Post #789373 by Mariner Mike on Thu, Aug 23, 2018 9:35 AM

Aloha and Ahoy from Philadelphia, Tiki Ohana!

A few years ago I was exploring the burgeoning cocktail movement, on the path of speakeasies and gin. The summer was just beginning and my thoughts began to drift to rum. I'd been unfamiliar with the spirit beyond the white stuff and the spiced one featuring a sea monster, but I had heard the term Tiki Drinks at some point, and I soon found myself with a copy of Beachbum Berry Remixed. One book led to more, a handful of bottles multiplied into a collection. And thus, the siren song pulled me off of that path, through the jungle and to the quiet village of Tiki that hid within.

At the time my dad had a house at the Jersey Shore in which the previous owners had so thoughtfully included a wet bar. There the original Mariner Mike's was born (the name was a creation of a friend and regular).

Sadly, all thing must eventually come to an end, the house had to be sold, and Mariner Mike was left without an island to call his own.

Like all good pirates after a second act setback, Mariner Mike was down but not out. I had recently bought a house in Philadelphia, and, though I was still largely in the process of getting settled, a plan began to emerge to build a new bar in the basement, which for some reason has a back room. The existing space has exposed beams and a low ceiling, which inspired the name Below Decks. Those combined with the stone walls led me to the concept of this being a wrecked ship used as a smuggler's hideaway. It's not as though I can just pop over to OA from the east coast, so I have to make do with a lot of diy touches.

The Before Pictures:

As you can see, the space was pretty rough and I had a bunch of junk stored back there. First step was pulling all that out. Then I discovered that the wall needed some repointing. To go with the Nautical / Tiki Aesthetic we used a terra cotta dye.

Next step was to start construction on the bar itself. To achieve the smuggler effect I wanted to build a bar that looked like shipping crates. I used 4x4s as posts, 2x4s for framing, and pallet wood for the slats on the crate. I also used some of the pallet wood to panel the bare walls in the front. The bar top is a very heavy plywood used for making cutting dies at my day job.

The next step was staining and sealing the bar top.

And now we've reached the "in progress" part of the story. Right now we're in the middle of running electric so I can replace the exposed bulb fixtures with something more suitable to the mood. Either side of the door I'm putting jelly jar sconces I'm going to paint for port/starboard. Above the bar I've put in some spotlight style fixtures so I could direct the light down and not have anything hanging in the way of interacting with people. I got some pendant globe lights I'm going to paint and tie up to look like floats, they're going to go under the ductwork. These are all going to be controlled by antique style (but UL certified) push button switches by the door, and dimmers behind the bar.

Once the electric is done I'll be moving on to plumbing (adding a sink to the bar), moving in furniture from the former bar, and decorating, which I'm looking forward to most of all. The big shelf from the old bar is going to go behind the bar-ish, tables/chairs are going to go under the ductwork or in the rear, reed fencing is going to go over the plumbing, and I'm going to hang thatch over the duct.

Thats all for now but I'll be sure to post updates as it moves towards operation

[ Edited by: Mariner Mike 2019-01-02 10:48 ]