there were indeed lots of kids there.
We had a great time and look forward to next year! Meanwhile, there is Oktoberfest coming up....it'll be here before you know it!
The SIGIS Take a Trip Series:
Take a Trip to the 2012 Natchitoches Christmas Festival
Take a Trip to the 2012 Grand Cane Pioneer Day and Christmas Parade
Take a Trip to the 2012 Defenders of Liberty Air Show at BAFBTake a Trip to the 2012 Grand Cane Pioneer Day and Christmas Parade
Take a Springtime Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden, LA
Take a Trip to Logansport, Louisiana
Take a Trip to the Lock and Dam on Red River
Take a Trip to the 2012 Barkus and Meoux Parade
Take a Christmas Shopping Trip to Second Hand Rose in Minden
Take a Trip to the Fourth Annual Barksdale AFB Oktoberfest
Take a Trip to Grand Cane's Fifth Annual Pioneer Trade Day
Take a Trip to the 2011 Highland Jazz & Blues Festival
Take an Autumn Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Take a Fall Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base
Take a Summertime Trip to Grand Cane
Take a Trip to Desoto Parish
Take a Summer Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Melrose Plantation
Take a Trip to Ed Lester Farms and a Random Antique Stop
Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Masters of Cuban Art Exhibit
Take a Trip to Natchitoches to See the Christmas Lights
Take a Trip to the Third Annual BAFB Oktoberfest
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Oakland Plantation
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