Wailea Beach

Here’s where I spent part of my afternoon today, which is just a few minutes from the house where I’m staying. As you can see, it wasn’t too crowded, and though the wind was blowing, it was quite warm and the water was pretty sweet.

This is the beach where in 2004 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently saved some guy who was drowning. He was staying at the Four Seasons, which isn’t visible but just to the right of the ridiculously green grass.

All the big celebs stay at in Wailea. I know a photographer who’s banned from the grounds because he’s shot so many of them from the shrubbery. And I’ve heard stories, too — of big-name stars doing unspeakable things to hotel rooms — from former resort housekeepers…

One night years ago Ron, Rennie, a couple chicks and I were walking on Wailea Beach. It was a warm, mellow night, until I saw a crab. I’m not normally afraid of crabs (or other such creatures) but this one freaked me out, and I must have jumped five feet. Everyone thought it was hilarious, and we still laugh about it, though thinking back it’s a pretty lame story. Later, we all lounged on some beach chairs on one of the resort’s lawns, until some security guard somewhere saw us and turned on the sprinklers.

Sitting on that beach this afternoon, feeling the warm sun dry me off, it was hard to imagine that there’s a war in Afghanistan or 10 percent unemployment or even that I have a job and life 2,500 miles away on part of the mainland that is fairly cold and rainy right now.