Last swim for The Wreck Bar mermaids? - General Tiki

D donhonyc Tiki Socialite The Quiet EAST Village Joined: Jan 13, 2003 Posts: 1196	D donhonyc Posted posted on Tue, Dec 16, 2008 9:52 AM On 2008-12-16 00:21, Hurricane Hayward wrote: Most people in Florida have a very loose definition of "tiki bar," as James Teitelbaum so eloquently explains in Tiki Road Trip: http://www.tydirium.net/tiki/florida.html Please don't hold this against all Floridians. Being a former local of the Ft. Lauderdale area, growing up there in the 70s and 80s I can relate to the mindset. In a nutshell the locals regard anything advertised in a brochure, or near the beach, let's say from Federal Hwy (where the Mai Kai is) east to A1A, for 'tourists only' and therefore a 'tourist trap'. There was probably more of these so-called 'traps' during the 60s up until the 80s or 90s. As the population of South Florida grew in the last 30 or 40 years, greater Ft. Lauderdale to be specific, the ratio of tourist to local reversed in the latter's favor and the landscape has changed to your run-of-the-mill suburban sprawl. As a result the attitude toward things like Tiki bars is skewed in a major half-assed direction and it's why it's places like the Wreck Bar may cease to exist. The owners of these would be Tiki bars don't know squat from pop culture. They may as well be opening the place in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Chances are that that's where they from anyway.

On 2008-12-16 00:21, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Most people in Florida have a very loose definition of "tiki bar," as James Teitelbaum so eloquently explains in Tiki Road Trip:
http://www.tydirium.net/tiki/florida.html

Please don't hold this against all Floridians.

Being a former local of the Ft. Lauderdale area, growing up there in the 70s and 80s I can relate to the mindset. In a nutshell the locals regard anything advertised in a brochure, or near the beach, let's say from Federal Hwy (where the Mai Kai is) east to A1A, for 'tourists only' and therefore a 'tourist trap'. There was probably more of these so-called 'traps' during the 60s up until the 80s or 90s. As the population of South Florida grew in the last 30 or 40 years, greater Ft. Lauderdale to be specific, the ratio of tourist to local reversed in the latter's favor and the landscape has changed to your run-of-the-mill suburban sprawl. As a result the attitude toward things like Tiki bars is skewed in a major half-assed direction and it's why it's places like the Wreck Bar may cease to exist. The owners of these would be Tiki bars don't know squat from pop culture. They may as well be opening the place in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Chances are that that's where they from anyway.

Post #424236 by donhonyc on Tue, Dec 16, 2008 9:52 AM