Hawaii -The Wright Way
Four Seasons Luxury and Captain Don's Adventure
by Brad Wright

We did Hawaii the Wright way. (Sorry friends and foes, I could not resist this play on words.)

We, my two sons and I, spent five days on Maui and six on Kauai, and my thesaurus just doesn't have enough adjectives to describe the beauty of these islands and their resorts and the incredible sounds of the surf.

Our home on Maui was at the Four Seasons Resort, which offered everything and anything anyone could want or desire. And, for that reason, we only strayed from our paradise twice. The first time was only one block away - to have dinner at Joe's Bar & Grill.

Now, don't let that name fool you. Joe's, which is located at a local tennis club, has the traditional Hawaiian casual environment. But, it also is a white tablecloth-type of place, and it offers a variety of the finest culinary treats I have ever tasted.

Our second venture from the kid-friendly resort was to travel through the bamboo forest, take a waterfall excursion and to witness the 40-foot swells on the north side of the island. Little dots were floating in the middle of the faces of these monster waves, and according to local rumor, these dots were humans!

Aside from all the amenities at the Four Seasons Resort, it was the general manager, Thomas Steinhauer, the marketing director, Mark Simon, and the staff that made our stay so special.

My career has afforded me the opportunity to scan the globe in travel, and I have never met a more gracious general manager and host then Thomas Steinhauer./ Here is a man who is operating a resot that has been acclaimed serveral times as the world's best, yet he hound that time ot call y room to make sure my family was comfortable and to arrange a coffee meeting with me. And, his staff and the atmosphere at the resort radiates his attitude - sophisticated but unpretentious.

Our stay on Kauai was a whole different experience. Instead of relaxing in luxury, we filled our time with adventures, discovering great local hideaways as we traveled down every side road to the ocean.

And, we spent time with Captain Don on his sports fishing boat.

After Captain Don told us to meet him at 6:30am next to the Coast Guard station, my son, Colby Bryant's soul began to howl with the call of the ocean and the call of the big fish, especially since Captain Don had told me, "I guarantee your boys will bring back dinner for the week."

Colby was up that next morning at 4:45, tugging at me and his younger brother, McCall. And, when we showed up at 6:15 am , my boys spotted Captain Don on his rig two blocks from where he had explicitly told us to meet him at 6:30.

"Dad, Dad, stop and let us out while you park," my boys pleaded. I did, and when I approached the vessel, I heard my sons in a rapid-fire mode asking the captain questions.

At this point, I have to say I was surprised to see a very handsome young man of about 30 to 35 years of age, as I had pictured, following my phone conversation with him the day before, as a man in his late 60's to early 70's.

On our way out to sea, my boys continued to ask questions, and McCall attached himself next to the first mate.

When the other guest/fisherman, a guy named Andy, randomly asked the captain when the last time was that he had been shut out, the captain said that word is absolutely forbidden on the boat, as there is no such thing as a shut out. However, he grinned at Colby and confessed that it did happen last summer on a miserably hot and humid day.

Meanwhile, McCall is still firing questions at the first mate, who eventually elects not to answer, much to the chagrin on my curious young son. But, when the first mate explained to McCall that he had to concentrated on the rough ocean, the 7-year-old nodded his head in the understanding and headed to the captain.

Then we start to fish - for live bait, the only thing we put on our hooks to catch the big ones. We caught seven live bait and we had seven hook ups. Colby had the banner day, as he landed three yellow fins, which weighed in at 28 pounds, 17 pounds and 16 pounds. (His fourth hook up he gave to Andy.)

After the big fish were secured, the Captain took us to another spot where McCall caught and released more than 20 yellow fins, ranging in size from 8 to 12 pounds.

At the end of the day, Captain Don commended me on the behavior of my boys and their enthusiasm for life. "I see all kinds with their dads out here - the good, the bad and the ugly. Your kids are great and welcome back any time," he said before he gave me a grin and continued. "I don't know if I would give the younger one any coke or root beer and hang out with him, but he is a good kid."

Then he winked and went right back to work.

(South Coast Magazine Health & Home 2005)