Halloween Night in Paia Town



Jack o Lantern. This was a pretty heavy "mask" to wear and Mr. Jack O Lantern took frequent breaks wiping his face and head.

Halloween in Paia last night was a pretty mellow affair. There were people in costumes walking up and down Hana Highway and Baldwin Avenue, and clusters of people congregating in front of some store fronts and restaurants. There were also a lot of police cars, like about 8 cars parked strategically, and pairs of policemen stationed on street corners.  Two officers camped out in Milagro's outdoor seating area. By 8 pm, Milagro's was closed, and so was Flatbread and the Paia Fish Market. Mana Foods was still open, and clusters of people stood outside. The only restaurants still open were: Charley's since there was a band playing at 9pm, Moana Cafe with a dance party, Cafe Mambo and Cafe des Amis.

 

Orius, who works at Mana Foods and usually wears more hippie style outfits.



As the night continued, one of the questions that haunted us... (yes, a ghastly pun), was why did a number of restaurants close early.  We ran into some acquaintances and they had heard that the police had suggested to some of the restaurants to close early, mentioning the Fire Marshall thought it would be a good idea.  We also talked to the officers at Milagro's and they thought it had to do with the restaurants losing business with people camped out at tables for hours and not ordering a lot. They said a lot of the restaurants had planned to stay open later but realized they were not making money.  Another person said that with Lahaina's festivities, maybe all the die-hard partyers scooted to the West Side.  Lahaina can be fun, but only if you can handle the traffic and crazy drunk people, unless you are one of the crazy drunk people causing traffic...It can get old if you've done it enough times.

The festivities, except for Charley's, moved to Baldwin Avenue for the duration of the night.  Cafe des Amis began to close up so Cafe Mambo turned into a hot spot for people who didn't want to listen to loud music or join a dance party.

Cafe des Amis closing up

Cafe Mambo was crowded both inside and outside, since people also showed off their costumes to the patrons sitting at the window seats. Cafe Mambo has large open-air windows so the view was good.  We were stuck outside for a while since the cafe didn't have room for us, citing maximum occupancy, although they did let us in a bit later.




Edward Scissorhands with fingers made from shelf brackets.



The Youtube guy who also winded up in front of Cafe Mambo