Visiting Phoenix, New York, South Florida

I'll be in the Phoenix area (Scottsdale, I think) next week, from the 8th thru the 15th, spending time with my husband's family. We're definitely going to head out to Tuscon to see the Kon Tiki, is there anything else I should check out while I'm there? I'll have my camera, and I'll have time for some urban archaeology, if anyone has any assignments for me.

The best tiki bar is the one that's within stumbling distance of your bed
The Humuhumu Room

[ Edited by: Humuhumu on 2003-01-04 01:28 ]

Two more trips for me on the horizon: I'll be in Cold Spring Harbor, NY 1/27-1/29, and possibly the weekend before that, too. I'm not sure how transportation works on Long Island, but I'm hoping to visit some tiki hotspots out there, any tips? I've never been to the Big City, so I'm a bit frightened at the prospect of hitting Manhattan solo, but if anything can get me there, it's tiki.

Also, I'm going to be in Marco Island, Florida from 2/4-2/9. It looks like it's about 2 hours to the MAI KAI! So I'm DEFINITELY going to make that trip -- anything else I should see around Marco Island or between there and Ft. Lauderdale?

I wouldn't be afraid to visit New York City by yourself. I spent a week there on my own about 5 years ago and felt completely safe (and I was out until late most nights). In 1982 it was a different story. If you stick to the main streets when walking at night you'll be fine. See the New York City tiki thread for info on new tiki bars there.

If you have time, you can take the old Tamiami Trail (Highway 41) from Marco Island to Miami and then up to Fort Lauderdale and take the Interstate back, or vice-versa. I hear there are some interesting roadside attractions on that highway through the Everglades. Make sure and call the Mai Kai to reserve a table for the show.

Greetings from New York City!

It happens that sometime around the same time you are coming here, one of our other Tiki Centralites from California is also coming through. We usually try to get together and do a little crawl with other locals. There is about 2/3 good places to go, all downtown. There is nothing TIKI that I know of in Long Island.

Cold Spring is not far away, its a 1 hour train ride to midtown. If you are interested, let us know.

ManiacC - what do you think? Stentiki - what is your schedule?

Yes! I would be very interested in getting together! I'm buying my plane tickets Monday morning -- I have to be there by Monday morning (1/27), but I can fly out Saturday 1/25, I think. I'm leaving on Wednesday 1/29. How do those dates work?

There is not a lot of other tiki stuff in Tucson, but the sign for the Kon Tiki Motel is still up if you are interested in seeing it. It is on Stone ave. When are you going to be in Tucson?

Thanks for the tip, dipsomaniac23! We don't know which day we'll be going to Tucson yet, I don't think I can plan anything until I'm down there, unfortunately.

Aloha, Humuhumu!
If you're in the northern part of Phoenix/Scottsdale, you may want to check out Cocomo Joe's in Cave Creek. http://www.cocomojoes.com/
I was taken here last month by friends who thought I'd really dig it. There are tikis, thatch covered bar, torches, and tropical drinks. There's also a TV with sports being shown, however, they've covered it in thatch and it's being held up by a tiki. Does that make it better? I don't know. The music was thumpin' pretty loudly with only about half the joint filled. The food wasn't bad and the drinks were'nt unpalatable. Anyway, if you're in the area, you may get a kick out of it.

-Weird Unc

p.s. Do not miss Kon-Tiki in Tucson!
Also, if you're on the Tamiami trail in Florida, check out Gator Park. Along with airboat tours, they have the best signage in the area. Think giant gator head protruding from the front of the gift shop as well as a real stuffed bear giving a real stuffed deer a tour in a real airboat perched atop a giant coke can! Weird!

[ Edited by: weirduncletiki on 2003-01-07 15:49 ]

It is not tiki, but you might want to visit the Shelter while you are in Tucson. it is a fabulous bar! The light up Kennedy there is not to be missed. The drinks are always good and they are ususally playing sixties spy movies on the T.V.

The call of the NYC tiki bekons me. I'm there, baby. Anytime--all the tiki places.

Humuhumu-

Right now timing is open. I think Uncle Arty is actually in new york the week before, but we should still take you around.

Everything is pretty much open all nights, but Monday is kinda fun at Waikiki Wallys cause the "tiny bubbles" band plays. Shall we say Monday the 27th of January?

If we want to make it a monday nite Crawl, I think Otto's has live music that night too. (maybe the Fishermen?) Geez, I think that i'm already catching a cold for the 28th and will be needing to call in sick.

cough, cough, me too!

Let's move all this to the new topic you made.

Inks

Dang! I'll miss you by a week, Humuhumu.

I'll be flying to New York on January 16 and will be up for crawlin' on either the 17th or 18th!

Let me know what works for you, Cat and Inky!

NYC Pubcrawl III!

Ugh -- just got back from Phoenix, and there's no way I'm gonna be able to catch up on these posts. I don't think I can do that again -- every day without Internet access, I die a little death.

Here's my (pretty crappy) pictures from the trip:

The Kon Tiki is on the east side of Tuscon. It's crowded between strip-mall buildings now, but when it opened forty or so years ago, it had the lot to itself.

Here's the sign close to the street.

Here's the much cooler sign, but it's closer to the actual building, and hard to see from the street. I imagine the torches used to be lit, but they couldn't be today -- those trees are too close. We didn't see it at night, but I imagine the cooless factor rises when it's lit up. The tiki at the top is pretty faded.

This tiki is beside the building.

The building, as seen on BOT pg. 16. It's modest, but a noble effort given the small amount of space, and the fact that it has to compete with the strip mall surroundings.

Big ol' tiki out front, with the mandatory bridge. The "water" is a tile mosaic, which is a decent comprimise given the value of water in the desert.

Two tikis by the front door.

Ah, paradise at last. This is the first actual tiki bar I've ever been in, and it felt goooood. We were there at about 2 on a Friday afternoon, and the place was dead, save for a few folks who looked like regulars, and not for the tiki. The place is in pretty good shape, but it's clear that it's seen much better days. It could use a lot of dusting, and some attention to finer details. The drinks were good, but they weren't served in tiki mugs(!). The food was pretty bad, except for the ribs, which were excellent. I told the waitress we were visiting Phoenix from Seattle and had driven to Tuscon just to see the Kon Tiki, and she clearly thought I was crazy. After she'd had a few minutes to decide we weren't the dangerous kind of crazy, she was extremely nice to us, gave us leis and showed us around a bit. That brightly lit cage holds a gila monster -- our waitress said it used to have macaws, but they were mean. She said the waitstaff is getting tired of hearing "where are the macaws?" from the customers. She said that usually there's water flowing down from the giant clamshells, she didn't know why it wasn't working that day.

Cocomo Joe's is in Cave Creek, about 30 min. north of where we were staying in Scottsdale -- dipsomaniac23 suggested checking it out.

It's got some neat points, but it's definitely got a Carribean vibe. There was a guy playing Buffett tunes on his guitar, with a synthesizer playing full-band backup for him. Yowza! As dipsomaniac23 mentioned, it's got a bunch of tv's playing ESPN. We didn't eat, but the drinks were pretty good, and I spied a few volcano bowls at the bar. I've had to lighten the pics dramatically to show any sort of detail, and it's washed out the color. The cutie in the pics is my infinitely patient husband.

On my way to visit the Desert Botanical Gardens, I spotted a lovely dramatic A-frame:


It's a very small building (on McDowell, just east of Papago Park), and today it houses an Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I went by it more slowly on the way back, but didn't spot any evidence of a previous tiki incarnation. But I could feel it in my soul! Does anyone know what this originally was?

Bonus pics!

I got to beat up a cowboy at the Old Tuscon theme park.

I had no frickin' idea that saguaros were this big.

Next stop, NYC. Uncle Arty, it's too bad I'll miss you by a week!

The best tiki bar is the one that's within stumbling distance of your bed
The Humuhumu Room

[ Edited by: Humuhumu on 2003-01-15 21:10 ]

nice pic's, thanks, I think Im gonna head out there soon.

Great pictures Humuhumu! Thanks for sharing. As much as I would like to live someplace green, every once in awhile I'll see something to make me remember how cool our deserts really are! Saguaros are really amazing! My husbands in NYC right now, 27 degrees today with windchill who know what it felt like! I know it wont feel like Tuscon! Don't forget your coat!

Great pictures! I'm glad the Kon Tiki has survived despite the encroachment of stripmall-itis. Can't wait to see your pictures of Florida.

Humuhumu,
Mahalo for those pics. I can't believe I lived in Tucson in the late 70's and never went to this place. I had moved from Hawaii two years prior and, like the stupid kid I was, thought Polynesian stuff on the mainland was some kind of bogus joke. In fact, I seem to remember thinking just about everything was some kind of a bogus joke at that age.
Seems like I remember a big old Moai sitting somewhere on Speedway Blvd. It might have been for a mini-golf. Am I having a flashback, or did someone locate that about a year ago and post about it?

Hey Kailuageoff check out the post "Giant tiki head in Tucson?" I just posted a pic of it.

Humuhumu wrote:

It's a very small building (on McDowell, just east of Papago Park), and today it houses an Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I went by it more slowly on the way back, but didn't spot any evidence of a previous tiki incarnation. But I could feel it in my soul! Does anyone know what this originally was?

I saw this building this morning when driving from Scottsdale to my hotel in Phoenix...kinda got my blood flowing since I didn't expect it and it just jumped out of the scenery. Its been over two years since Humuhumu made this post; has anyone joined the group since who can tell us about it's original owner?

On 2003-01-15 21:08, Humuhumu wrote:
Ugh -- just got back from Phoenix, and there's no way I'm gonna be able to catch up on these posts.Here's my (pretty crappy) pictures from the trip:
On my way to visit the Desert Botanical Gardens, I spotted a lovely dramatic A-frame:


It's a very small building (on McDowell, just east of Papago Park), and today it houses an Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I went by it more slowly on the way back, but didn't spot any evidence of a previous tiki incarnation. But I could feel it in my soul! Does anyone know what this originally was?

Wow, this brings back memories! I'd still love to find out what the deal is with that cool little building. I still have pictures from that NY & Florida trip to post...

I saw the same building on my recent trip to AZ and took a few pics. I'd love to know what this place was originally built for.