Lahaina's merchants and art galleries go all out from 7 to 9pm on Friday, when Art Night brings an extra measure of hospitality and community spirit. The Art Night openings are usually marked with live entertainment, refreshments, and a livelier-than-usual street scene.
If you're in Lahaina on the second or last Thursday of the month, stroll by the front lawn of the Baldwin Home, 120 Dickenson St. (at Front St.), for a splendid look at lei-making and an opportunity to meet the gregarious seniors of Lahaina. In a program sponsored by AARP, they gather from 10am to 4pm to demonstrate lei-making, to sell their floral creations, and, equally important, to socialize.
What was formerly a big, belching pineapple cannery is now a maze of shops and restaurants at the northern end of Lahaina town, known as the Lahaina Cannery Mall, 1221 Honoapiilani Hwy. (tel. 808/661-5304). Find your way through the T-shirt and sportswear shops to Lahaina Printsellers, home of antique originals, prints, paintings, and wonderful 18th- to 20th-century cartography, representing the largest collection of engravings and antique maps in Hawaii. Follow the scent of coffee to Sir Wilfred's Coffee House, where you can unwind with espresso and croissants, or head for Compadres Bar & Grill, where the margaritas flow freely and the Mexican food is tasty. For film, water, aspirin, groceries, sunscreen, and other things you can't live without, nothing beats Long's Drugs and Safeway, two old standbys. Roland's may surprise you with its selection of footwear, everything from Cole-Haan sophisticates to inexpensive sandals. At the recently expanded food court, the new Compadres Taquería sells Mexican food to go, while L & L Drive-Inn sells plate lunches near Greek, pizza, Vietnamese, and Japanese food booths.
The Lahaina Center, 900 Front St. (tel. 808/667-9216), is still a work in progress. It's located north of Lahaina's most congested strip, where Front Street begins. Across the street from the center, the seawall is a much-sought-after front-row seat to the sunset. There's plenty of free validated parking and easy access to more than 30 shops, a salon, restaurants, a nightclub, and a four-plex movie-theater complex. Ruth's Chris Steak House has opened its doors in Lahaina Center, and Maui Brews serves lunch and dinner and offers live music nightly except weekends. Among the shopping stops: Banana Republic, the Hilo Hattie Fashion Center (a dizzying emporium of aloha wear), ABC Discount Store, and a dozen other recreational, dining, and entertainment options.
The conversion of 10,000 square feet of parking space into the re-creation of a traditional Hawaiian village is a welcome touch of Hawaiiana at Lahaina Center. With the commercialization of modern Lahaina, it's easy to forget that it was once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom and a significant historic site. The village, called Hale Kahiko, features three main houses, called hale: a sleeping house; the men's dining house; and the crafts house, where women pounded hala (pandanus) strips to weave into mats and baskets. Construction of the houses consumed 10,000 square feet of ohia wood from the island, 20 tons of pili grass, and more than 4 miles of hand-woven coconut sennit for the lashings. Artifacts, weapons, a canoe, and indigenous trees are among the authentic touches in this village, which can be toured privately or with a guide.
