And speaking of Lana'i... AHHHHHH Lana'i!! AHHHHH the Lodge at Koele!! AHHHHH Lana'i Pine Sporting Clays!! Oh wait, we covered that last part in the last blog. But I did forget to put in one picture:
Trapper extrodinaire, Nicole Boland. C'mon honey! It's just a shotgun! Don't hold it like you're afraid of it!Anyhoo, I should probably talk about the amazing lodge, before I forget about it. But then again who could forget this amazing property, and better yet where to start? I guess I should start by telling you where it is.
The small island of Lana'i is located south west of Maui. Back in the good old days, the entire island was one big pineapple plantation. There's one main city, if you could call it that, call Lana'i City, which is built in what is called "upcountry". The island itself is more or less a cone sticking out of the water. You come out of the airport and either drive uphill to Lana'i City or downhill to the boat harbor. When you get to Lana'i City, you then have a choice to turn right and drive downhill to Manele Bay where the "big" Four Seasons hotel is, or continue "upcountry" to the Lodge.
Because it's up country and at altitude, it's a lot cooler, well, better to say it's cooler than down by the beach. During the day, it was 75F (23C for you, Steph) and it dipped to a bone chilling 70F (21C) at night. Both days were slightly overcast which helped keep the temperature constant.
The lodge itself is like one big house. It's only two stories tall, and consists of two wings of rooms connected to the "Great Hall", where the entrance and subtle "front desk" is located. When you pull up to the hotel you are greeted with smiles and leis, as well as a hot towel! They invite you to sit in the lounge area of the great hall, and a staff member comes over to greet you with a glass of juice and to check you in. We had arrived in the morning to go shooting, and expected to just drop our bag off and come back later, seeing as check in wasn't until the afternoon, but they already had our room ready! After the formalities of check in, we were given a quick tour of the Great Hall, which includes the dining area. The wings are semi detached from the Great Hall. They are connected by an outdoor breezeway which is lined with rattan chairs and ottomans.
The room we had chosen was the cheapest one available, which had a garden view. The room itself isn't all that fancy. It was pretty basic, with a very comfortable bed, desk, large flat screen TV, and small dining nook.
We were on the first floor, so we had a small outdoor patio that opened right out onto the gardens. I think for the most part, Nicole and I stopped using the front door, and every time we went out, we just took the back door and walk through the gardens.I don't know if it's because the property is not by the beach, but they had a lot of activities to keep one busy when you weren't busy relaxing. The entire property is lush and green. There is a path that leads through the many different well maintained gardens (we didn't have time to check that part out). There are croquet fields set up in both American and English styles (I didn't know there was a difference), a lawn bowling field, and of course, a pool.
The heated pool is detached from the building, and was a short walk from our room. There are also two hot tubs and an exercise room all open 24 hours! There is a staff on hand during the daylight hours that bring you towels and cold water, as well as loan you a bicycle if you wanted to go for a ride around town. For some reason, both days at the pool, we were, for the most part, the only ones there. People would come out and look, but few would stay very long. Maybe because it was overcast, which drastically reduces your ability to tan. Or maybe it was because there's so much to do on the property, no one had time for the pool. Either way, Nicole and I certainly didn't mind having a hot tub all to ourselves and a friendly wait staff that made sure the bubbles were blowing.I think the biggest draw at the Four Seasons for the "jet set" are two championship golf courses. Neither Nicole and I play the sport, so we didn't check out the courses. We did, however, check out the "Executive Putting Greens".
It's not "Miniature Golf", it's not "Putt Putt", it's "Executive Putting Greens". Which is really what is was. There's no wind mills, no clown faces, and certainly no astroturf. These really were Greens. 18 holes of maintained greens grass. There were up hills and down hills, slighting tilting greens, sand traps and our favorite, water hazards.
When we picked up the putters and balls from the front desk, the guy said, "I got you guys to floater balls". And thank god he did.
This was not an easy course! But it was a lot of fun....
For me, the big draw was the Lana'i Pine Sporting Clays. For Nicole, it was tea time! In the Great Hall, tea was served in the afternoon. Nicole and I went on the first day and chose seats near on of the two large fireplaces.
Fireplaces in Hawai'i? Strange but true, I don't think it was cold enough for a fire, but it certainly didn't hurt the atmosphere. It did add to the relaxation factor.Not being a fan of tea (or coffee for that matter) I was a bit skeptical at the idea of sitting in the afternoon and sipping on a hot drink.
But when the waitress brought out the menu...
Port! They have port on the menu! Port at 4 in the afternoon! Port with sandwiches and lemon curd! This wasn't going to be bad at all!...
That evening Nicole and I sat on the rattan chairs in the breezeway and watched the sunset.
The clouds had broken just enough for the sun to poke out and make for a real stunner over the pine trees. It was so quiet and calm, you could hear the sizzle from the sun as it sunk into the far ocean. As the first day ended, Nicole and I adjourned to our room with one of the free DVDs from the front desk, hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign and waited for sunrise....
Day two was just like day one. Quiet filled the air when I woke, I sat out on the patio and listened to the birds sing. Nicole and I ordered room service before heading out for a second day of shooting.
Upon our return (see previous post to learn about wobble trap and compact sporting), we talked to the front desk, who was gracious enough to give us a late check out, returned to our room and then headed out to the pool for another relaxing dip in the hot tub. A quick nap, a quick pack, we checked out of the hotel. Our flight wasn't until later that evening, but we were still allowed to use the facilities at both hotels. So Nicole and I took the shuttle to Lana'i City for lunch (uneventful sandwich) and then headed to the other property, the Four Seasons at Manele Bay.
The shuttle bus wound down the hill to the hotel by the bay. The temperature slowly climbs and was quite warm and humid by the time we stepped off into the lobby that overlooked the pool.
It was like stepping off into another time. The lobby was buzzing with people, hurrying back and forth, moving bags to and fro. We walked downstairs to the pool which was also buzzing with children and every lounge chair full of bronze bodies. Nicole and I sat at the poolside bar, ordered a drink and sucked it down as quickly as we could. We got back on the shuttle and headed back to our sanctuary in the mountains.
We were sad to leave, but the time had come. We boarded our plane and said good bye to the pineapple island, vowing to return sooner than later.
...
And finally, no place is complete without a cat.
This was obviously a cared for cat. There was a food and water dish underneath one of the chairs by the entryway. It wasn't overly friendly, but it never shied away from a good pet. ...
1 comment:
Nicole - you're such a sport to go shooting with Dan!
Creighton was trying to get me to go shooting with him this weekend (at the range), and I just couldn't bring myself to say yes. I've drug him to enough modern dance shows, however, than I guess I should reciprocate....
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