Post #2701 by woofmutt on Tue, Jun 25, 2002 1:40 AM

I finally made it to Castway Cove this past weekend. For those who don't know, Castaway Cove is the Tiki bar that our own TikiMaxton created in the wilds of his backyard near the outer edges of Portland, Oregon. Others have written about their visits, but what has never been fully expressed before is how HUGE Castaway Cove is. Maxton's Tiki bar could swallow your Tiki bar whole.
About the size of small city block (so I'm exagerating a little) Castawy Cove is in its own freestanding building which is nestled in the mostly tamed jungle that is Maxton's backyard. The rustic urban exterior of the building gives no hint of the exotica gigantica interior. Inside the walls and ceiling are completely covered in reed (Now we know the reason you can't get reed fencing at Home Depot anymore...Maxton bought it all!). There's a large 3 stool bar with a cool rocks-in-lucite bar top on it, a thatched roof over it, and a tapa patterned bark cloth covered wall with shelves of Tiki mugs, bottles, and paraphernalia behind it. The bar is the heart of Castawy Cove and one could happily sit and drink at it for hours, I'm sure. The bar is flanked by some of Maxton's electric Tiki torches (the sturdiness of which I can attest as I saw one hit the floor during the party but the electric flame did not go out).
Roughly a half acre behind the bar in a corner flooded with red light is a large rock fountain which looks like it could have came from some swell old Chinese restaurant (except Maxton's fountain works and isn't full of dusty plastic plants).
One wall near another corner is covered with a photo mural of a palm tree lined beach. As it's so large it really plays tricks with one's head, especially when the wall near it is suddenly rolled away to reveal an outdoor sandy beach guarded by two large palm trunk Tikis (when Maxton first mentioned this feature in a Tiki Central post I imagined a little 3'X 6' door opening on a tiny patch of sand...The actual opening is big enough to drive a school bus through).
Back to the yard surrounding Castawy Cove...It's pretty danged big and is full of dozens of mature plants and shrubs which create a really wild feel, especially when lit by Tiki torches. When the place becomes full of Tikis (probably not the Maxton's plan, but Tiki is a consuming passion) it'll seem like a tropical island.
I was at Castway Cove for the season opening party, and here are some party tips worth considering: Maxton had two types of Mai Tai on hand, the original and right one which was served to those in the know, and an orangey one for the folks who probably had a Mai Tai once on a Caribbean Carnival Cruise. His music was a mix of exotica with some swing and Sinatra type stuff. Good ideas as a party should be about entertainment not education.
And finally, a note on MrsMaxton's elegant presence in an incredibly cool Day-Glo orange and yellow vintage evening gown. Gliding through the twilight shadows of the yard she looked as if she were clothed in fire. It seemed just the sort of thing Pele herself would have worn for an evening on the town circa 1971.