NW Tiki Crawl 2005 Photos - Other Events

T thejab Grand Member (1 year) Tradewinds Apartments, Alameda, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2992	T thejab Posted posted on Tue, Jun 21, 2005 2:42 PM I don't have pictures yet but here's my recap: I arrived late Thursday night at the Jupiter to find Hanford, Humuhumu, tikiwahine, and drunkenmunky in the bar waiting for me. I was very impressed by the Doug Fir lounge and coffee shop. They did a great job on the decor! It's a blend of mid-century modern design and hunting lodge with lots of well-placed rock, wood, and mirrors. If you like the Bigfoot and Club Mallard you'll like the Doug Fir. The staff at the jupiter are all super nice and so good looking too. One warning: if you want lots of rest you might want to stay elsewhere in Portland. It's a real party place with a live music venue in the basement with bands every night, a coffee shop that stays open until 4AM, and a lenient policy about people who party in their rooms after hours. There are plenty of patio areas with chairs and tables around the grounds and even an outdoor fireplace (but no pool), all the rooms are sleekly furnished, and the doors have a chalkboard surface on them so you can write messages with chalk they provide like "party here at 2AM tonight". After spending Friday shopping I met Humuhumu and Hanford and we headed over to Dan and Louis' Oyster House for a delicious dinner. We sat in the c. 1939 original dining room that was like being inside of a wooden ship complete with mast and porthole style "windows" that had old photos of ships and oyster harvesting which were back-lighted. Friday night's party at Tikimaxton and Maggie's was a great way to start the weekend and I met so many people I can't remember all of their TC names. I had been there once before but they've added so much since then. It was a huge turnout - around 90-100 people came during the night! And we lucked out because it rained that day but stopped for the party. After the party I met my neighbors in the hotel from Bend, OR, and we had a few drinks together. He's Tiki Mota here on TC and he's a brewer for Deschutes Brewing Co. so I got to sample their excellent product. On Saturday I managed to drive out to the Jen-Jen Safari Club with a major hangover, but I was pretty disappointed because I drove all the way out there and they wouldn't turn on the lights in the displays so you couldn't see the taxidermy dioramas very well. Saturday's festivities started with a pleasant visit to the Alibi early enough so that we practically had the place to ourselves, so we got to enjoy the back room without the usual karaoke crowds. They even had a complimentary buffet for us! And I finally got to meet woofmutt! The party at the Jasmine Tree was a blast! I never had the chance to see Lushy before even though I've been hearing about them since the mid-90s. They're easily my favorite lounge act playing today. Annabelle has a wonderful voice. They were great! I was excited that Lynval Golding, founding member, guitarist, and singer of the Specials since 1977, was playing percussion with them! The band Susan and the Surftones got many of us dancing to their well-executed surf tunes. And Selector Lopaka kept us entertained with his superb DJ sets. I can't remember how many Singapore Slings I drank that night. They say luck comes in threes and they were right as yours truly won 3 raffle prizes including the beautiful grand prize framed tiki wall hanging carved by Seamus! I was flabbergasted because I rarely win contests. I'll be proud to hang such a gorgeous artwork on my wall. Thank you Seamus! And thank you also to the Home Ec shop in Portland for the huge ceramic bowl filled with tiki mugs, coffee cups, bamboo flatware, and an old menu from the Lali Room at the Travelodge in Suva, Fiji, which is now a Holiday Inn and was "renovated" in 2004. According to their web site the Lali Room is now the "Vikatoria's Restaurant, a modern brasserie style dining venue". Ugh. The Jupiter Hotel provided tikimaxton with a room which our crawl hosts stocked with rum and mixers so it became party-central at the Jupiter, at least until the rum ran out at 4AM. Every day of the weekend was lots of fun but my favorite was the home bar crawl. Huge mahalos to the home bar hosts! I think many of us were still sleepy when the bus left the Jupiter at noon on Sunday as we were up until 4AM on Sunday morning (mrsmiley's comment on the picture of us on the bus wasn't far off), but after a few pick-me-ups we had a great time. By the 3rd. bar on the tour at Sparklegem and Mark's we were all pretty well lubricated (thanks to Mark's excellent punch) and not acting like zombies anymore. After the home-bar crawl I had the pleasure of the company of Humhumu, Hanford, Tikiwahine, and Drunkenmunky for a cocktail at the Driftwood and a steak at the Ringside. It was the perfect way to end a great weekend. I was glad to have met many folks on TC for the first time and I wish I could remember all of them. Some of the people I especially enjoyed hanging out with: Selector Lopaka and Puamana, mrtikibar, dogbytes and Todd, Monkeyskull, Sailor Curt and Melissa, Sparklegem and Mark, Terence and Russell from Seattle, Seamus and Jauna, Mr. and Mrs. Tiki Mota, Hanford and Humuhumu, and last but definitely not least Tikiwahine and Drunkenmunkey. Best drinks: Melintur's Mai Tai Worst drink: Jasmine Tree's Mai Tai - luckily I didn't order one but I tasted the bubble-gum flavored concoction Favorite foods: meatballs, oysters, Voodoo donuts, and my 24 oz. Porterhouse at the Ringside Favorite bartender: mrtikibar's father-in-law Ed - he made a good mai tai and he told great stories Best dressed ladies: Mrs. Tikimaxton and Frenchy Polynesia (seeing Miss Polynesia walk out of the second house on the tour in her Sunday best complete with white gloves was a treat for those of us on the bus. It was a momentary trip back in time!) Best dressed gentlemen: Terence and Russell from Seattle (and their friend whose name escapes me) Favorite drunk: Seamus at the Jupiter on Saturday night Most missed: Sweetpea, Mig, and Mrsmiley Mahalos to all the sponsors but especially thanks to Cruzan Rum who generously provided rum to the home bar hosts and organizers. Mahalo to the organizers Tikimaxton and Maggie, Maori Man, Melintur, TikiMama, and Tikitronic! And a big mahalo to the city of Portland! I love Portland!

I don't have pictures yet but here's my recap:

I arrived late Thursday night at the Jupiter to find Hanford, Humuhumu, tikiwahine, and drunkenmunky in the bar waiting for me. I was very impressed by the Doug Fir lounge and coffee shop. They did a great job on the decor! It's a blend of mid-century modern design and hunting lodge with lots of well-placed rock, wood, and mirrors. If you like the Bigfoot and Club Mallard you'll like the Doug Fir. The staff at the jupiter are all super nice and so good looking too. One warning: if you want lots of rest you might want to stay elsewhere in Portland. It's a real party place with a live music venue in the basement with bands every night, a coffee shop that stays open until 4AM, and a lenient policy about people who party in their rooms after hours. There are plenty of patio areas with chairs and tables around the grounds and even an outdoor fireplace (but no pool), all the rooms are sleekly furnished, and the doors have a chalkboard surface on them so you can write messages with chalk they provide like "party here at 2AM tonight".

After spending Friday shopping I met Humuhumu and Hanford and we headed over to Dan and Louis' Oyster House for a delicious dinner. We sat in the c. 1939 original dining room that was like being inside of a wooden ship complete with mast and porthole style "windows" that had old photos of ships and oyster harvesting which were back-lighted.

Friday night's party at Tikimaxton and Maggie's was a great way to start the weekend and I met so many people I can't remember all of their TC names. I had been there once before but they've added so much since then. It was a huge turnout - around 90-100 people came during the night! And we lucked out because it rained that day but stopped for the party.

After the party I met my neighbors in the hotel from Bend, OR, and we had a few drinks together. He's Tiki Mota here on TC and he's a brewer for Deschutes Brewing Co. so I got to sample their excellent product.

On Saturday I managed to drive out to the Jen-Jen Safari Club with a major hangover, but I was pretty disappointed because I drove all the way out there and they wouldn't turn on the lights in the displays so you couldn't see the taxidermy dioramas very well.

Saturday's festivities started with a pleasant visit to the Alibi early enough so that we practically had the place to ourselves, so we got to enjoy the back room without the usual karaoke crowds. They even had a complimentary buffet for us! And I finally got to meet woofmutt!

The party at the Jasmine Tree was a blast! I never had the chance to see Lushy before even though I've been hearing about them since the mid-90s. They're easily my favorite lounge act playing today. Annabelle has a wonderful voice. They were great! I was excited that Lynval Golding, founding member, guitarist, and singer of the Specials since 1977, was playing percussion with them! The band Susan and the Surftones got many of us dancing to their well-executed surf tunes. And Selector Lopaka kept us entertained with his superb DJ sets. I can't remember how many Singapore Slings I drank that night.

They say luck comes in threes and they were right as yours truly won 3 raffle prizes including the beautiful grand prize framed tiki wall hanging carved by Seamus! I was flabbergasted because I rarely win contests. I'll be proud to hang such a gorgeous artwork on my wall. Thank you Seamus!

And thank you also to the Home Ec shop in Portland for the huge ceramic bowl filled with tiki mugs, coffee cups, bamboo flatware, and an old menu from the Lali Room at the Travelodge in Suva, Fiji, which is now a Holiday Inn and was "renovated" in 2004. According to their web site the Lali Room is now the "Vikatoria's Restaurant, a modern brasserie style dining venue". Ugh.

The Jupiter Hotel provided tikimaxton with a room which our crawl hosts stocked with rum and mixers so it became party-central at the Jupiter, at least until the rum ran out at 4AM.

Every day of the weekend was lots of fun but my favorite was the home bar crawl. Huge mahalos to the home bar hosts! I think many of us were still sleepy when the bus left the Jupiter at noon on Sunday as we were up until 4AM on Sunday morning (mrsmiley's comment on the picture of us on the bus wasn't far off), but after a few pick-me-ups we had a great time. By the 3rd. bar on the tour at Sparklegem and Mark's we were all pretty well lubricated (thanks to Mark's excellent punch) and not acting like zombies anymore.

After the home-bar crawl I had the pleasure of the company of Humhumu, Hanford, Tikiwahine, and Drunkenmunky for a cocktail at the Driftwood and a steak at the Ringside. It was the perfect way to end a great weekend.

I was glad to have met many folks on TC for the first time and I wish I could remember all of them. Some of the people I especially enjoyed hanging out with: Selector Lopaka and Puamana, mrtikibar, dogbytes and Todd, Monkeyskull, Sailor Curt and Melissa, Sparklegem and Mark, Terence and Russell from Seattle, Seamus and Jauna, Mr. and Mrs. Tiki Mota, Hanford and Humuhumu, and last but definitely not least Tikiwahine and Drunkenmunkey.

Best drinks: Melintur's Mai Tai

Worst drink: Jasmine Tree's Mai Tai - luckily I didn't order one but I tasted the bubble-gum flavored concoction

Favorite foods: meatballs, oysters, Voodoo donuts, and my 24 oz. Porterhouse at the Ringside

Favorite bartender: mrtikibar's father-in-law Ed - he made a good mai tai and he told great stories

Best dressed ladies: Mrs. Tikimaxton and Frenchy Polynesia (seeing Miss Polynesia walk out of the second house on the tour in her Sunday best complete with white gloves was a treat for those of us on the bus. It was a momentary trip back in time!)

Best dressed gentlemen: Terence and Russell from Seattle (and their friend whose name escapes me)

Favorite drunk: Seamus at the Jupiter on Saturday night

Most missed: Sweetpea, Mig, and Mrsmiley

Mahalos to all the sponsors but especially thanks to Cruzan Rum who generously provided rum to the home bar hosts and organizers.

Mahalo to the organizers Tikimaxton and Maggie, Maori Man, Melintur, TikiMama, and Tikitronic!

And a big mahalo to the city of Portland! I love Portland!

Post #167196 by thejab on Tue, Jun 21, 2005 2:42 PM