Post #49117 by Tiki Bree on Sun, Aug 24, 2003 10:01 PM

Just got back from Chicago. Wow! What a blast. Who'd a thunk that Illinois was housing so much rich, chocolately, Tiki goodness????

Trader Vics was a great way to kick things off. I discovered a Peach/Rum concoction yummed me but good! The surroundings were solidly tikified and the company was outstanding!

If you missed Delilah's on Friday you missed some fantastic rums (the mango flavored one kinda stole Tristan's heart and the South African liquour put a smile on my face - especially after the third sample!) It was a really neat kickoff to one of our favorite memories of the weekend: THE PARTY BUS. Captain Dan, you are our new best friend! From preflight instructions to endless rum punch/beer/snacks....boy, it's the only to fly!!!!!

The Kona Kai was cool (I've got the mug, poster and Dave's book as souvenirs) and the Rock-aTiki was VERY IMPRESSIVE!!! Man, high marks for doing it right. We saw so many great tiki details including a couple of Mai Tiki tikis (reminded us of home here in Fla.).

We met up with the gang at the Hala Kahiki on Saturday....a moment of reverent silence please.... we were delighted, surprised and went into sensory overload (ok, maybe the overload part was triggered by the Volcano - a tasty steal at only $10.50!) but suffice it to say that, save for the Mai Kai, it is the coolest, most totally tiki place we've ever seen! A definite high point was seeing a Witco piece on the screen during Sven's excellent slide presentation and being able to turn our heads a few degrees and see that same piece on a wall, or table or in a corner or know that you'd just seen it in the next room. The Hala Kahiki is truly a Witco shrine. What a rush!

And speaking of rush... IT WAS BACK TO THE PARTY BUS for the trek to the luau. Once again, the alcohol, exotica tunes and good times rolled into the Chicago sunset.

The luau was fun, the weather was great and the ride to Phylis' was filled with games, rum, tunes (ok, you get the idea - if you go next year you have to leave the driving to Captain Dan).

Regretably we had to fly back on Sunday (those pesky jobs keep getting in the way) and so we missed the Sunday festivities.

Still, we had a ball and are SO glad we made the trek! Kudos and sincere thanks to the crew in Chicago for staging such a great event. Ya done good!

PS: We've got lotsa pics but haven't figured out how to post them on TC so... we'll email them to James - he of superior technological ablilities - and ask that he do the honors. Thanks!