Kona Kai, Wildwood Crest, NJ (motel) - Locating Tiki

M Mo-Eye Member Taboo Island, USA Joined: May 17, 2006 Posts: 646	M Mo-Eye Posted posted on Sat, Nov 7, 2009 11:29 AM On 2009-11-07 09:45, bigbrotiki wrote: Amazing amount of visual documentation you unearthed there, Mo! From heyday to decline, the complete history. And all on the internet!? Together with Google street view and that newspaper search engine you explored so well, urban archeology can now be practiced by the armchair explorer. Don't you wish that all those obscure Tiki places you dug up in the Florida gulf region had that kind of photographic track record! It is noteworthy though that, just like with the Motels in Myrtle Beach shown here recently, the execution of the Polynesian theme was somewhat subdued in Wildwood when compared to some West coast places. The East coast was clearly lacking outfitters like Oceanic Arts and Sea & Jungle. That's where Witco and Orchids of Hawaii came in. Yeah, I would kill for these kinds of photos for just a couple of the places in St. Petersburg! Luckily, Wildwood had a pretty big following that resulted in a lot of documenting in the 80s and 90s. The only thing - I just hate that term "Doo Wop"! I think the Kona Kai here had the heaviest tiki decor in the area, and they really only had about 3 tikis visible from the outside.

On 2009-11-07 09:45, bigbrotiki wrote:
Amazing amount of visual documentation you unearthed there, Mo! From heyday to decline, the complete history. And all on the internet!? Together with Google street view and that newspaper search engine you explored so well, urban archeology can now be practiced by the armchair explorer.

Don't you wish that all those obscure Tiki places you dug up in the Florida gulf region had that kind of photographic track record!

It is noteworthy though that, just like with the Motels in Myrtle Beach shown here recently, the execution of the Polynesian theme was somewhat subdued in Wildwood when compared to some West coast places. The East coast was clearly lacking outfitters like Oceanic Arts and Sea & Jungle. That's where Witco and Orchids of Hawaii came in.

Yeah, I would kill for these kinds of photos for just a couple of the places in St. Petersburg! Luckily, Wildwood had a pretty big following that resulted in a lot of documenting in the 80s and 90s. The only thing - I just hate that term "Doo Wop"!

I think the Kona Kai here had the heaviest tiki decor in the area, and they really only had about 3 tikis visible from the outside.

Post #492568 by Mo-Eye on Sat, Nov 7, 2009 11:29 AM