Black Canyon Beach Luau Geocoin

To be logged by as many geocachers as possible, and to ispire them to have their own luau. 

A luau is a Hawaiian feast or party.  It features traditional Hawaiian food, drink and music (no matter where in the world it is actually held).  Traditionally it features foods, such as poi, kalua pig, poke, lomi salmon, opihi, haupia and beer and entertainment, such as Hawaiian music and hula. Among people from Hawaii, the concepts of "luau" and "party" are often blended, resulting in graduation luaus, wedding luaus, and birthday luaus.

Don the Beachcomber (who invented the tiki bar in 1933) is probably the first person to stage a traditional luau outside of the Hawaiian Islands.  He would have Hawaiian luaus at his ranch in Encino California which he dubbed "the Polynesian village".  Scantily dressed Hollywood movie stars and the powerbrokers of the day were often photographed at these gatherings and always seemed to be having a great time.  Beautiful people, plenty of exotic foods, relaxing island music and a never-ending supply of Dons world famous tropical drinks seemed like a can't-miss recipe for a great time to most people.

Partially as a result of the notoriety Dons now famous luaus were getting around the 1940s and 1950s and partially as a result of the tiki craze sweeping America at the time "backyard luaus" began to spread everywhere like a fire in dry grass.  Soon anyone could buy a few tiki torches, hand out a few plastic leis and grass skirts and call any party a luau and a great many people did just that.
 
Very few young people think their parents are cool; as a result luaus and tiki themed parties lost much of their popularity in the 1960s and 1970s.
 
For some reason the popularity of tiki sites on the internet has always seems to be much greater than it's popularity out there in the real world.  At a time when tiki bars were struggling to stay in business, tiki websites started popping up all around the internet like mushrooms after a spring rain.  You could now log onto Tiki Central and find out were the next luau or tiki event would be.  Wherever you traveled websites like Critiki.com were letting people know where the few remaining tiki bars were still located and if new ones were being built.

 One of the very first and most popular podcasts ever made was a virtual luau called Tiki Bar TV.  It was the one featured on the big screen to show how much fun podcasts were when Steve Jobs unveiled his new video iPod.  Tiki Bar TV featured a large cast of characters and plots, but they always had fun and showed you how to mix a drink in every episode.  As a result it went on to become an internet sensation with millions of viewers and has been rated the number one viewed podcast in the world several times.
 
By the time this Geocoin was minted in 2008, tiki and luaus were back.  You can once again just stroll into about any party store and stock up on tiki head mugs, plastic leis and other must have items for your luau or tiki bar.  Most liquor stores stock the exotic rums needed to mix the classic tiki cocktails that are once again becoming popular.   I can go online find out how to throw the perfect backyard luau and then type “kalua pork” into Google and probably find hundreds of great authentic recipes.


P.S.  This geocoin was designed by the late Mike Davis aka River Cacher.  I never met him in person or attended one of his events, but he liked tiki, luaus, geocaching and geocoins, so I am sure I would have liked him and all the wonderful parties and events he was contantly planning for the geocaching community.  He will be missed.

This event took place in August 1, 2009 and has been archived.  You can still visit this event's page and check out some pictures of the fun or see who was there go to Black Canyon Beach Luau 2.