Post #165153 by TikiGoon on Sat, Jun 11, 2005 10:08 AM

Guess I will take what I can get...

I grew up in St. Petersburg Flordia from 1967 -1976. My folks used to take
us kids over to the Outrigger Inn @ the Sharaton for the Polynesian show all
the time. The memories are a little fuzzy, but I really enjoyed it. When
we moved to Maryland there was the Aloha Inn where my parents would take me
for Polynesian shows. Fast forward to 1990... I attend my first Buffett
show. Hey these guys have fun! Several years of Buffett Tailgates later, I
declare myself a Parrot Head. In the mean time Aloha Inn in Gaithersburg
Closes, Trader Vic's in D.C. Closes. 2001 I spend my honeymoon on Maui and
the guys at work get me to start joining on "Aloha Friday." The Tropical
shirt collection begins. 2003 Jimmy announces his 'Tiki Time' tour. I
begin to reinvestigate Tiki/Polynesia. It was then I stumbled across
TikiCentral and joined. Since then I have built an appreciation for true
Tiki bars, Tiki music and general Tiki culture. My tiki mug collection is
probably over 75. I can make a pretty good Mai Tai. I have some vintage Les
Baxter and Martin Denny LPs as well a mess of MP3s of all kinds of Tiki
Music. That said I still am a Parrot Head. This coming Wednesday I will be
in the Parking Lot at Nissan Pavilion drinking Boat Drinks(hopefully Mai
Tais) waiting to get into the show. I enjoy the escapism achieved by Tiki and Buffett. Buffett is just more readily available.

Mai Tai or Margaritta = Mai Tai
Rum or Tequila = Rum
Margarittaville or Trader Vic’s = Trader Vic’s
Buffett or Martin Denny = Both
Toes in the Sand or Drinking in a Dark Tiki Bar = Both

Believe me when I am able, I take in all the Tiki I can. I have never gone on the road to see Jimmy, but I have been to the Hukilau and added hours or even days to vacation road trips to stop at Trader Vics Chicago, Trader Vic’s Atlanta, the Mai Kai, and WaiTiki Orlando.

I understand and appreciate the view held my many TC members, but don’t hate me ‘cause I love Tiki and Buffett.