Tiki In Wisconsin Dells...

Heck... more than tiki... Shirts, Dresses, Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts, Kona Coffee, Leis, you name it from Hawaii it is probably here. The wife and I stopped in last year after a visit to the waterpark, and it is still there this year. The store is in Downtown Dells on Broadway and is called "Aloha." It is packed with goods right from Hawaii.

Check it out next time you're in the Dells...

As a matter of fact, I just got back from the Dells today and second your comments about the Aloha. However, with the notable exception of said store, I did not find any other real "Tiki" places. It's a real shame too because the Dells just exudes a type of aura that screams 1950's motel/cocktail lounge/cheap vacation scene. Many of the businesses have been around for half a century or more. I imagine there must have been an authentic Tiki bar there at one time in the past.
Alas, I found none. I checked out the huge waterpark/convention center called the Kalahari. Lots of cool decor and pictures and even a restaraunt called the Kahunaville but nothing really authentically Tiki. Just very, very Africanesque of course. (They did have some cool wall patterns in the lobby & Aloha shirts for sale in the shop with the brass hula dancer lamp for sale at $260.00).
Additionally I have been to the Polynesian, the Alakai and the Rain Forest hotels as well. Although all these places have some token pictures or plants or ornaments that would look good in a Tiki bar none come close for me.
Don't get me wrong these places in the Dells are really cool. Very lush in their own themes. The Great Wolf Lodge is fantastic in a Northern Woodsy type of way. The Essen House restaraunt will make you think you are in Germany and the drive-up-to-your-door Motels are wonderful throwbacks to the 60's and 70's.
Also it was hard to find any decent rum concoctions. At Sorrento's I had a Mai Tai with blended pineapple chunks held solid in a "rumish" scented slush. Horrible. (Good thing I brought my private, premixed Mai Tai in a Baccardi bottle for late nights poolside.)
Maybe I overlooked some neat Tiki places around here this area but Critiki website did not offer any other suggestions. I'll be back again probably next year since the place is just waterpark "crack" for the kids.

I was at a store in Racine yesterday called "Steve and Barry's" which I think is a chain.

They have aloha shirts for 5.95...Not great quality, but good gifts.

ALso they have for the same low price, baseball shirts that say "Stoners" and "Peckers"...most amuzing.

How do they do it?

(Volume volume volume...)

Last night I made my motel reservations for Wisconsin Dells, for the three nights following the Exotica event. My main criteria was that it had to be walking distance from downtown, and have an old vintage neon sign .... I ended choosing the Rainbow Motel
http://www.rainbowmotel-dells.com/

I have been to the Aloha store before -- it was fun. I also found some old Hawaiian stuff in the downtown antique stores, but they were priced at tourist-town, antique-store prices.

I'm looking forward to my Dells stay - the last time I took a Dells boat trip was probably in the 1960's, and I've wanted to do one again for a long time - along with having a swig at Nigs, finally seeing the Tommy Bartlett water show, check out the Forevertron sculpture in Baraboo again, and who knows what else the Dells area has to offer.

Vern

Given this thread is a couple years old, does anyone know of new tiki locations in the Dells? Also is the Aloha store there? I'm planning on taking the family up there next month and don't want to miss anything.

I was just in the Dells participating in a wave pool surf contest but never made it downtown.

Aloha is still listed as one of the Dells stores downtown...

Maybe email them to find out hours... most of the Dells is a summer vacation place as school kids work many of the attractions and families travel. Fall and winter the indoor resorts and water parks draw the main tourism.

Aloha Hawaiian Shop
Address:
316 Broadway
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
Phone:
(608) 253-3999
Web:
E-mail:
[email protected]

We carry authentic made in Hawaii aloha wear for men, women and children. Matching family sets will surely make you the family with the most aloha spirit! Find a large selection of swimwear including long & short cover up sets, bikini, tankini and one piece suits. Decorate your home Hawaiian style with our beautiful selection of hand-crafted wall decorations including tiki masks, bamboo curtains, pictures, clocks, silk fans, star lamps and more. Hawaiian perfume and lotions are available with beautiful fragrances such as plumeria, pikake, gardenia, white ginger, coconut and blue Hawaii.