Post #416609 by tobunga on Fri, Oct 31, 2008 3:29 PM

We got to Kona about 8.30pm, and went down in the basement with about 10 other guests shortly after that.

Wow, what a huge space! You could fit like four TIKI TIs down there. It was dark and candle lit, to set the mood, and people were a little jumpy!

I only managed to get two pix:

One of the Original Sam's lettering from the swordfish sign, illuminated by candles... it was amazing to be standing so close to tiki history... well, and touching tiki history too, since I moved the candles around to get a better shot.

The other pic is some of the shelves where you can see unused decorations, like a little tiki hut bird house sort of thing. There's also a turtle shell and other lighting fixtures, but you can't really see them in this pic. There were several glass floats and one of those pointy woven Chinese hats. In fact, the rooms were filled with all kinds of restaurant detritus: lots of trays of glasses, wicker chairs, and even a whole bar! The stuff was haphazardly stored... I'd love to poke around down there with lights on (and at least one other person by my side)... I'm sure there's forgotten treasures hidden away in there.

It was very informal. Our guide just let us look around, and a couple of times, an employee jumped out from behind a wall and went "Boo!". Our guide showed us points of interest, such as the red walls of one room (the bordello, as is was suspected of being), the rum runner tunnel, and mentioned that employees shy away from the basement, especially if they have to go down alone.

It wasn't scary, but it was kinda creepy, with almost no lights and all... and it was free, so that was great.

At one point, our guide had to go back up, and left another employee in charge of the group. We were alone in one of the rooms, and I heard the basement door slam shut. For a moment, I thought we had been left behind, not realizing that the rest of the group was still in another room. I was almost seized with panic. Almost.

After, we had mai-tais in the bar. Martin Denny's "The Enchanted Isle" played in between Rufus ( featuring Chaka Khan) and Depeche Mode, so that was a magical moment: Kona, a mai-tai, and Denny!