Celebrity Sightings
There are obvious perks to living in Maui and spotting celebrities is one of them. I used to have a page for this on my previous website and I have decided to resurrect it for this website. Enjoy!
My Celebrity Strategy
I like celebrities. I just do. I like reading about their messed up lives and crazy habits and I definitely like seeing them in person. My recent strategy is to say, "Hey (insert celebrity name). That lets the celebrity know that you know who they are but you're too cool to make a big deal about it. I tried to implement this first when I saw Kelly Osborne on the streets of Paia but she looked so disgruntled that I was afraid. I am still waiting on the chance to do this successfully in a nonchalant way. Some of the celebrities I have seen in Maui are: Joe Montana, Kelly Osborne, Owen Wilson, Laird Hamilton, Steven Tyler, Hank Azaria and Mike Meyers.
Erik Estrada
My friend, Shannon and I were in Lahaina walking my nephew around in his stroller, trying to prevent him from crying. We passed by the weird guy who offers to let you take pictures with his parrots for money. We stopped so my nephew could look at the parrots and noticed a family negotiating a price for taking their picture. The father of the family looked very familiar and I thought at first that it was George Lopez. Shannon also thought he looked familiar but thought it was a friend's dad. I knew it must be someone since we both recognized him. I thought for a minute and then it came to me...Erik Estrada. I quickly googled him on my smart phone and compared the image with the man in front of me. Tada! Erik Estrada!
Carlos Santana
I had heard Carlos Santana was on the island for his wedding. My family and I were walking in Kaanapali past Hula Grill when I noticed a guy in a weird outfit with a pretty lady with a mini-fro. This is often a sign that someone is a celebrity as they often dress like weirdos. I thought he looked like Carlos Santana and told my family this but I wasn't sure. Later I googled him and saw a picture of him and his new wife. It was totally them.
Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Hamilton is best known for getting her arm bitten off by a shark while surfing. She is a strong Christian with a good attitude about her life, who happens to still rip. My friends and I were waiting in a long line of cars at the light in Paia. A rental car pulled out of the bank and a blond girl ran and got in the car. It took me a minute to realize that the girl was Bethany Hamilton. We didn't even see her face but her blonde hair and missing left arm were unmistakable.
Owen Wilson
This guy spends a lot of time in Paia so seeing him is not too rare. I saw him a few times when I lived in Paia. The most recent time was during my SBFM this Fall. I was in my friend, Kristy's car and we were driving down Hana Hwy. We spied Mr. Wilson due to his hard-to-miss schnoz. I mean, that thing is unmistakeable! In an attempt to implement my celebrity strategy, I screamed out the car window, "Hey Owen!" So much for nonchalant. We were going too fast to see his reaction but Kristy was mortified so I guess some good came out of it.
UPDATE ON RECENT OWEN SIGHTINGS:
Again, seeing Owen Wilson isn't too hard since he lives in my town. But it's still fun to see him. One day I was walking to the beach with my Swiss friend when I noticed a guy on a nice bike wearing bib bike shorts. I was so busy checking out his ride and gear that I didn't even look at his face. As we passed by, my friend says "Wasn't that a movie star?" I look back and the biker was Owen Wilson.
Another time I was sitting on a bench in front of the local gelato shop with my friend, Maddie. A bicycle passed right in front of us on the sidewalk and when we looked up, it was Owen Wilson again. He was riding a cruiser bike this time. I like that he's a cyclist like me. I keep being so surprised by him that I forget to say, "Hi, Owen." Hopefully I will be able to play it more cool next time. I think I have seen him riding his bike about 10 times now. He makes me feel guilty for not riding mine enough. He's way more hardcore than me as I often see him heading up the volcano.
UPDATE ON RECENT OWEN SIGHTINGS:
Again, seeing Owen Wilson isn't too hard since he lives in my town. But it's still fun to see him. One day I was walking to the beach with my Swiss friend when I noticed a guy on a nice bike wearing bib bike shorts. I was so busy checking out his ride and gear that I didn't even look at his face. As we passed by, my friend says "Wasn't that a movie star?" I look back and the biker was Owen Wilson.
Another time I was sitting on a bench in front of the local gelato shop with my friend, Maddie. A bicycle passed right in front of us on the sidewalk and when we looked up, it was Owen Wilson again. He was riding a cruiser bike this time. I like that he's a cyclist like me. I keep being so surprised by him that I forget to say, "Hi, Owen." Hopefully I will be able to play it more cool next time. I think I have seen him riding his bike about 10 times now. He makes me feel guilty for not riding mine enough. He's way more hardcore than me as I often see him heading up the volcano.
Paris Hilton
I am including Paris Hilton, even though I personally have not seen her. Recently she was spotted by several of my friends at Paia Fish Market. I was alerted to this phenomena but was unable to get a glimpse of her, though I did see her somewhat insignificant boyfriend. This is not the first time Paris Hilton has alluded me in my Maui hometown. A few years ago when I was living in Paia, I got a phone call from a friend working at the cool coffee shop in town. She said she had just served Paris Hilton. Always eager to spot a celeb, I raced down the street to try to spot her. Unfortunately she had left the coffee shop and I was forced to play a sort of hide and seek with her in town. She was a better hider than I expected and I never found her. One of these days, Paris! One of these days!
Newt Gingrich
I don't advocate certain celebrities, I just spot them. I was in Borders one day and people were oddly milling about. There were also an abnormal amount of books on display that were authored by Newt Gingrich. I used my powers of deduction to determine that Newt Gingrich would soon be making an appearance at our local Borders. I searched the store for Newt to no avail. Then as I was leaving, I spotted him arriving at the store with his wife. Celebrity spotted!
Steven Tyler
I heard from friends that Steven Tyler was in Paia. For those of you who might not know, Steven Tyler is the front man for a little band called Aerosmith. I heard he was sitting in the patio area of Cafe Des Amis so I ran down to catch a glimpse. I almost didn't recognize him because from behind he looked like any other aging hippie in Paia.
Hank Azaria
My friend graciously got me two wristbands to the pool at the Grand Wailea Hotel. My friend, Abbey and I were walking around when I thought I spotted Hank Azaria. He was on his cell phone and had a baby strapped to him in a Baby Bjorn. I thought it was him but became more sure when some random guy jumped out of the bushes with a fancy camera and starting snapping pictures of him. Hank sort of ran away at that point. I confirmed the sighting after finding out that he had a child that age and was in Maui that day. Unfortunately I never got close enough to give him my best Apu from The Simpsons impersonation.
Laird Hamilton and Gabrielle Reece
This is not that noteworthy since they've lived on Maui on and off for a while so I have seen them dozens of times. Nevertheless, they are celebrities and they deserve a spot on this page. Laird is an all-around waterman and is credited with inventing tow-in surfing. He is a legend in the surfing community of Chuck Norris-type proportions. One time he saved a guy's life while surfing when he took off his board shorts and used them as a tourniquet to stop the guy's bleeding. Then, he swam the guy back to shore naked. Wow! Gabby Reece was a well-known volleyball player and model. I even had a poster of her on my wall as a kid. In this most recent sighting at Anthony's Coffee Shop, I was telling the owner that our section was for YWAMers only when Gabrielle said, "Female YWAMers only." I think we are pretty much best friends.
