Sabina and Mike's California Coastal Crawl- May & June '05!

It's post Oasis, and WE NEED TIKI! (And we want to meet West Coast Tikicentralites!)

I lived in Ohio- the Kahiki's now gone.

I live in the DC area- Honolulu's now gone.

So what can I say, it was time to go coastal! Cali-Tiki-fornia (mostly) Coastal that is.

For the next month or so, Mike (who hasn't really found his Tiki central name yet, but has been Tiki Traveling right alongside me) and I will be doing a laid back crawl from San Diego up towards Sacramento, then slowly back home towards Maryland.

In between we have a few friends to meet up with etc- but we want to squeeze in lots of Tiki along the way. We've done parts of SoCal Tiki-wise before, but we want to do much more and meet with Tikicentralites as we go.

Now, are we going to get to see everyone, all the home bars, and all the amazing Tikis between here and there, unfortunately no. BUT in a real laid back kinda way, sometimes very spur of the moment, we'll be stopping by lots of places.

For the next month or so, when I can, I'll ping this thread with the when and where we're going to be for meet ups, and folks can work out details of meeting up, make suggestions of places we must not miss etc.

Meanwhile, everyone can follow some of our travels on our Tiki webpage, which we'll update as we find time-

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/

Oh, and come hell or high water, I'm NOT leaving CA without experiencing Tiki-Ti!

[ Edited by: Sabina on 2005-05-24 02:14 ]

Southernmost Cali-crawl point- San Diego.

This Thurday night- May 26th.
Bali Hai for drinks and Puu Puus, or dinner if folks are so inclined. afterwards, we can wander the gardens.

We'll aim for early evening as the Bali Hai is not a late night kinda place.

Anyone interested in getting together, give a heads up here so if it's going to be a larger group we can do a reservation.

Let us know when your chosen Tiki Ti date will be - we'll meet ya there! (Shoot for a Wednesday - they're the best night!)

When you get to the Orange County Area in Southern California make sure you stop by The Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach for a Lapu Lapu, you won't be disappointed. Fun Tiki Restaurant and the food is good too!
~WooHoo

Sabina ,
Give me a heads up when your in the Monterey Bay area.

We're in for drinks & pupu's. Just let us know what time.

And you're always welcome to stop by our place, The 'Ona Tiki Bar & Grill if you are in the neighborhood. We're in Clairemont. PM us for directions.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=9252&forum=7&104

See you Thursday.
Aloha

You are going to stop by the carving demo/party at the Lagoon Room on Saturday Right?

You will be able to meet almost all the San Diego TCers at one time and see Alnshelys home too.

See the tiki events thread for directions.

San Diego Tour Leg - breakfast at Rancho's, sail late morning/early afternoon on San Diego Bay, then head for the Bali Hai around 3pm... seared ahi, seaweed salad and mai tais... sleep in the garden... wake up and repeat

3:00 might be a little early for us on a weeknight. I don't get home from work till 5:00. But we'll head over if you'll still be there.
Aloha,
'Ona & Moki

When in OC/HB, the Bong Hut is always open.

PM me.

San Diego time set-

Tomarrow night 7:15 meeting at Mr. Bali Hai's head right by the front door.

Anyone else in the area wanna drop by please do! Roughly 7:30 we'll head upstairs.

MAHALO!

• Next Event- Oceanside
  Saturday we're going to aim for the 2nd Semi-Annual Carving Seminar, May 28th

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=14589&forum=4&46

Come on San Diegans!! Show your Aloha and meet us for a :drink:

See you at 7:30 :)

I'll try to see if we can make it...and if not, we'll see you in Oceanside.
Ran

Trying to rearrange some things. We might be there. Still 50/50 at this moment. We'll definitely be at the carving demo on Saturday though...

ModMana :drink:

Last night was a blast! It was great to meet up with local TCers, (and finally putting faces to names.) No matter where we go, Tikiphiles are just the kindest, most knowledgeable folks.

The Bali Hai is truely a treasure. Folks may think it may not have a high TIPSY factor, but there are hidden gems, and between the history of the place, and the excellent service, the Aloha vibe is still definitely present!

Gotta watch that second Navy Grog, though, it's a doozy!

After puupuus and deserts, we headed down to the gardens for a little Urban archeology. Sure enough, our 'local guides' helped us find exactly the Tikis we never knew existed and had missed two years ago!

Here a some pix from last night-
http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Crawl-San-Diego

(If it appears we missed some of the Bali Hai's most striking features, it's because we had also checked it out last week and taken more pix- which I hope to get up soon.)

Sounds (and looks!) like you're having a great time!! Love the reports!! Keep us posted as you come north toward the City of Angels!

On 2005-05-24 01:54, Sabina wrote:
For the next month or so, Mike (who hasn't really found his Tiki central name yet, but has been Tiki Traveling right alongside me) and I will be doing a laid back crawl from San Diego up towards Sacramento, then slowly back home towards Maryland.

Okay, after an afternoon watching and videoing an orgy of tiki carving, inspiration has finally struck and the question of what my handle should be has been answered: I'm now registered as oaktiki. Which is of course the kind of wood we'd probably work with back at home since palm logs are rather hard to come by while oak logs are rather plentiful. :) -- Mike

My post about today at the Lagoon Room can be found over here- http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=14589&forum=4&start=last&

Just one of the best Tiki days yet!

Mahalo!

• Next scheduled stop- Tiki Ti, Wed. June 1.

THIS is what I've been waiting for!

So heads up L.A. we're headed your way!

There will be other stops before then, including the Royal Hawaiian, but no announced dates as of yet. Some of the in between may end up being kinda spur of the moment.

Next question goes out to the Huntington Beach area crowd- we've been to Sam's before, but haven't seen their show. Do you recommend it, and does it still run on Fridays?

Aloha Sabina,

Yes, Sam's Polynesian review is alive and well. We were just there for dinner on Friday and they still draw a crowd. The show is first rate and I highly recommend it if you have the time and the dime. Sounds like you guys are having a wonderful Tiki trip. Great timing with the carving seminar and the Royal Hawaiian is a must. But as I always say, don't waste your time eating in the restaurant. Pupus and lapus will do you.

Have an awesome Tiki time!

Aloha,

Arty

[ Edited by: stentiki on 2005-05-29 09:11 ]

Mr. Tiki Gallery is now live.

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/San-Diego

(Lots more San Diego goodies yet to come- although at this rate, some may wait 'til we get home.)

Bosko's page about his work on Mr. Tiki-
http://www.tikibosko.com/mr_tiki.html

Homepage-
http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/cohn/cohnrestaurants/tiki/

An entire review is in order, but for now, I'll just say, Bosko is a TIKI GOD!!

Mr. Tiki, for Neo-Tiki, really works!

The one caveat being that weeknights are probably preferable, unless you're after a different scene.

Well, we're as far as L.A., headed for the Tiki Ti early tomarrow evening, see here- http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=9696&forum=4&start=last&117

L.A. Area update-

Post Tiki-Ti, we've been busy, but have finally gotten some new pictures up.

I've added a whole new L.A. Area gallery-

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/LA-Area

That includes the few Tiki-Ti pictures that came out. We may get a couple more mailed to us later, which I'll add when we can, but for now, you'll find startlingly little!

I guess we can chock that up to what a FANTASTIC time we had! Huge thanks to everyone who came out! Once again, I'm putting so many new faces to familiar Tiki Central names! Joyously, there were a few familiar faces as well- Humuhumu and Hanford, and even MIG, who we had not seen since Mondo Tiki in Vegas!

We arrived just in time to be greeted, as if by magic, with birthday cake, as it was Mike's (the younger, I believe) birthday! Suffice it to say, it was a very special night!

The toast to Ray really got to me, as let's face it, keeping those torches of Genuine mixology lit was part of what inspired this pilgrimage in the first place! All I can say is that it was worth every single mile!

The Tiki-Ti is truely, THE TEMPLE for these intact secret incantations of mixology. Between the two of us, Oaktiki and I enjoyed a Mai Tai, a Navy Grog, a Ray's Mistake, a Missionary's Downfall, and last but not least, a Tiki-Ti Special.

I haven't heard raving about this drink yet- so I'll chime in- the Tiki-Ti special is extrordinary! If I lived in the LA area my fate would be sealed! YUM!

If you're in the LA area and you must choose but one place, it's an awfully hard toss up between Oceanic Arts and the Tiki-Ti- I guess it all depends where your intrests lie, (I wouldn't be able to decide) but wow- those guys can make an exotic drink unlike anywhere else on the planet!

Ok, it's getting late, so the rundown-

the new LA area Gallery has albums for the Tiki-Ti, Bahooka, and Sam's Seafood (no we didn't make the show, but eventually one of these trips we will!

There's a new small album up of external pix of Pacific Island Traders- a great shop in Oceanside with plenty of Bamboo outdoor furniture, lots of arts and fabrics, and a great set of rattan reproductions that one vender specialized in. http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Pacific-Island-Traders

And finally, although I don't have the Humphries Half Moon Bay pix up from Shelter Island down in San Diego yet, I did put up Shecky posing like a supermodel out on the Lanai-

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/album14

for our "Where's Shecky #60?" Gallery. (I know we've been lax, Shecky needs to get out and stretch his legs more!)

Enjoy!

Next potential date for an L.A. area get together- We're aiming for Lucky Tiki Sunday night. This may be the best chance for LA TCers to run across us.

We may also aim for the Purple Orchid one night, but no time has been set.

Last night at the Lucky Tiki was way too much fun! Oaktiki and I had a fantastic time- a ton of Tikiphiles, D.J. Lee spinning the tunes, the mixology, our wonderful hosts behind the bar, the quintesential night out!

And I love the Lucky Tiki- and Crazy Al's carved Tiki, who made it into more than a few photographs. (The pole in the group shot, with the skulls!)

It's late in the evening, so I'll just leave you with a few pix from last night, so all Tiki Central can enjoy the adventure vicariously.

The rest of the pictures can be found up in the new lucky Tiki album- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Lucky-Tiki

in the LA area album- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/LA-Area

[ Edited by: Sabina on 2005-06-07 02:11 ]

Finally, a last stop in LA, (yup we've extended a little)-

Wednesday night there's a HIGH LIKELIHOOD (no guarentees!) That Oaktiki and I will be making our final L.A. area stop by the Purple Orchid.

If Ohana would like to come out and say Aloha, we'll aim for arriving fairly early in the evening, since it's a weeknight and folks have to work the next day.

Finally, just did a rework on the Royal Hawiian (in Laguna Beach) pages. Instead of just external pictures taken in the daytime, there are now albums in a single gallery, one of the external daylight pictures and now a second set of nightime pictures taken the evening we finally got to enjoy the Royal Hawaiian.

This has got to be one of my (now MANY) favorite CA Tiki treasures. Well worth backtracking for!

The new gallery can be found here- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Royal-Hawaiian-CA

just to share a picture or two-

We highly recommend it!

Ok, scratch the previous Purple Orchid date (wed). Our plans have finally firmed up.

We will instead, be doing our L.A. Aloha THURSDAY night, early evening. Come on out if you can make it!

(This gives folks who can make the Tiki-Ti their usual wed. night, we won't be able to make it, but we'll be thinking about you!)

Last call- TONIGHT (Thursday night) at Purple Orchid in El Segundo.

We're aiming roughly between 8-10, maybe a little earlier, maybe much later.

Hope to see folks there!

Just got the Purple Orchid pix up.

Rebecca and her husband, Dave, who own the Purple Orchid are two of the nicest Tikiphiles you could hope to meet! We talked awhile, and took in all the wonder of the Purple Orchid.

It's so nice to be sipping an exotic cocktail out of a signature mug, and be able to bring the custom mugs home at the end of the evening. Seems like that's getting harder and harder to find, not just screen printed designs but a custom designed mug for the establishment itself.

In any case, a couple of shapshots-

But my favourite has to be this special treasure. Dave crafted the lamps, and the one in this picture that covers part of the word "Orchid" is a motion lamp with wahine doing hula in various poses! WOW!!!

Now that's some Tiki ingenuity! Just imagine- sitting at a tropical table with Tikis peering down at you as you sip a mai tai, looking up at shadow hula dancing- ahhhhh :)

Mahalo for such a wonderful evening!

Full album of pix here- in the L.A. Gallery, just click on into the Purple Orchid.

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/LA-Area

[ Edited by: Sabina on 2005-06-10 02:38 ]

Yes, despite this thread falling silent for a while now, we're still crawling up the CA coast.

We're now in the San Francisco area, and our first LIKELY stop will be tomarrow night-

Exotica Au Go-Go!
The Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell Street (between Van Ness and Franklin), San Francisco

See this thread- http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=14659&forum=4&start=30 near the bottom of the page.

The CA coastal crawl has succumbed to CA (mostly) coastal crawling chaos! But we're still loving it! We're just not meeting up with as many Nor Cal Tikiphiles as we had originally intended.

We're in San Francisco for roughly the weekend. Our so called schedule has been very uncertain. We been bouncing between small visits to SF and Sacramento to see friends etc.

I had a little time today to catch my breath, so I got a few pictures up on our website.

Catching up a bit-

There's a whole new Gallery of pictures taken roughly mid CA- "GALLERIES between Los Angeles and San Francisco", sixth down on the main page right now- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/ It includes

• the Kon Tiki Inn in Pismo Beach, which isn't terribly Tiki anymore.

• Two hidden gems- Tiki poles in the Whale Watcher Cafe in Gorda Springs! Are these previously undiscovered Tiki? I hadn't seen mention of them before!

• Pictures from a wonderful afternoon spent with Unga Bunga at the 'Unga Bunga Bungalo'!

We had a GREAT time sipping Mai Tais in the late afternoon and talking Tiki. For our trip out the next morning, Unga Bunga helped us find MANY of the areas hidden gems. Truely the consumate host!

• and Hula's Island Grill and Tiki Room in Monterey.

(also along that part of the trip was Shecky's visit to Munktiki which I mentioned here on TC before, but can be found in the "GALLERIES Where's Shecky #60?" folder).

Enjoy!

Maybe we will see you at the Kapili Room party on Saturday night in the Mountain View/san Jose area. See this thread and your personal messages for info;
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=14919&forum=4

Wow! Those tikis were definitely not at the Whale Watcher Cafe in Gorda when I was there in 2003, but I may be to blame for them!

The town of Gorda is very, very small -- only a handful of people who run a cafe, gas station, gift shop, and a very small motel with a few rooms. The "residents" of the town of Gorda mostly live in a dormitory behind the little speck of a town at the south end of Big Sur.

When I was still living in Seattle and was taking a road trip to Oasis, I drove up the California coast on my way home. Midday on a Wednesday, I was just hitting the start of Big Sur, and I was sad to see that the weather was a little gloomy -- I wanted to put the top down on my convertible. I decided to stop and eat a bit while I got gas, with the hopes of the weather clearing up a bit. I stopped in Gorda.

I sat down at the counter, and immediately there was a bustle of activity behind the counter, as all the employees of the cafe took turns coming out from the back to see the single girl at the counter. They don't get a lot of excitement in Gorda, and they're not accustomed to having lone diners, and were eager to chat a bit.

Before long, folks were coming over from the gas station and shop to hang out, too. I pretty quickly made friends with all of them, and a crew of CalTrans workers who had been in town for the week doing some road repairs.

My new friends were amazed to hear about tiki bars, and to hear that they were the focus of my two weeks of travels. I pointed out some of the features they had there in the Cafe that were close-but-not-quite -- a couple native totems, some old floats.

I finished lunch, but the weather hadn't improved. The tiny town of Gorda was very excited to have a new person to talk to, and they literally begged me to stay the night, and hang out with them after work. I was a little nervous -- I didn't know these people, and I'm but a small girl -- but I decided that this was just the sort of adventure that road trips are for, and I checked into one of their rooms.

I continued to hang out in the cafe for the rest of the afternoon -- I tried to convince them to let me wear an apron and work the cafe for a few hours, but they wouldn't let me. After everyone got off work, we went down to the nearest town, Cambria, which is about 45 minutes to the south, and has a population of about 1,000. We shot pool and drank in the scariest bar I've been in in my entire life. At one point, a fight broke out, and the town cop (who was the brother-in-law of one of the fighters, apparently) came to break it up.

I turned in for the night in a lovely cabin that overlooked the Pacific Ocean.

The next morning, the skies were sunny, I got a coffee for the road from the Cafe and said goodbye to my friends. I was told that my short little visit would be the talk of the entire summer. I was gifted with some nice small pieces of jade from the beach, and folks said they would think of me when they saw tikis.

Yep, life must be incredibly, incredibly dull in Gorda.

I can't imagine things are so dull there that they still remember that visit from so long ago, who knows if the same folks are still working/living there, but it's THRILLING to see those tikis there!

http://photo.humuhumu.com/v/roadtripmay2003/bigsur/

Critiki - Hundreds of tiki bars, Polynesian restaurants, and other sites of interest to the tiki traveller, collector or urban archaeologist

[ Edited by: Humuhumu 2005-09-23 14:50 ]

Oaktiki and I will be attending tomarrow night's Kapili room party-

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=14919&forum=4&start=0

Regretably, it may be our last chance to meet Bay area Tikiphiles. Hopefully we'll see many new smiling faces there along with some of our previous Tikiphile friends.

Ok, more pix up-

In the San Francisco Gallery- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/San-Francisco-Area

The latest pix are Tiki and Islander related goodies from the SF Pride Parade-

and Lots of goodies- some blurry- from the Tonga Room-

Also new is an album of pix from Sacramento's Hukilau Island Grill and Bar-
http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Hukilau-Sacramento

I can't rave about the Tonga Room enough- definitely WAY up there in my personal faves, even after all the places we've traveled. It just has so many distinct areas each such an essential aspect of Tiki- the bar with vines, the dance floor, the 'huts' along the pool, the ships riggings, the dock, the drinks, the music (well, not the band so much...), the drinks in mugs, the THUNDERSTORMS and 'rain' falling into the pool, the ship that moves, the long house, all of it- and it passes the 'Tiki carpet?' test too- with vivid colors!

Humuhumu, I'm practically sitting here with tears of joy in my eyes! If you were any part of making our lives a little Tiki-er I'm indebted to you! We did not expect to find Tiki along the Bur Sur coast, but low and behold, Tiki found us! I should know by now that out there, everything, everyone, and quite possibly every Tiki has a story!

You need to ping them and see what the deal with the Tikis is! Odds are, some of the exact same people are still there- Big Sur is a place people either pass though, or STAY. All I can figure is that your visit may have been immortalized in wood- and a trip back sounds in order!

'Gorda' and 'Gorda Springs' are indeed, blink and you miss 'em! They're not even on some maps. Lest anyone mistake this for a conventional notion of a 'town' think again. Gorda Springs is quite litterally, a single complex with gas (Yeah $3.75 gas! But hey, I guess if you need it there, you'd pay anything!), lodging, the whale watcher cafe, and a coffee bar. There are a few more residents scattered about, but NOT many!

Oh, and of course the Gorda Springs Falls-

Anyone thinking of heading out to check out the Tikis, be forwarned, advance reservations are a good idea, milage distances have little or nothing to do with how long it will actually take you to get through those miles, and in places like Gorda along the way everything basically costs double what you'd think. that said, it's some of the best drive, hikes, and sunshine you'll ever enjoy!

What Gorda does have, should anyone feel the need to spend the night there, and Gorda Springs lodging is either booked up or not quite what you're after, is yurts! Yes, I said Yurts! Perched high above the road, but still technically Gorda is Treebones resort- http://www.treebonesresort.com/ which is where we stayed.

It resulted in views like this-

They offer campsites too, it's all about the view and the quiet.

(I just added a few more Gorda Springs pictures and Yurt pictures to the same album.)

Our last day there we hiked down the cliff to jade beach and found a few pieces of jade ourselves (collected BELOW the high tide mark, so they're legal! Be sure to go at low tide, watch for waves and know when the tide's coming in! Comfey hiking shoes a must.)

Gorda feels like Big Sur maybe used to- I wouldn't know. It's an outpost. So needless to say, finding Tiki there, not only fit perfectly with the rest of the Whale Watcher, but was one heck of a surprise- because NOTHING gets out there by accident. If it's in Gorda- it's an ON PURPOSE!

Thus, these can only have been on purpose Tikis!

So the question remains- how and why did the Tikis get to Gorda? They're beautifully carved too!

Finally Two more albums up in the LA Area Gallery-

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/LA-Area

Just a quick snapshot from our visit to Oceanic Arts-

Once we mentioned we were from the DC area, Bob and Leroy were kind enough to pull out their 'portfolio' photo book and show us some of what ONCE was in our area that they had worked on.

First, we were shown the most AMAZING huge pannels that once adorned a place we had never heard of in DC in Georgetown- "Orchid 7". The pannels were a series depicting a poetic mythic story, carved in wood. (No I don't have any further details, but thier files and photos are a treasure trove!) Unfortunately, not only are the whereabouts of the pannels unknown, but any history of Orchid 7 has also escaped our research before this revelation! Guess we need to head home and start digging!

Secondly, we were shown this incredible work, that alas, is no more-

This was the grand Oceanic Arts carved entrance to the Kona Kai in Washington DC (although we're thinking this was likely Betheda, MD?) Just jaw dropping! So much more hunting to do! We knew only of it's former existence, not of it's magnificence!

(Ok ok, head no longer spinning!)

The last album I'm going to get up tonight is just a couple of snapshots of the Tiki adult theater.

Thre's LOTS more L.A. to come, but not tonight. Stay tuned.

Alas, our CA coastal crawl is now history. It ended 3 nights ago.

To everyone we missed, we're sorry! No doubt sooner or later we'll catch up with you somewhere down the road.

To everyone we met, (and there are sooooo many names and memories here- you know who you are!), thank you so much for flat out MAKING our crawl! Not only would it not have been the same without you- it wouldn't have been POSSIBLE without you! Thank you for inviting us into your homes, your events, and your local Tiki treasures! Our 'local guides' have headed us in the right direction over and over and over again!

We've had a fantastic 2 1/2 months creeping in from the east, sorta starting in Palm Springs, across to the coast, and from the southernmost border up to the northern edge.

All we can say is that we have truely only begun to scratch the surface of CaliTikifornia! There was so much more we didn't do!

I also want to give a VERY special shout out to ZuluMagoo for sending me (while we were on the road no less!) a digital copy of his 'Tiki Tour of Southern California' booklet and some San Diego goodies! Our trip was SO much the Tiki-i-er for it! (And again, we only scratched the surface!)

Another to James/tikibars for his magnificent book 'Tiki Road Trip' which was both the spark of all this and our constant road companion!

Another to Sven- for EVERYTHING! (Is it not obvious?!?)

And another to Humuhumu for the creation of Critiki- which provided me inspiration, community feedback on where to head, and of course- the occational last minute gotta find it address!

Most of all though, I have to credit the 'Tiki pioneers' who not only created all this Tikiness but kept it alive!

Finally, thanks must go out to Hanford and the TC community as a whole- who with every 'locating' post, every detail written, and every bit of community created made this all possible and easier.

We have MANY more pictures to get up, and eventually we will. As I do, I'll keep putting updates of what's just been added here.

Finally, just in case you thought we were headed straight back home- nope, we're gluttons for Tiki! Beware, the CA (mostly) coastal crawl has just exploded...

..into the Coast to Coast international Tiki Trek!

Heads up Seattle- tonight (Tuesday) is your turn! Vancouver, Canada, you're up next!

Had a couple of minutes tonight, so I got up an album I had pretty much ready to go- the Tropics Hotel in Anaheim, not much to see, but one of several sister locations to the Caliente Tropics-

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Tropics-Anaheim

(It's in the LA area gallery)

still much more LA to come! Heck, lots more CA pix to come!

Where are you guys now? What Tiki treasures have you discovered since we last saw you? Enquiring minds want to know.....hope your trails are happy!!!

P.S. Saw your post on the Lushy at The Waldorf thread....every time I think it's going to sink into the 'Tiki Event' abyss, up it comes with another post!!

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. After looking through your pics I'm just dying to get out to CA.

The wahine and I are heading out to LA and San Diego for a 2nd honeymoon in October. We're in LA for one night (Saturday the 15th) and I'm hoping to at least hit the Tiki Ti and The Lucky Tiki that night. I only hope the Ti is open.

After that its off to Anaheim for a couple of days at Disneyland. It doesn't look like there's much Tiki stuff in Anaheim but I'm sure Disney will keep us busy.

We finish up the trip in San Diego. I grabbed a room at Humphrey's seeing it seemed to have at least some of its old tiki glory and the price was right. Plus the Bali Hai is across the street - that sealed the deal for me. We'll probably check out Mr. Tiki while we're in San Diego.

As the trip gets closer I'll post some more details (times and places) and maybe we can meet up with some of the local TCs.

58 days and counting...

On 2005-08-16 15:20, Pepe le Tiki wrote:
Where are you guys now? What Tiki treasures have you discovered since we last saw you? Enquiring minds want to know.....hope your trails are happy!!!

Nope, we haven't fallen over the edge of the universe- nor into a crevasse at a glacier! And yes, many, many, many non-Tiki related pix are being taken that will eventually see the light of day on a site of their own. We've been offline on and off during our explorations.

Our trails are very happy indeed- but not Tiki enough at the moment. (If the world worked the way I wanted it to, I'd be at the Hot Rod Hula Hop right about now in Columbus- I'm exceptionally disappointed to be missing my more or less "hometown's" first major Tiki event!)

Instead, we're enjoying the Canadian Rockies- and while it's Tikiless, lots of Totem poles are keeping us plenty happy. Big horned sheep and grizzly bears are amazing scenery all their own :)

But fear not, our Int'l Tiki day included Tikis purchased all the way back in California and fine rum.

I promise to try to get at least a few more pix up soon!

On 2005-08-17 15:52, johnman wrote:
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. After looking through your pics I'm just dying to get out to CA.

Oh, so much! Our pix are merely a FRACTION of what's out there!

Coupla quick hints- if you can get into Whittier (just outside L.A.) early in the afternoon go to Oceanic Arts- suddenly you'll feel like you've found the Rosetta stone to everything! Every bit of Tiki goodness will fit into so much more context once you do. Tiki Ti is imperative- try to hook up with Tikiphiles when you go- it makes it that much more! And if you're near Whittier, but pre Tiki Ti, hit Bahooka for dinner, it's not far- and you'll be glad you did. If you can still stand after Tiki Ti, make the trek to the Lucky Tiki. Then again, you may never get beyond the Tiki Ti- with good reason!

Anaheim- Disney and some nearby apartments and the sad little Tropics hotel are about it. I have PAGES of Enchanted Tiki Room pix to get up!

San Diego- one of the Tikiest spots on earth- All of shelter island- Humphreys and the Bali Hai are MUSTS, MR. Tiki downtown can be a lot of fun on the right night of the week and at the right hours- beware the thumpa thumpa noise that sometimes emanates. The Red Lion Hanelei and Islands room, despite it's current smallness is still like stepping into a postcard, and the ENTIRE mission Bay area, including the major hotel out there (Hilton? Hyatt?) is worth a good long look, particularly some of the older Tiki hotels around the edges (there are threads here on TC). The Tikiness may have been stripped out, but you can still see the bones and it's an entire underrated area worthy of exploration. Yeah, more pix to get up!

Also, if you're driving, San Clemente, Tiki Farm is there (sigh, next trip Holden, I promise!!!) and be sure to stop into 'Hula Beach' 711 N. El Camino Real. Doug, one of the owners is AMAZING and exceptionally friendly! He showed us his ALBUM of pix of his Hula/Island/Tikified house and other things he had done- truely worth the trip- and plenty of good Hawai'ian music and goodies too! There's a Bamboo-ish kinda shop next to Hula Beach worthy of a peek as well.

Bamboo 2 U and Tikis Too! in Leucadia is imperative as well- more Tikis than you can count!

Obviously, I could go on and on and on! So much to explore!

[ Edited by: Sabina 2005-08-20 18:41 ]

New addition to the L.A. gallery on my site- a day full of exploring L.A. area Tiki Apartments!

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/LA-Area (at the bottom of the page!)

(no I don't have all the addresses up on each of these, I'll fill that in once we're home and I have my CA addresses in front of me.)

For the meantime, though, enjoy the faces and facades, for example-

The most wonderful example ever!!! (as brought to my attention by ZuluMagoo in e-mail and via his "Tiki Tour of Southern California Guide Book") The Islander Apartments-

and

A friend- Disney slot drum-like from the Samoan Sea-

And finally a few of my favourites from the Tiki Apartments-

And from the internal courtyard, the Tiki who guards the pool!

and

[ Edited by: Sabina 2005-08-20 20:08 ]

Just got the northernmost 'grande finale' picture from the CA crawl up- a lone Tiki carved from a redwood in Orick, CA-

He lives on in a new folder titled-

GALLERIES- CA Coastal Crawl- Northern California

His album also includes a fond farewell to CA and our mostly coastal crawl, perhaps best embodied by this picture from our last day there-

I also put the Hulkilau Island Grill and Bar from Sacramento in the same folder.

Now, that said, I still have LOTS of CA crawl pix to get up, to say nothing of the rest of the Trek, but I figured some of you might want to know how our CA crawl ended.

These are some great pics .

Thanks for sharing for those of us chained to a desk.