{"id":1193,"date":"2012-05-06T09:44:54","date_gmt":"2012-05-06T16:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2012-05-06T09:45:19","modified_gmt":"2012-05-06T16:45:19","slug":"in-wonderful-wailea-its-easy-to-stay-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/personalities\/1193\/in-wonderful-wailea-its-easy-to-stay-forever","title":{"rendered":"IN WONDERFUL WAILEA, IT’S EASY TO STAY FOREVER"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last day of a vacation is bittersweet. But what if you make it the first day of your new life? That\u2019s what\u00a0Boulder,\u00a0Colorado\u2019s Megan Haertling and her new husband did during the final sunset of their honeymoon. \u201cWe loved\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0so much we made a commitment right then and there to live in the islands,\u201d says Haertling. The newlyweds flew home, sold whatever they could, quit their jobs, turned around, and went back to their paradise. \u201cMy father is a scientist. He thought we were crazy,\u201d she admits. \u201cWe stayed in a hostel and drove a rental car around trying to get any kind of jobs we could. It became a struggle, believe me. At one point I was down to my last 11 dollars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Megan Haertling decided to make her Hawaiian honeymoon last a lifetime at Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Less than a year later Haertling\u2019s husband has a position at a college and she has a dream job as public relations director at the beachfront, all-suite, luxury Fairmont Kea Lani Resort, in Wailea, on Maui.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Just across the street from the\u00a0Fairmont, at Wailea Golf Club, Rusty Hathaway has a similar story. He visited Wailea on vacation from his home in\u00a0Alaska\u00a0and decided he liked the 50th<\/sup>\u00a0state better than the 49th<\/sup>. \u201cI took a job washing golf carts and cleaning up,\u201d Hathaway recalls. Now, 35 years later, he\u2019s the head professional. \u201cI almost hate going on vacation because I love it here so much. When my vacations are over, at least I know I get to come back to Wailea.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rusty Hathaway, managing Wailea after leaving Alaska 35 years ago, is now one of the deans of Hawaiian Golf.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hathaway saw Wailea\u2019s Gold course host golf greats including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player during its\u2019 10 years of hosting the Senior Skins Game, but the setting is the star of the show. The garden-like gold, emerald and Old Blue courses play hundreds of feet above the Pacific and offer panoramic views of Molokini crater and the islands of Lana\u2019i and Kaho\u2019olawe.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fairmont Kea Lani\u2019s general manager, Charles Head, an avid golfer, was so enchanted by the resort that he left a position at theScotland\u2019s Fairmont St. Andrews, the sacred sod of the game. \u201cMy commute to and from work here on a road beside the Pacific has me seeing sunsets and whales along my way,\u201d admits Head. \u201cI\u2019d say I am here in Wailea to stay.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you visit, you\u2019ll see why. In addition to golf, the scenic, tasteful, low-density resort offers snorkeling, swimming pools, Lomi Lomi massage in the spa and complimentary Hawaiian canoe rides, plus private beachfront, two-bedroom villas, conference facilities, and star chef Tylun Pang\u2019s restaurant Ko, featuring island and Pacific Rim recipes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Snorkeling, sunning, swimming in the Maui surf is soothing on Fairmont Kea Lani Hawaiian beach.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Your vacation in Wailea may not last a lifetime\u2026but the memories will!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Visit\u00a0<\/span><\/span>www.Fairmont.com\/KeaLani<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or call\u00a0(866) 540-4456<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Michigan-based travel writer Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0InviteYourself@aol.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or via\u00a0www.TravelTattler.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last day of a vacation is bittersweet. But what if you make it the first day of your new… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3665,17,7],"tags":[5092,4845,674,420387,420388,453138],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-library","category-courses-and-travel","category-personalities","tag-maui","tag-wailea","tag-fairmont","tag-rusty-hathaway","tag-wailea-golf-club","tag-fairmont-kea-lani"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2012\/05\/DSC00028.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1208,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions\/1208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}