We had an incredible anniversary trip to Lana`i for 3 days. We both felt like it was longer, which is great for a vacation to feel longer than it is. We stayed at Hotel Lana`i in Lana`i City restored from the old plantation guesthouse. As a guest, we were able to use the shuttle and some facilities at the two high end resorts on the island.

After taking the ferry over from Lahaina, we rented a jeep the first day and covered much of the island. First we drove Munro Trail that traverses along the ridge at the highest points of Lana`i. From it, we had views of all the Hawaiian Islands except Kauai and Niihau. (We can't see Oahu from Maui but we could from the top of Lana`i.) There was only one spot on the road where we needed low 4-wheel drive and the jeep climbed the muddy hill easily. We had our picnic lunch sitting overlooking Maui, the Big Island, and Kahoolawe. Neil decided he needed a better view and got the bird's eye view climbing the microwave tower.
After reaching the paved road, we went just a few miles and took another dirt road to view Luahiwa Petroglyphs. These ancient petroglyphs are carved into several boulders scattering a hillside. We were glad we hiked up high because one of the top boulders had a beautiful voyaging canoe carved into it. Arriving full circle back in Lana`i City, it was only mid afternoon, plenty of time to head for Garden of the Gods (Keahi Kawelo.) The dirt road leads straight north to the dry wind swept part of the island. Here the wind and weather had carved its own sculptures and monuments leaving a very barren, bouldered landscape. We passed through Kanepu`u Preserve set up to protect rare native Hawaiian dryland forest plant life. From there, we took a road off the “main map” in which we were really glad to have our 4-wheel drive option. We did get a chance to see an axis deer and a mouflon (a type of big horn sheep.) These are non-native animals and they are stripping the native vegetation. It was nearly sunset and when we got back to the paved roads and we drove back through town and headed for Barge Harbor on the west side of the island, past the Lana`i Airport. It was a beautiful sunset as the sun dropped into the water. All I have seen so far in my life is a little green at the tip of sun as is drops into the ocean. I am still waiting to see a full green flash across the horizon.

We had a shower before dinner to get off the road dust and Neil had wanted to stop by the store to get something. To our surprise, both stores closed at 7 pm. We were five minutes too late. Dinner was at Pele’s Other Garden. I don't know where her first garden is but this one served excellent pasta dishes. We finished the evening by driving up to the Lodge to enjoy some music and the real fire in the fireplaces (more about the Lodge below.)

We rose early the next morning to get the most out of the jeep before needing to return it at 11:30. We drove to the end of another paved road that end in the middle of nowhere. Still not sure what caused it to be paved. From the end you can continue either way on dirt roads running along the east and north east shore line. We went about a mile north to Shipwreck Beach (where the dirt road ends.) Here we hiked back to some more petroglyphs carved on boulders above a small ravine. We then went for a snorkel off the beach to check out the fish life. In the shallows it is more like a nursery and we saw many different fish than we usually see diving.

After returning the jeep and a quick shower to get the salt off, we took our picnic lunch to the town park and stopped by the store on the way. Both of the two stores in town closed from 12 to 1:30; we missed it by 5 minutes again! (Neil finally got to the store in the evening before it closed. It turns out he want to buy my anniversary card on Lana`i. There was no selection of cards, not even birthday cards. He said he could have gotten my fishing tackle.)

We next hopped on a shuttle and rode the short distance from Lana`i City to the Lodge at Ko`ele for the afternoon. This resort has been build like an English country manor at 1,700 feet on the slopes of the mountain. We walked around a small lake to the Orchid House that has dozens of different species of beautiful orchids in a conservatory style building. From there we wandered across the landscaped stream running into the lake and headed for the Executive Putting Green. No windmills or clown faces here, just well sculptured greens with hazards of sand, water and turkeys. Yes, wild live turkeys are running all around the course and in the trees overhead. The ones in the trees are the ones to watch out for! We played two rounds of the 18 holes, improving each time, but Neil still beat me both games. We were being blessed all the time with a misting and droplets of rain. Time to retire to the lodge for afternoon tea. Very civilized and cultured, we had tea and scones while we sat and play backgammon. The Great Hall is an ample description of the main Lodge room. It is huge with two 30-foot fireplaces at either end and is full of overstuffed sofas and chairs arranged in seating areas. We settled back for a little reading, then went out and played a few games of croquet. (We are 1 and 1 and didn't get to play the play off due to rain.) I think the only game we missed playing was lawn bowling. The fires were lit in the fireplaces by now and Neil got to enjoy it for while before we caught the shuttle back. (He said a fireplace is one of the things he misses about living in the tropics. But it is not worth moving upcountry just for that.) We watched the sunset from the Lodge lanai as we waited for the return shuttle. It was cloudy and we watch the glow of the red sun descending through the thin cloud haze.

We had reservations at Henry Clay's Rotisserie, the restaurant in our hotel, for our special anniversary dinner. The food was incredible. We started with Ragi’n Caji’n Shrimp pupu (appetizer) and then had the Lana`i venison entrée. Neil said we needed to be ecological minded and help with the overpopulation of non-native axis deer. It was prepared exquisitely. We finished with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cake. What a feast.

Originally we had planned to spend our last day at Manele Bay Hotel and the beach sunning and snorkeling. But we realized we can do that on Maui, but we don't have the Lodge environment on Maui. So we decided to spend the day as a repeat of the day before. Neil still beat me both games of putting golf. I think we are even on backgammon. And we spent a few hours reading sitting on the lawn by a landscaped waterfall that starts the stream to the lake. Of course, we had afternoon tea again before catching the shuttle to return to the ferry harbor. There was hardly any tradewinds and the ferry crossing to Lahaina was unusually calm. We sat on the bow by ourselves and enjoyed the last bit of our vacation as the sunset was sinking low behind us. Jean and Morley meet us at the dock to give us a ride home and we were back to our world on Maui again.

If you are interested, more information about Lana`i may be found at Explore Paradise, Fodors TripAdvisor, and in a Star-Bulletin article.