The gathering storm

As I sat on the terrace of the Grand Hyatt resort in Poipu, Kauai, watching the day fade away into another magnificent sunset, I could not have imagined what was approaching out of the gathering darkness. It was a thing of indescribable proportions, moving with purpose, as it slowly and methodically made its way toward us. The date was March 10, 2020, and I was taking up space at a small table in the open air. It was a day that I will never forget. I was sipping on a cocktail with a view of the ocean in front of me and a scented breeze tugging at my shirt, settled comfortably in a plush chair at one of the finest resorts on the island. Unknown to me then, it was also the last time that I was truly optimistic about the direction of our future. That day, for me at least, marked the end of an era, not just in my life, but for the entire world.

My wife and I owned a restaurant in a small town not far from where we were sitting, and after five years of struggle and sacrifice, we had made it to a place we could be proud of. This was an opportunity for us to enjoy a drink with friends and take a little pleasure in how far we had come. I was calm, relaxed, and very excited about the direction our life was taking. My thoughts were so filled with the dream that we had turned into reality, and the future that appeared so bright, that I could not see the danger lurking around the corner. Our restaurant on that tiny island was the center of our entire world, the axis that our life on Kauai revolved around.

Sheri was sitting next to me stirring her drink and, no doubt lost in the same thoughts that I was having. Several years ago, we left our secure but unsettled lives in Michigan to chase our desires. I spent most of my life drowning in a career that I had no real interest in. When I met Sheri she was in the same boat, muddling through a job that was just that, a job. No room to express yourself. No avenues in this stern business world to put passion on display, or seek the hidden images that forever teased and hinted at a life where the things that really moved us could be set free.

Separately, we were stuck in a continuous circle of making ends meet, trudging off daily to a place that was at best a means to retirement, a steady path to an unfulfilled life. Together, however, we cultivated ideas of what a future based on what we actually wanted would look like.

My long-held desire to someday live in the tropics and open a tiki bar that served the world was a dream that I carried locked inside my head, knowing full well that I didn’t possess the courage required to pursue it alone. Working for my father was something I knew was inevitable from a young age and while circumstances led me to that place, it was my lack of self-belief that kept me there. Sheri changed that and together we made a leap that, for most, crossed the boundaries of reasonable thinking.

Through it all, we chased that dream to where it led and, in the process, brought to light everything our hearts had ever hoped for. We had found success in a business where the odds are highly in favor of failure. The restaurant we created and the reputation we built was a struggle that went beyond anything we ever experienced before, but our single-minded dedication had lifted The Garden Island Grille above the masses and placed us every year in the top ten of all the restaurants on that beautiful island.

In the beginning, we met a few people claiming to be restauranteurs on Kauai, giving us their advice on everything from staffing to keeping the beer cold, and telling us that they have all the answers to success in that ever-shifting industry, only to see them close up shop and disappear within the first year. So often those failures came from not grasping what side of the bar they belonged on.

One, in particular, invited us as his guests to see the model he was creating and to watch how someone in the business gets it done. His words, not mine. When we arrived and found him at the bar, he was so drunk that he couldn’t articulate his words let alone teach us anything he might have known. We knew then that to survive and succeed we needed to let our common-sense guide us.

Today was not a day of reflection, however, but a time to look ahead. Two of our closest friends were set to join us, so this was an unhurried moment to sit down with people we trusted and discuss the future of our restaurant. We were in the midst of our biggest tourist season to date and our minds were filled with images of what the coming years would bring. Everything pointed up.

The lease at our current location would be renewed in the next few weeks and we were laying our plans for the road ahead. A couple of places now wanted us as tenants, options we didn’t have when we first opened. But we were happy with the location we were in. We had a reasonable lease arrangement, no debt, and the restaurant was successful enough to allow us a good living in Hawaii. We had achieved something most people only dream about.

The idea that a pandemic was crouching at our doorstep was something that never crossed our minds. Why would it? For all the planning we had done concerning the future of the Garden Island Grille, not once did we ever anticipate a virus that would shut down the world. We were moving forward as we always had, looking ahead every year at what would give us the best chance to succeed. There was no prior knowledge or precedence to even consider the thought. Among all the hazards that my insurance guy listed, this was not one of them.

It's so puzzling to look back and remember that day, sitting there at the Hyatt. Everything around us was exactly what you’d expect if you were gathered around a table at a lavish resort in sun-drenched Hawaii. Couples holding hands wandered the shops that lined the open lobby, families huddled together in animated conversation, and a trio of musicians were tuning their instruments for happy hour. I could see the bartenders were busy rattling ice in their shakers and pouring out fun and festive tropical drinks. Hawaiian print dresses and aloha shirts swirled through the open space in every color and tropical pattern imaginable.

The gentle breeze was perfumed with the aroma of hibiscus, as it softly stirred around us. We were overlooking the unbounded Pacific Ocean, sparkling like a jewel in the late afternoon sun. Off to the left, I could just make out a sliver of white sand as it slipped around Shipwreck Bay. It was perfect. I didn’t know then that it would turn out to be one of the last normal days we’ve had since. Even with the power of hindsight, we couldn’t have seen that we stood in the crosshairs of a raging tempest.

Covid-19 was in the news and gaining strength, but to this point, we had no real idea what it was, or what it would ultimately mean. People on the island talked about it in terms of what-ifs, and here’s what I heard, but it wasn’t a topic that filled long discussions. It’s hard to believe that we were more concerned with our upcoming lease renewal. Kauai seemed so far removed that the fears over the outbreak that was sweeping the mainland simply hadn’t arrived on our shores.

When Brock and Eve finally arrived and joined us, we took a minute to sit back and enjoy the view. This was a rare moment away from work and we were in no rush to let it pass by. Our talk centered around the restaurant, but other things were sprinkled in as well. Not once did the conversation drift in the direction of Covid, or anything relating to it. We were isolated on an island in the middle of nowhere. It’s not that we didn’t care, or that we were burying our heads, it just wasn’t on our radar.

When we moved from Michigan to Kauai and started the Garden Island Grille, we did so without any prior restaurant or food handling experience. We were two people making a living who wanted something else out of life. I had worked in the plumbing business for so long that it had simply run out of challenges and became more of a means to an end rather than a love for the job, which I never really had anyway.

We re-learned and re-invented the rest of our lives and followed that dream to Kauai. Without any support on the island, we were miraculously handed an opportunity that we poured our hearts and minds into. In the process, through a lot of hard work and absolute determination, we were able to conquer every obstacle that fell in our path. Until this.

This is a story that for me seems improbable, especially considering the background I came from, yet I lived it. As I sit here now, relating this surprising tale, I never would have predicted then that twilight had fallen. That our bamboo stage that provided a platform for so many musicians would be dark and silent, or that the energy and excitement that made The Garden Island Grille what it was, a place to come together, would be stilled. I could not have imagined that within a week our dream would come crashing down and the restaurant that we put our hearts into would close its doors forever.