Polynesian Cultural Center

 Also in the town we stayed was the Polynesian Cultural Center.  After a lot of research, we decided on going to to a luau here - while the food was not the rated the best, the after dinner show was without exception pretty highly regarded.

 And true to form, we found the food so-so (and in fairness, Goldfish really isn't going to like traditional luau food no matter where we went - the pig is tasty but there is also an emphasis on raw fish that she does not enjoy.

 We did not want to commit to the time required to tour all the attractions, so we just dabbled here and there.  They do have some nice gift shops where we found an item for the house to remember our vacation.

 If you go, book early and spend the little extra for the Ambassador package - you get seated right on the stage at both the meal, and the after dinner show.

 This was a simple show while we were eating.

 Bringing out the pig; this was not the pig we actually ate as there were over  thousand of us.  The luau here is not a small intimate affair, if you are looking for that there are other venues and islands where the crowds are smaller.

 The show afterwards was excellent!  No flash photography allowed so you had to make the best with what you had.  There is a powerful story line presented which I won't get into here; we enjoyed every minute.

 A boy growing into manhood, love, war, tragedy, and the power of family to bind it all together . . .

 This was one of my favorite parts of the show; these guys were doing pelvic thrusts through the fire, and it ended up being a comedy piece that had me laughing so hard I forgot to take pictures.  The whole theater reeked of burning banana leaves by the time they were done, and I'm sure they have no hair left on their legs.

 This guy was fantastic, and it gave me a chance to goof around with different settings on the camera to get the best shots with the available light.

 This is leaving the shutter open for a bit, getting multiple exposures of one guy in the same frame.

 Towards the end, the one guy was joined on stage by 5 others, and they performed in formation.

Great job guys!  The Polynesian Cultural Center is run by the Mormon Church, and I believe most of the performers at students from the BYU campus down the street, working off tuition.  If you want alcohol with your luau and gals in coconut bikinis, this is not the choice for you.  With that said, we gave it two thumbs up.