Post #108496 by ikitnrev on Sun, Aug 15, 2004 7:56 PM

Well, I finally made it home - after putting over 3500 miles on my car these past two weeks. Although I wasn't able to stay for the Tiki Pa'ina meal or see the dancers perform (or meet any other mid-western tiki folk who arrived after I left) it was still nice to meet Tiki-Toa, Lake Surfer, and a few other familiar faces.

I made it to the hotel bar Friday night, and learned that if there is one thing nicer than meeting fellow tiki people after flying cross-country, it is meeting fellow tiki people after driving cross-country. I was surprised to see the bartender was making some great zombies - I had just been to Illinois's Hala Kahiki two nights before, and these tasted much better - and I continued to order them - often two at a time, until the bartender left.

Karaoke was fun that evening - a word of warning though - even though you may have heard 'The Hawaii Wedding Song' many times before, you might not be able to remember how the melody of the song actually goes - I had to make up my own melody until the familiar chorus came around. But those are the things that one must do, when one wants to hear exotica, and everyone else is singing Charlie Daniels and Kenny Rogers songs.

I was a bit tired the next day, but pleased to be able to stock up on a few tiki related products from the various vendors - Lake Surfer, Esqui and Lissette, Hoffa and Jimmy, Conga Tiki. I was able to fit a 8 foot tall carving done by Jimmy/Exotic Arts into my car, and safely bring it back home (where I discovered that my home only has a 7 and a half foot tall ceiling)

My only regrets were that I was unable to stay for the full festivities - and also I should have made yet one more trip to the ATM machine and bought a few more items - there was still some room left in my car when I got home.

Thanks to Tiki-Toa for organizing the event, and hopefully I'll be meeting a few of you again next month at Hukilau.

Vern

[ Edited by: ikitnrev on 2004-08-15 19:57 ]