Honolulu — HAWAII was calling, as it often does when my agenda is R&R. I was seeking Hawaii without glitz -- no beachfront hotels with pools the size of oceans, torch-lighted hula shows and $12 mai tais. It's still doable, even as some Hawaiian places veer dangerously close to becoming like the places visitors come here to escape.
My quest took me to Kauai, where I was salted and kneaded by practitioners of Hawaiian massage; to Oahu, where I took a history tour of Waikiki (yes, Waikiki has history); and to the Big Island, where I rode a mule over upland cattle country and tasted coffee beans right off the tree.
I love Hawaii and don't buy into the why-go-to-Hawaii-when-you-live-in Southern California philosophy. Hawaii is different, and not just because the water's warm. Here, I shed my cares along with my shoes and happily while away hours doing the simplest things.
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Kauai
I flew into Lihue, Kauai, just in time to keep my appointment at Angeline's Muolaulani, an open-air temple of a kind of Hawaiian massage known as \o7lomi lomi\f7. It's tucked away off a dirt road at Anahola, about 12 miles from the airport.
Masseuse Norma Jean, a transplanted Ohioan, directed me to the unisex changing room to don a sarong, then led me to an octagonal wooden super-sauna. The steam was as thick as fog, and in minutes I was dripping wet and calling Norma Jean, who exfoliated me with Hawaiian sea salt so the warm massage oils could penetrate. It was like being scrubbed with sandpaper, and I was delighted when she announced, "You're salted" and sent me to the outdoor shower to de-salt.
I was led to the massage table, where Lise joined us. (\o7Lomi lomi\f7 may involve more than one practitioner.) A tropical breeze wafted through. Norma Jean, making strange exhaling noises --something about energy flow -- was doing my upper body, Lise working the lower. It was a bit disconcerting: Lise bent my right leg as Norma Jean bent my left arm.
The cost: $140 for two hours. The verdict: Didn't love the salt scrub, but the massage was top-tier. (If you want to give it a try, the reservation number is [808] 822-3235.)
I did feel relaxed as I checked into TuTu's Cottage, a little rental house near the beach at Hanalei. Settling in, I phoned Alton Kanter, a friend of a friend who years ago gave up dentistry and moved from L.A. to Kauai, where he is a holistic health educator.
