Post #756436 by RevBambooBen on Fri, Dec 25, 2015 8:05 PM

This email came to me today! Pretty cool.

" Hi, Ben,

I caught an old blog by you regarding the Tiki Joe Room at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. I tried to join the site but was refused because of my AOL mail account.

I just wanted to tell you that I worked there in 1967-68 as an entertainer (guitar-vocals) and really enjoyed it. I met some really interesting folks there. We had fire dancers performing nightly outside the large windows in the restaurant, the Maitre De was Filipino as were most of the waiters. Quite a few of our steady customers were celebrities. It was actually my second professional gig. I started out at "The Brass Bell" a few blocks south of the Miramar owned by Gus Wolf.
That's where I met one of my regulars, Arthur Lake (Dagwood Bumstead) who invited my wife and me to a party at his house on the beach just north of the pier. He lived next door to Mae West and was married to W.R. Hearst and Marion Davies daughter, Patricia van Cleve who was our hostess/bartender. One of Tiki Joe's favorite drinks was "Navy Grog" invented by Don The Beachcomber who also invented the "Zombie"
Santa Monica was beautiful in the sixties and I miss those great days. The only reason I was in the LA area in the first place was because I met my best friend in the Navy in Vietnam, Peter Altmann. His mother was the subject of "Lady in Gold" as portrayed in the movie. They lived on Elm Street in Beverly Hills across from Danny Thomas and because of those famous paintings my friend is a multi-millionaire today.
Thanks for posting those pictures of the old Tiki Joe Room as it brought back fond memories. Remarkably, I'm still playing in a band once a week here in San Diego at 72.

Regards,

Bruce Robbins "