Tiki and Route 66?

I am very interested in this Tiki Roadtrip book that will soon be released, I am starting to make plans for this summers annual trip to see the In-Laws. I plan on driving, does anyone know of "must see Tiki" stops along Route 66? From California to Oklahoma?

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2003-01-02 16:00 ]

How about it?

Aside from Trader Vic's in LA being on the mother road not too far from its western end, is there anything tiki on any alignment of Route 66 in any state, aside from the following two minor presences:

A recently constructed moai head at a trailer park in Antares, AZ:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=15121&forum=2&start=last&

Route 66 Memories, a store with tikis at Rancho Cucamonga, CA: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16805&forum=2&hilite=route%2066%20memories

There WAS the Polynesian Lounge in Albuquerque, NM, but its gone now and its relics in storage:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=10121&forum=2&hilite=albuquerque

I'm pretty sure there is nothing more in CA except maybe a store here or there selling common tiki stuff (Tiki Ti misses 66 by a bit), and I'm very sure about AZ, NM, TX, KS and MO, but I don't know much about IL.

Would there be any tiki, especially bars or restaurants, in Illinois on route 66?

I know this may sound blasphemous but... does the tiki content really matter? You'll be driving on Route 66... The Great Diagonal Way, The Main Street of America, The Mother Road - for God's sake! To me, the allure and historical significance of Route 66 would be reward enough if I ever had the opportunity to drive on it. It may not be strong on tiki but it's definitely cool - I'm seriously envious!

From what I've read and seen about route 66, it was in serious decline as the Tiki trend was rising. I think you'll get your craw full of "Worlds Largest Cement Road Runner" Cement Teepee Motels, and "Come see the Purple Caboose of mystery" billboards... sort of from the era between WWI and WWII

Good luck tho, take lots of pictures.

Purple Caboose of Mystery!? I'd be all over that if it were real.

I re-visited DawnTiki's unanswered 2002 question because next week I'll be posting pics of signage along the LA stretch of 66 in my blog and am trying to figure out if I can accurately label Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills as the only tiki bar currently in operation on Route 66. I enjoy combining interests and clarifying details like that.

Ahh, Johntiki, you are right! It was an absolute blast. I was raised in a Rt66 city and have driven all of it except the part in IL. Last big trip was Joplin to LA with particular emphasis on photographing every inch of CA 66 that I could. I just posted the Summit Inn with its Twilight Zone-ish napkin holders a few days ago and am working on my pics of Rialto's Wigwam Motel.

Come down my way and I'll buy you a soda from the cold water cooler at Eisler Brothers General Store on Kansas Route 66.

So, back to Illinois Route 66...any tiki there?

'Lope,

This empty building still exists:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6727&forum=2&1

However, all traces of tikiness are gone. I think my Mom-in-law knows of another place on 66, though, that still might have tiki. I'll check with her and see if I can get a name.

Sabu

In Il. al I can think of off the top of my head is this:

In Wilmington, IL.
The Launching Pad drive Inn.

On 2006-02-17 01:44, tikijackalope wrote:
am trying to figure out if I can accurately label Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills as the only tiki bar currently in operation on Route 66.

As far as I know, from 15 years of research and having driven Rt.66 about three times, TVics is the only one, now that the one in Albuquerque has closed.

Voodoo Room in West Hollywood is also on Route 66, according to Tikijackalope:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=18292&forum=2&start=0&15

Site yet to be explored-

I have no idea whether this is actual Tiki, or merely 'exotic'/asian, but if anyone happens to be in Rolla, MO a careful quest for any Tiki remnants is overdue.

The "Great Wall" restaurant, right on old route 66-

I have 3 little pix of some of its external features in a gallery here- http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Great-Wall

As we had just had breakfast, and Rolla being the start of our day along route 66, we didn't get to explore inside. From the outside though, certain features really caught my eye and if I'm ever back that way, it's on my list.

I don't think the Great Wall in Rolla was ever tiki, but I'll be doing a lot of 66 from Lebanon, MO to St Louis this year so I'll check it out. The Great Wall in Joplin, MO also looks like that, with sort of a truncated A-frame, but was built as a steak place...weird, huh?
The Wahine and I hope to drive from St Louis to Chicago on 66 in July, so I'll check out IL, also.
Since I bumped this post a few weeks ago, I blogged some pics I did in LA ( http://thelope.blogspot.com/2006/02/lope-in-city-of-angels-la-route-66.html ) and realized that the Tiki Theater and C.P. Three Prop House ( http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=16300&forum=2&3 ) are on the part of Santa Monica Blvd. that was Route 66.

[ Edited by: tikijackalope 2006-03-14 01:14 ]

I know this is a stretch for tiki, but hey...the sign does say mixed drinks. For years every summer we drive back east on Interstate 40 (follows part of old route 66) to visit family. We just got back from an early visit a couple of days ago.
Anyway, I've noticed this building for over 17 years in Arizona but never have stopped to investigate, it's the same exit as the "Golf ball House" I think in or around Yucca, Arizona.

I was at the wheel and decided to go see what treasures waited in this nondescript building with a terribly intriguing name... When I pulled up it was closed but obviously still open for business. When I peeked through a window I was sad it looked pretty generic and boring inside, but then again I could only see a very small portion of the insides. I saw nothing interesting hanging from the ceiling or walls. I'd love to know when this place was put there and why they named it what they did....I included the Golfball house picture just as a point of reference for those of you who know where it is located. I borrowed the Golf ball picture from tikijackalopes blogspot.... http://thelope.blogspot.com/2005/11/earth-and-sky.html which is a great blog by the way!!!

[ Edited by: DawnTiki 2006-03-14 10:04 ]

Tiki & Wigwam, courtesy of lottaliving.com:

http://thelope.com/archive/2006_02_01_archive.html

We drove reverse 66 in 2005 from LA to Chicago in a '63 Comet Convertible that we shipped home to England after the trip. This is the only bit of tiki that I remember, near Kingman AZ, I think.

On the trip we took Tiki Road Trip into The Silver Spoon in Kingman over breakfast. A friendly, elderly couple (80's I guess) said: 'Oooh tiki! We remember that!' And had a good look through the book. They had won a new Mustang in a raffle in 1966 and still drove it. Cool.

And Bagdad Cafe (formerly Sidewinder Cafe) A-frame at Newberry Springs...

On 2007-05-28 03:59, 54 house of bamboo wrote:
On the trip we took Tiki Road Trip into The Silver Spoon in Kingman over breakfast. A friendly, elderly couple (80's I guess) said: 'Oooh tiki! We remember that!' And had a good look through the book.

Thanks for sharing that!
:wink:

Hollywood, California near the now closed Trader Vic's

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-05-29 13:50 ]

I should have added this to this thread a while back. The Tiki Theatre and C.P. Three Prop House are also on Rt66 in LA: http://www.thelope.com/2006/02/lope-in-city-of-angels-la-route-66.html

I recently found something else intriguing...will post it when I have more than just photos.