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Hawaii Eye Haleiwa
Hawaii Eye Haleiwa
Hawaii Eye
| Haleiwa |
| Written by Susan Benay |
| April 17, 2007 |
|
North Shore Shrimp Truck Culture  If you have ever been to the North Shore on O‘ahu, then you have surely seen the acres of shrimp farms in Kahuku and the many shrimp trucks that line the Kamehameha highway from Kahuku to Haleiwa. They are famously known for savory, rich buttery shrimp and rice entrees that often have enough garlic in them to keep werewolves at bay as far away as Romania. Folks love these meals delighting in the casual roadside atmosphere and succulent treats. On any given day, you can find surfers, tourists, locals, businessmen, bikers—even honeymooners—chowing down on the delicious feast. These trucks have created a sub-culture all to themselves. Many of the shrimp trucks have local grown artwork on the sides or lots of graffiti and personal notations from customers and passersby. Sometimes there are posters new and old mounted on the sides too that tell of cool events coming up around the North Shore … or events that happened even years ago. It’s a chaotic mix of felt marker pens, colored paints, crayons, … whatever one can write or draw with. Some postings and art are old and fading, some new and pointed. Layer after layer. It’s a word and image dance—personal, hip, and creative—and the striking visual caught my eye enough for me to grab my camera and begin snapping shots. In the middle of this riot of creativity is a full kitchen with great, friendly cooks and helpers that will collect your money and serve you up a piping hot plate of shrimp. And, what’s extra neat, it’s often served with a little side talk about the latest North Shore news …huge blown-out waves today at Waimea, surf contest at Pipeline, no the waves aren’t big enough for the Eddie this week, big yard sale at Brenda’s, did you want two scoops of rice?, great snorkeling at Shark’s Cove, waves washing across Kam Highway up ahead, yes, you can get bananas and mangos at a roadside stand 1/2 mile up, big storm coming, cops out ticketing parked cards today and so forth. These trucks can be a real hub for information! This picture is of an especially cool shrimp truck parked on the edge of the road in the surf town of Haleiwa. At the time, I was working on a book called O‘ahu Days and was looking for some pictures that would capture a real feeling of the lifestyle of North Shore. The truck caught my eye and as I parked, a group of Japanese tourists pulled up for a shrimp lunch. You can the see the server laughing and chatting with one of the group as he looks curiously at the graffiti art on the truck while ordering his lunch. I could see it would be a great shot. I liked the friendly tone of the server expressing the hospitality of the North Shore. I loved all the graffiti art. To get the shot, I had to side step an old VW and a long white stretch limo parked in front of the truck. (Rich and poor alike love the garlicky shrimp plates). Such is the North Shore Hawaii! © 2007. Susan Benay. Image and Text. All Rights Reserved. |
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