Post #561726 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Tue, Oct 26, 2010 6:02 PM

On 2008-10-28 12:13, TIKIBOSKO wrote:
I briefly covered this in my San Diego Tiki talk at the 07 Oasis, there was never a Don the Beachcomber at Vacation Village. I’ve spoken to several old timers who used to go there in the 60’s and they say there was (always) the Barefoot bar and a steak house/small bar but no Don’s. If you look at Sven’s list on page one of this thread there is no mention of a San Diego location until the 1970 (Harbor Island) so if there had been one here in the 60’s why not list it? Also if there was another restaurant at Vacation Village which building could have housed it?
The only piece of evidence (of a Don’s at that location) that I have seen is the ONE matchbook that mentions it, but I have another ten match covers from there that don’t.

Unless there is some new compelling evidence which I would be happy to acknowledge, this was just a mistake that got perpetuated up until now.

Bosko

It took some research, but I was finally able to solve the enigma of the Vacation Village location for Don The Beachcomber's in San Diego. Bosko was right - it didn't exist in the 60s or 70s, it came later.

First, here's the location at 1590 Harbor Island Drive (next to the Sheraton), that opened in June 1970:

I own the postcard above and the matchbook and they both state "Harbor Island".

Before I reveal the Vacation Village location, it might be helpful to give a little info on Vacation Village itself:

Vacation Village was built in 1962 by Hollywood film maker, former rabbi, and famous cynic, Jack Skirball. Skirball went from rabbi to filmmaker after he came to the conclusion that "you don't affect people very much by preaching to them."

He created Vacation Village on Mission Bay as a "Poor Man's Polynesia", where "natives paddle about not in canoes - but gondolas". It was supposed to be an inexpensive and convenient alternative to Tahiti, Hawaii or Africa. The beautiful lush lagoons were lit by tiki torches at night.

There was a floating bar that came to your bungalow door and there was also the underground Barefoot Bar, which Bosko mentioned, which was for casual dining and had live Belly Dancing shows. Here's a postcard of the Barefoot Bar from 1972:

However, despite it's Polynesian/African/Tropics theme, there is no mention was made of a Don The Beachcomber at this location through the 1960s or 70s. Here is a sampling of newspaper ads that make no mention of it:

:up: 1975

:up: 1977

From 1978 to 1979, the ads disappear from the local papers. Then in Sept 1980, in a Winnipeg Free Press article, giving the history of Vacation Village, and promoting it as a good vacation destination for Canadians, the author mentions some recent changes to the resort, including: "Don The Beachcomber's now occupies the old Barefoot Bar". The Bellydancing shows are no more.

Sure enough, the newspaper ads also start up again in 1980, but with Don's replacing the Barefoot Bar in the text:

:up: 1980

:up: 1983

:up: Oct 1985

After the 1985 ad above, I can find no mention of Don's associated with the Vacation Village Hotel, so I suspect if must have closed around this time.

Thus, it looks like Don's opened some time between 1978 and 1980 and was gone by 1986.

I'd probably place Boris' matchbook at around this early 1980s time period as well:

So once again, here are the two San Diego locations:

:down: Harbor Island

:down: Vacation Village

Still hoping to find an image of the Barefoot Bar AFTER it became Don The Beachcomber's. I wonder what cosmetic changes were made.

Sabu

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[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2010-10-26 18:14 ]