Post #374008 by bananabobs on Wed, Apr 16, 2008 6:59 AM

My Dad was stationed in Hawaii in WW II and moved to California after the war, I was born in 1955, we lived in a Ain's Modernique home in Mar vista, (Marina Del Rey) My Pop had the back yard looking like a tropical island with feather rock tikis, palms, bamboo and other tropical plants. We vacationed at Shelter Island Inn and many nights I was sipping a virgin Mai Tai at Bali Hai. My folks used to take me along because I would sit quietly and liked sea food...My folks loved tropical themed restaurants, The Polynesian Restaurant in Torrance was like going to Disneyland for me. I grew up surfing and moved up toward Malibu, I lived in my 1958 VW bus at Malibu for a few years, Tikis, and Hawaiiana decorated my van. As life progressed, marriage and children were the main event for years, then I started using tropical plants in a remodel of my back yard...my daughter at 12 wanted to start surfing...then the biggest push happened, I found Hawaiiana on E-bay! I was hooked again, back to 2 tikis a day! In November 2002 I came across Tiki Central and never looked back. In other words, I was doomed from birth! Thanks for letting me tell my story, there were many other influences but these are the biggest.