Post #369708 by Sabina on Thu, Mar 27, 2008 6:16 PM

Well, all the way back on page one of this thread, OakTiki and my space, the "Lounge of the Seven Pleasures" was mentioned, but I guess I never got around to posting the explanation in this thread or any pictures.

The short version is that the Original "Lounge of the Seven Pleasures" was one of several rooms in New York's "Hawaii Kai". Here's a wonderful four frame postcard I stumbled into-

and specifically this frame (close up)-

The postcard describes the frame as the "Lounge of the Seven Pleasures, Featuring Authentic Native Entertainment".

Even though neither OakTiki nor I ever made it to the Hawaii Kai, we named our little space such to honour the memories of Tiki Treasures now gone, as a way of keeping those torches lit (which is why among other things our bar features a 'shelf of honour' filled with mugs from Kahiki- 'my' Tiki experience that led me here, and a small 'altar' of sorts with artifacts to the memory of the Kahiki.)

These days, our home space has sort of expanded to take over yet still more of the basement, so recently we've come to refer to it as 'The Lounge of the Seven Pleasures and Kapu Gardens' as there's now sort of an indoor 'garden' area under development as an entryway and transitional space to the Lounge proper. In winter, the shadowy gardens filled with plenty of fake flowers are a wonderful antidote to external gray gloom.

Unfortunately, I don't have many recent pictures of the Lot7P, but these capture the mood of it;

The entrance the Lounge from the Kapu Gardens-

An ancient picture of OakTiki behind an early version of the bar from the first ever "Night of the Seven Pleasures". (The bar itself, the Rum collection and the mixology have all improved greatly since then!)

Your Mai Tai awaits!

The Lounge has a permanent gallery on my sevenpleasures.org site- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/MD-LOTSP and a folder of pictures from the lounge here- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Pictures-of-the-Lounge-itself where from time to time I've posted pictures of recent developments. Clearly, I'm WAY overdue for an update.

The bar itself is vintage, 'imported' from EXOTIC New Jersey. There are also a wonderful old Hey-Wake sofa and loveseat with end tables that round out the seating area. The Lounge is part of a walk out basement with a small kitchen area and full bath nearby. All of which makes indoor Lounge /outdoor Tiki torch lit gatherings possible during the warmer months.

It still needs a ton of work, but it's our little piece of bamboo basement paradise.

[ Edited by: Sabina 2008-03-27 18:17 ]