 |
Winter 97/98 Volume III Issue 1 |
|
|
Winter 97/98 Volume III Issue 1 |
HawaiianWeather is here. Wish you were beautiful...
Hey, howz-it, bro? I'm chillin' in hula-ville. Not the connect-the-dots, homogenized Hawaii. Not the ugly, asphalt-bubbling '90s Hawaii. Not the great T-shirted, fly switching herd of humanity Hawaii. I'm talking the some-call-it-Eden Hawaii. Is there left such a jeweled slice of paradise? Hey, does Don Ho eat pineapple? I share here - it kills me to reveal this - my crack short list. The prime places with the hot hotels and best beaches, the ones with environmental ethic, grand golf, superb sports, and capital cuisine. Cigars? Natch! And bro: You too fast move, you got no style…
Insect whine fades, bird song chimes on the trades. Prefatory light pierces the darkness, as dawn breaks over Lana'i... Lana'i? That's the volcanic smudge on the horizon as seen from Mai Tai -Uh, I mean, Maui.Ashore, though, Lana'i, all splendid isolation, is the Un-Island. Untouched by pollution. Untrammeled by high-rises, strip malls, and junk emporiums. Unpeopled, just as it ever was. And if you like your solitude unheard-of and unhurried, Lana'i is your call - the best unaddress in Hawaii.
At 141 square miles, the sixth largest of the Hawaiian islands, Lana'i is fringed with isolated beaches, warm waters, and vistas that sweep up to misty pine-clad highlands and plunging volcanic ridgelines. The island is honeycombed with ancient Hawaiian homesites, shelters, canoe sheds, deserted villages, ruins, and wide-open spaces. Rife with legends, too: ancient Lana'i was an evil isle of human-devouring spirits; rid of its demons by a clever prince, the island was colonized.
In this century, the Dole Food Company launched Lana'i on a 70 year plantation run. In recent years, the "Pineapple Island" has been trounced by cheaper fruit from Guam and the Philippines. Dole has phased out pineapple and sold its 98 percent holding in the island to David Murdock, developer extraordinaire.
Advertised as "Hawaii's Private Island," Lana'i grew two luxury hideouts, a mere 20 minutes apart,- two imaginative yet distinctly seasoned getaways. Most guests stay several nights at each with access to the other's amenities - each with its own 18-hole championship golf course and a chic restaurant with superb award-winning cuisine from a celebrated chef. And each a mecca of down-to-earth elegance joined with environmental stewardship that makes Lana'i the ideal "un-winder."
