Post #577147 by Phillip Roberts on Mon, Feb 21, 2011 6:00 PM

Aloha,

Excellent stuff, DC!

People always have such great memories of this place when I ask... One of my favorite stories is from a beachboy who told me, "Oh that place was da best. As kids, we would hang out there because after the pig was lifted out of the imu, the workers would always leave a little of the kalua pork on the wire (it was wrapped in) for us to eat. So ono!"

I did not end up using the brochure with the luau story since I'd seen it in some other book...

The six toed sign from the Barefoot Bar resides at the US Army museum of the Pacific.

Menu from Gam's at the Queen surf is undated.

Originally the property was Queen Lili'uoklani's former seaside cottage. In 1916, Chicago architects Holabird and Roche designed the residence for C.W. Deering. Chris Holmes bought the property in 1933. In 44, Roosevelt met with MacArthur and Nimitz there. After WWII, The Spencecliff Brother ran this until the end of it's run. The city (Mayor Fasi) condemmed the property and Widened the beach. A snack bar stands in it's place on Queen's Beach...

Waikiki Tiki; Art, History, and Photographs.
Available now from Bess Press Hawaii.

[ Edited by: Phillip Roberts 2011-02-21 18:14 ]