Post #945 by Kailuageoff on Tue, Apr 23, 2002 9:02 AM

Just returned from Tarpon Springs, Fla. where we stayed at the Tahitian Resort in Holiday, Fla.; a mere 5 minutes from Tarpon's famous Sponge Docks.
Two major and unfortunate developments to report at the Tahitian Resort: 1) a new color scheme of pink and aqua trim has replaced the former beige and brown that felt much more Polynesian. 2) The huge restaurant that was next door burned down a few weeeks ago and the ruins were being hauled away during our visit. The restaurant was architecturally part of the huge Tahitian complex that the Tahitain Resort anchors. This complex also includes an office tower and multiple retirement villas (huts?). When I visited last year the resuraunt was a buffet but still had many Polynesian elements including large tiki masks on the exterior walls. The demolition company told me the place had been converted to a Country & Western bar a few months before the fire and I could still see where a bright green cactus had been painted on one of the outside walls. Whether this means the tiki masks had been removed, or were lost in the fire is a mystery. Perhaps the tiki gods immolated themselves rather than endure this awful desecration?
In any event, I strongly recommend all tiki-philes that are able to visit the resort do so in the near future, as it is hard to predict the future of this wonderful vestige of pre-Disney tiki. There is a photo of the old restaurant on my Yahoo photos page, as well as a picture of the pool area of the resort. Unfortunately, the pictures I took of the restaurant tiki masks didn't turn out last year due to poor lighting.
http://photos.yahoo.com/kailuageoff