Football season’s over folks. A dismal few months lay ahead for football fans (particularly for those in New England). Now what do you do with your life? Escape the post-game hyperbole and re-hydrate your soul. We know the perfect place. It’s Lanai, one of the least touristic of the Hawaiian Isles. How authentic is it? Unless you really want one, your hotel room won’t have a TV.
At least that’s the case at the Hotel Lanai, a gem box of an enclave evocative of a simpler time. The hotel sports a wondrous restaurant, the Lanai City Grille, and 10 plantation-style rooms – replete with ceiling fans, Hawaiian quilt bedcovers, and hardwood floors. The island was once was a full-fledged pineapple plantation. Lanai’s layback ambience mirrors those days. There isn’t a stop light on the island.
Something more sumptuous? The island’s other two hotels give you a choice of seascape or mountain vista. The Lodge at Koele is a Four Seasons property right out of the 19th century. Horseback ride, lawn bowl, or just wander around the exquisitely-tended topiary and lose yourself. The formed foliage is right of The Shining, though less sinister.
Down by the bay is another Four Seasons hotel, the Manele Bay. It borders a marine preserve teeming with green sea turtles, and spinner dolphins. This place is like your own private Hawaii.
Head to Shipwreck Beach up on the northwest coast of this compact island. Not far off shore is a ghostly vessel that wrestled with fate and lost. Hike the 12.8-mile Munro Trail to Lanai’s highest point, Lanaihale.
Got to golf? You’ve got options, and one of them is flat-out free. Tee it up at the nine-hole Cavendish Golf Course, right below the Lodge at Koele. At first blush, it looks like pastureland. Look closer and you’ll discover what may be the most perfect public course on the planet.
If you must spend money, the 18-hole Experience at Koele is awesome. The water features are formidable and the ninth hole sits amidst its own lake.
None of this appeal to you? Grab some stale chips and insipid salsa and cozy up to the umpteenth analysis of the Super Bowl on ESPN.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Images: Go Hawaii, Four Seasons)
