A Very Grotto Christmas: December 19th at The Novato Grotto! * Now with details!*

Come one and come all for some xmas cheer in bee-yootiful Novato, CA!

We're offering up two special events for the price of one.

1. First, come see the incredible Rombeiro Christmas House. A Novato tradition for over a dozen years, the Rombeiro decorate their place to an extent that must be seen to be believed. Over 50,000 lights, plus animated figures, fake snow and much more. Plus, every room of the interior is open for viewing and is wall to wall madness- huge train diorama, animatronic Santas, fiber optic angels- the list goes on and on. It is truly kitch overload and must be seen to be believed!!!

2. A special sneak peek at The Novato Grotto, featuring tropical holiday drinks!

The plan is to have an after-dinner, low-key Sunday night affair. We'd love to have folks up to see the joint and share some holiday spirit(s). We need some feedback- please post if you're interested in coming and we'll figure out the rest of the details!

(This is a non-religous event, by the way)

[ Edited by: martiki on 2004-12-16 08:06 ]

a pagen "festivis" at the grotto! we should be in. it is a tenetive yes at this point though. is there a motel near by your place?

Can we see some pics PLEASE?!

(This is a non-religous post, by the way)

There are a few cheap hotels in the area- including a decent looking travelodge right down the street at only $51 a night.

Sorry, Unga- The Novato Grotto can only be seen in person at this time. It's terribly exclusive.

Geese Martin,
It's not like I was asking to see a photo of your "exclusive" Tiki.

(This is a non-sexual post, by the way)

huh?

classic!

i caught that spelling error too. maybe unga had an early start on drinking this morning.....

:)

I wouldn't call it an early start. Maybe a head start. Either way it looks like we've got some catching up to do. I better get goin'.

Well, in fairness to Unga, if I'm going to give him the business about spelling, I must attack the hat as well: Pagen?

(This is a non-pagan event, by the way)

pagan shmagan same thing! gees and geese is a whole other story though. besides if you think colleen didn't give me the business already you are oh soooooo wrong. i was going to fix it but i hate editing my messages!

hey when is there going to be spell check on this site anyway!

The Foggy Grotto party crowd wasn't as "electrifying" as Martiki had hoped, but still all had a good time.
(This was a non-animal abuse event, by the way)

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga on 2004-12-11 23:04 ]

Sounds great, count me in!

Woo hoo! Pineapples are in!

You know, after that last Foggy Grotto party, I had poo on my shoes, and corn in my pockets...I thought it was the 151??? jeeez.

Cindy? cheesy beer fondue???? PLEASE?
xoxox
mrs. pineapple

I'm working on it- hope we can make it! Should know in the next day or two.

On 2004-12-12 12:28, mrs. pineapple wrote:
Cindy? cheesy beer fondue???? PLEASE?

Of course! :D

What are the viewing hours of the Rombeiro house?

I hear the seductive siren's call of the Novato Grotto.

-Weird Unc

Hey Martiki & Rebecca - we'll bring some snacky things...

we can't wait to see the grotto!
xoxox
mrs. P

On 2004-12-12 12:28, mrs. pineapple wrote:
You know, after that last Foggy Grotto party, I had poo on my shoes, and corn in my pockets...

Geese, this sounds like a blast!
I should know by Thursday if I can make it.

(this is a non-duck post, by the way)

Naomi and I hope to come, probably toward the earlier side of your eve. When are you starting?

-Randy

I'm definitely interested, and I'm sure Bruce is as well, once he recovers from his violent food poisoning which I assure you is NOT directly related to the "open container" of Bushmills he was drinking from all day yesterday!

(Rather, don't eat at Cantina Jo's in Downtown Disney - trust me!)

On 2004-12-14 11:24, dangergirl299 wrote:
I'm definitely interested, and I'm sure Bruce is as well, once he recovers from his violent food poisoning !

( don't eat at Cantina Jo's in Downtown Disney - trust me!)

I call it "Bano Jo's'!!!

Mrsmiley, lay off the calamari!

ewww!

All: Thanks for the interest! I'm still thinking about the details- will post again soon!

Count us in.

I would say something witty, but unfortunately I'm sober.

tikivixen, pagan duck fan

At long last... Here is the plan:

We need to visit the Xmas house first, since it's a family kind of place, and a fleet of drunk yahoos will not be welcome. From there, we will make the short caravan to The Novato Grotto, which I hope will not be too disappointing after the many animatronic Santas at the Xmas house. We'd like to get everyone on the same page at the same time, so...

Meet at the Rombiero Christmas House at 7:00PM. We'll gather up and head in shortly after that.

The House is located at:

34 Devonshire Drive
Novato, CA

Directions: take 101 North to the San Marin Drive/Atherton Ave Exit. Head up the ramp and turn left over the freeway onto San Marin Drive. You will be on it for almost three miles. San Marin Drive turns into Sutro Ave. Continue straight, and in .4 miles, turn left on Center Rd and left again on Devonshire Drive. You won't miss it, it's brighter than the sun.

If we're real lucky, we might just get a perfomance from the North Pole's number one singing sensation...Elfis! (no joke)

After that, we'll head over to the Grotto, and maybe carpool a bit as we're tight on guest parking some nights. It's only two minutes away.

We gladly welcome and deeply appreciate anyone bringing food and snacks: we figured it would be an after dinner thing, but everyone always eats after a few pops, so it would be great. We're sort of counting on food donations since we're a little on the broke side and won't be putting any out ourselves. sorry about that. There's also nowhere to eat near us, really, so be advised.

Please bring holiday cheer as well!

If there's anyone who can't make it by seven, send me a PM and I'll give you directions to the Grotto.

Looking forward to seeing you all!!!!!!

One more thing:

Would everyone please bring a few dollar bills with them to donate to the Rombiero's? There is a donation box out front. I heard somewhere that their electric bill for December is over $2000.00! You'll see why.

Woohoo, geese, animatronics, electricity and booze! what could be better to drag TikiBot out his holiday induced funk!
We'll bring cheer, sushi and an awe insprired gaze, (for the animattonics....)
see you there -
the Pineappleses

Every time I see this post I think it says "A Very Ghetto Christmas".

Martin & Rebecca, we can't make it tonight. Naomi's a bit under the weather, and we're just a little overwhelmed with holiday prep too. Looking forward to the next chance to see the new and improved grotto in 2005!

-Randy

Ditto here, Martiki...
Way too much fun (and cocktails) at Aquazombie and TikiGoddess' house last night !! also Denise is leaving on a business trip tomorrow morning !!
Have a blast you guys...will visit the Grotto soon.

Martiki,

I'll have to say I miss your schtrarmunstrafrienz (I made that one up, ask me how).

I'd love to attend your party, but could you get me a ride up and back (must be full-service).

Let me be the first to say, about the Novato Grotto, HOLY CRAP! It's a 14 on a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being the best tiki bar ever. The extra bonus points are for presentation and drama, and a few for good, really good company!
The drinks were delicious, as always, but really, you guys have outdone yourselves with the décor! I'm happy you've got the bar you've always dreamed of!

And the Romberio's are to, um, lots of Christmas decorations, what The Grotto is to magnificent Tiki experiences. Who knew that Santa and the reindeer landed on the barn that Jesus was born in, and that along with the 3 wise men, were Mickey and Minnie Mouse in 18th century apparel, a dozen Frosty the Snowman's, and 250000 twinkling lights. The home to the scariest/weirdest animatronics dancing snowman EVER!

Thanks Martin and Rebecca for the great party, Cindy for the secret cheesy beer fondue and Judd and Mark for treating us to a 2 hour ukulele sing along. And thanks for not cutting me off when I was encouraged to sing the Freebird verse/guitar solo. What a great way to kick off Christmas week,
I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It could be the residual rum...

Mr. Pineapple is posting photos...

"You're the mayor of shark city, people think you want the beaches open."

[ Edited by: mrs. pineapple on 2004-12-20 10:23 ]

I bumped my head on a low beam, was knocked out for a half-hour and during that time Drunken Santa show up!!!! I always miss all the fun!
Thanks M and R for an otherwise fun event in a great place!! :wink:

O holy night! That was one of the best tiki events ever! Thanks to M&R for their awesome holiday hospitality. There weren't any wise men left at the end of the night, but there were lots of jolly ones. The bar is beyond belief and truly one of the wonders of the known world. Here's just a few pics from a great night. I think some people may still be there drinking at this moment, so consider these pics a "live feed".

More pics and captions to come later, including a movie of the horrifying animatronic snowman from Hell. The first two are the Christmas house near Martiki's and are NOT his place. Though they do illustrate how you feel when visiting the grotto: Like you're lit up by a million twinkling lights, and the next morning you wake up with a huge electrical bill.

Tiki-bot

[ Edited by: Tiki-bot on 2004-12-20 10:47 ]

Oh Yeah, Santa was there...he promised to let me sit on his lap, but he left before I could talk to him, I think it was during my Freebird solo...

When Santa walked in I had a weird flashback to dirty dancing with him at a Devilettes show last year. I think I drink too much around the holidays...

Geese, finally some mystery photos.
Thanks Tiki-bot.
The Grotto looks great Martin and Rebecca,
I hope to make the next gig.

I'm showing these pictures to my friends at work, and I realized that it's possible that some people might not see the line between horribly tacky over the top, and amazingly detailed, lovingly collected...oh well, had they served rum punch at the Romberio's, my cynicism would have been drowned...

On 2004-12-20 10:54, Unga Bunga wrote:
Geese, finally some mystery photos.
Thanks Tiki-bot.
The Grotto looks great Martin and Rebecca,
I hope to make the next gig.

It was a GEESE and Peppermint Schnapps free event!!!

But there were some pagans there.

Fantastic party! Man, oh, man! The Martikis have done a splendid job creating the Novato Grotto. The cocktails were copious and expertly concocted. The company was outstanding as was the food. Thanks also to Hanford who shared his secret that if one were to dip Mr. & Mrs. Pineapples' homemade sensational sushi into Cynfull's delectable cheesy-beer fondue, one would have an altogether sublime snacking experience. Indeed! Three cheers for The Grotto and gang!

-Weird Unc

p.s. Aquarj, you and Chichiwan were missed. Hope y'all is feeling fine.

I love my NorCal 'ohana! I love 'em sooooo much that I flew up Sunday afternoon (and had to grab a flight home first thing this morning... went to work straight from the airport!) because I had to be at the first Novato Grotto party. It was a great time, spent with friends who are very, very dear to me, and I'm so glad I got to be there.

Thank you to Martin & Rebecca for going all-out as hosts... I've never had a bum drink from Martin, even when he's made something up on the spot, it's been delicious. Mark & I had many tasty Captain's Grogs and Painkillers... it's a miracle to me that when I woke up this morning (at an inhuman hour), I somehow felt A-OK. The food was delicious, too... Cyndful's fondue must be experienced, and while I regrettably didn't try the sushi with cheese, the sushi was delish, as well! Mahalo to Judd for making my uke sound much, much better than I could have--Mark really enjoyed your uke jam, usually he's stuck with me, which is a not-entirely-fun jamming experience. And most of all, mahalo to Santa for kissing me under the mintletoe! And as if having a visit from Santa wasn't exciting enough, we also had a visit from another mythical entity: Hanford Lemoore!

The whole picture gallery is here:

http://photo.humuhumu.com/v/grottoxmas/

I'll pull a few of my favorite pics out later tonight.

Critiki - Ooga-Mooga - Humu Kon Tiki

[ Edited by: Humuhumu 2005-09-23 15:40 ]

I enjoyed myself and the company of the few, the proud, the distinguished, and the embarassingly drunk.... well, not really. But man, if the Coco Lopez hadn't been tapped, I have a feeling that the Novato Grotto motel would have a buzzing "No Vacancy" sign.

Dammit, did I miss Drunken Santa though? Bugger. The "Apeshit Bonzo" Christmas House was a blast as well.

Cheers to all.

-tikimonkey, aka Sarge, aka DocTiki

Many thanks for the kind words and many thanks for the fantastic turnout!

We thought: a Sunday night, holiday week, middle of nowhere, etc., that we'd get about four people for about 15 minutes. Lesson learned: Never underestimate the NorCal ohana! (Or Humu!!) Always a good crowd and always great drinkers!

AND- we're overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. Thank you for all the fine gifts of barware, food, booze and handicrafts. We couldn't have asked for a better innagural party for the grotto. I really enjoyed all the terrific food, and hope dearly that Mr. & Mrs. Pineapple were not offended by dipping their tasty sushi into Velveeta! It was surprisingly good! Good thing Judd didn't see me make spritzers with his wine! :wink:

Thanks again to all, and to all a good night!

[ Edited by: martiki on 2004-12-20 17:25 ]

Yep, that was just the most amazing tiki bar unveiling imaginable! You could cut the drama and anticipation with a knife (fogcutter?) :)

You two are the best- mahalo for the excellent drinks, great company, and throwing another blast of a gig!

The Famous Fondue Recipe

1 16-ounce package Velveeta, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup Anchor Steam Beer
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 1-pound loaf sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

Combine Velveeta, beer and Tabasco, then heat in microwave until cheese is melted. Serve in heated fondue pot with bread cubes for dipping.

For last night's party, I doubled the recipe. Yes, that was TWO POUNDS of Velveeta! whee!