Post #485775 by midnite on Tue, Sep 29, 2009 10:54 PM

We young strapping lads of Team Quicksand have been busy hosing down, soaping up, scrubbing all around, and then oiling our poles. Oh, and we cleaned up our recent Vic's warehouse items afterward as well. So, the sale? Why yes, THE sale.

Thursday came and with it a dull and foggy morning. A small faction of tiki fiends were frothing at the bit to travel out Richmond way and spend serious amounts of currency at the Trader Vic's Warehouse. Si, it was once again time for that thrice in a lifetime, at the latest count, Vic's sale. Would there be sufficiently cool and rare items for us to gobble up? Oh, the anticipation was almost too much to bear.

Team Quicksand, with special honorary team member Ron, arrived early as we are fan boys of the first order. Alas, that level of fan boydom would not suffice as we discovered a more dedicated follower of all things Vician had rooted himself in Richmond some two and one half hours earlier. The young man's commitment was rewarded with a collectively agreed upon (minus yours truly's lone dissenting vote) "first dibs" on all the uber cool Polynesian Pop stuff. It was the best tiki spirit on full display. I hate that shit.

Oh, the treasures were many but I had trouble deciding on just which little bauble would most satisfy my learned eye and refined taste. So....I got a fish, sort of a partial fish, really. It's cool, and very dead, but it...well, it stinks. I was leaning toward the chicken bong at one point. It was a real airline food type moment: chicken or fish, sir? Considering my ample travel experience one would think I would be ready for such a decision. One would be wrong.

The items from Berlin and or Dusseldorf (is that really a town in Germany?) were the highlights of the wares for sale. I remembered quite a few of the items from my time in Berlin, they brought back memories of fine cocktails and Bonnie Tyler tunes. As I stood contemplating the neato artifacts I wondered if Trader Vic's had the staying power to succeed. You know, the proper business plan to last? I then walked over and perused the 75th Anniversary t-shirts. At that point I was greeted by a friendly woman and we proceeded to have a good talk about reality television. Later, she claimed to be somehow directly related to a Vic Bergeron or two. Was she? Not sure. Kier said more than likely she was but was not certain from which one.

The sale this year was a slightly more muted experience overall, a smaller crowd of the tiki faithful. Don't get me wrong, there was considerable excitement and school-girl giggles, and not just from me and Bill playing puppet theater with potted parrot cocktail sticks. It's just the first once in a lifetime sale had more "this is never going to happen again-ishness." That's the way I like my warehouse sales. There's just the one, you live your whole life, and then you die. That's it. Otherwise things get so confusing. I am not sure, maybe they know what they're doing selling the old inventory from closed locations to us few rabid tiki-philes willing to risk the Richmond industrial scene. I'll take them at their word on that. However, I am not entirely sure about the "Berlin door handles" I bought. I went to Berlin Vic's a few times and I distinctly recall a revolving door. Hmmmm...?

Whatever, Richmond is beautiful this time of year and it was good to get out and about. Kier and Michelie are always nice enough to put up with me for a reasonable period. I had a great time during my two visits to the warehouse and hope I live long enough to see another. If not, then maybe long enough for my stuff to become significantly aged. 'Cept the partial fish, it's without a doubt definitely old...and smelly.

Always about the love,
midnite

PS I will personally fight anyone who disses the Trader Vic's Warehouses Sale generally or the Warehouse girls specifically. As a true gentleman and Navy Grog, or is it the Tortuga?, aficionado I must defend their respective honor.