Sweet Daddy Tiki and Tiki A. Moaikingbird are Lost in Paradise

Well not yet, but in a little over a month. For our summer vacation we're taking a road trip to Vancouver to the Lost Paradise event at the Waldorf on July 21st. We've planned our trip to include tiki opportunities wherever possible. Here's the itinerary:

Edmonton to Calgary
to Vernon, BC (we're staying at the Tiki Village Motel)
to Quilchena BC
to Vancouver BC
to Seattle WA (Rong Rongo Room, Trader Vic's etc.)
to Great Falls, MT (Sip 'n' Dip Lounge)
to Calgary
and home.

We're looking forward to renewing acquaintances/meeting Tiki Central ohana in Vancouver and Seattle and wherever else we may find them.

Tiki A. Moaikingbird created this swell logo for our trip:

We're trying to decide what souvenir items to put it on (I'd love to see it on double old fashioned glasses but we probably don't have enough lead time).

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-06-11 17:23 ]

we're looking forward to your visit to the Emerald City!

SDT the logo is Great!! How about putting it on some canvas shopping bags? Hope you & Tiki A. Moaikingbird enjoy your trip, it sounds really fun!

Tikisgrl

Looking forward to your return! Waldorf, Waldorf, Waldorf!

25 days 'til we leave on our big adventure. I mapped out our route on Google maps - it looks like this:

I thought the shape looked kinda familiar... sorta like this...

Is that spooky or what?

Hey Sweet Daddy, Dan here! Maybe we can finally work out that trade!! LOL!!
Looking forward to chatting the Tiki gospel with yah!
Hope you have a great journey! Maybe you should swing up to Prince George and see if that Chinese Tiki Themed Restaurant is still for sale!

See yah at Lost Paradise!

Waldorf Waldorf Waldorf!!!

Hey Sweet Daddy, Dan here! Maybe we can finally work out that trade!! LOL!!

I still have the item in question. How 'bout I bring it with me and the photo I want framed?

Looking forward to chatting the Tiki gospel with yah!

Back atcha!

Hope you have a great journey! Maybe you should swing up to Prince George and see if that Chinese Tiki Themed Restaurant is still for sale!

Hmmm, we'd have to be really lost to make it to Prince George.

*See yah at Lost Paradise!

Waldorf Waldorf Waldorf!!!*

What you said :drink:

Did Australia shrink or BC grow? :)

On 2007-06-23 16:10, Pepe le Tiki wrote:
Did Australia shrink or BC grow? :)

The latter. Another BC grow op(tical illusion).

Just 2 more sleeps until the big adventure begins! Gary had a nasty spill on his bike this week (a motorist tried to kill him) and suffered some major road rash. he's been having some pain in his leg so he's going to emergency today to have it looked at. If he has a wooden leg at Lost Paradise, it won't be a pirate costume.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-17 08:40 ]

The limb in question:

Gary's account on his blog

Yesterday he was concerned that it wasn't healing and he might not be able to make the trip but this morning it's looking a bit better so we're good to go as scheduled [big sigh of relief].

i think several rounds of Rum Drinks will cure what ails ya.
i'm glad the both of you are on your way to WALDORF WALDORF WALDORF!
see you Saturday ~

I'm glad to hear you'll both be driving down! See you soon!

Lost in Paradise Day 1 - Edmonton to Calgary

Gary and I left Edmonton about 1:30 in the afternoon. We waited around until the mail came to see if the buttons we designed would arrive before we left. Luckily they did. We did 5 different tiki inspired designs on 1" buttons. If you see us on our trip be sure to ask us about them (I'll post a photo when I can).

We stopped in Red Deer, halfway between Edmonton and Calgary, to eat lunch and hit some thriftstores. Here's Gary outside the Bargain Treasures Thrift Store displaying a spoon rack shaped liked the map of Canada we bought for LavaCakes (don't tell her).

I got this lovely pineapply aloha shirt at the Sally Ann and had to wear it right away.

On our way into Calgary we dropped by the Slacks Ferret household to say hello to Slacks, Mrs. Slacks and young master Eli. Slacks showed us the progress he's made on his basement tiki bar (it still needs some work) and his latest painting (also a work in progress).

Tomorrow: on to Vernon BC and the Tiki Village Motel.

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-17 22:07 ]

YAY you're on the road ~ hopefully you'll have enough space to bring a small box back to Slacks for me.

i've got some thrift stores mapped out in seattle ~ can't wait to see ya saturday!

Ha! Still needs some work!

Enjoy the Tiki Village motel and Vernon. Keep posting pics!

Been in Seattle a whole day now. This is our first internet access since Calgary last Tuesday so there's much catching up to do.

Day 2: Calgary to Vernon, BC

Departed Gary's uncle's house in Calgary shortly after 9 am. Thanks for the hospitality, Laurie.

Lunch: On a whim we pulled off the highway at Heather Mountain Lodge between Golden and Revelstoke BC to have some fancy resort vittles. The menu is heavy on locally produced foods, some of it grown in their own gardens.

The food was outstanding and so was the mountain view from our Adirondac chairs on the balcony.

Just outside Vernon we passed the Starlight Drive-In movie theatre. It would have been great to go to a drive-in movie again (it's been decades) but the double bill of Surf's Up and Evan Almighty didn't inpsire us to make the 15 minute trip from town.

In Vernon we stayed at the Tiki Village Motel, which Slacks Ferret and I first checked out two years ago on our way back from the first tiki event at the Waldorf (though we didn't stay there). The only tikis we found at that time were a couple of small tourist items in the office. Look what Gary and I found in our room:

That shade has got to go.

After freshening up we headed to Value Village where we bought nothing.

A big thumbs down from Gary.

They were selling these in a store in downtown Vernon:

Pirate graffiti:

Tomorrow: Kamloops Thrift Extravaganza.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-24 00:20 ]

Day 3 - Vernon to Quilchena

Heavy rain when we woke up, easing up on the 90 minute drive to Kamloops. Kamloops is a great little thrifting town and while we didn't find a lot of stuff, we enjoyed poking around the stores we visited. Some finds:

Pair of Frank Schirman "black coral" wall figures dated 1971 - a belated birthday gift for dogbytes. I've never seen Schirmans for the wall before.

Gary found this fun little book which he gave me because he's not so much into the cocktails. "Okolemaluna (Bottoms Up) - The Amateur Bartender's Hawaiian Friend" by South Sea Scotty (Guletz), with great line art like this:

Gary also found a Polyart resin tiki with rhinestone eyes.

Non-tiki thrift finds included a plaster wall fish and a Diana Dors LP (she was sort of a British Jayne Mansfield).

Then we went to the only remaining "old school" Mr. Mike's restaurant. As I wrote in my blog, Mr. Mike's used to be a popular Western Canada steakhouse chain for budget conscious families.

that's my name, don't wear it out...

There are many reasons to love Mr. Mikes:

1. It's Megalicious

2. The "world famous" Mikeburger with "secret Mike sauce"

3. The salad bar includes soup, scalloped potatoes and mac & cheese.

4. The dessert bar has two kinds of pie or you can make your own sundae with your choice of toppings.

5. The toy train circling the restaurant above your head.

6. Cheap! Though not as cheap as when it opened in 1969 (a charbroiled steak was $1.49 back then).

After lunch we headed out on the old number 5A highway to Quilchena - a scenic 45 minute drive through rolling farm/ranchland to an isolated hotel built in the early 1900s.

Kicking back on the veranda with a game of xtreme scrabble. We are outta control!

Tomorrow: On to Vancouver.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-24 01:15 ]

Mr Mikes!!! Their burgers were the best! (and definitely megalicious)

Was the lamp nailed down? I would have been so tempted to steal it. But stealing is wrong kids!
(Still, I've done plenny 'o wrong over the years.)

no, not nailed down - not even plugged in. perhaps they would have taken a nice new lamp from ikea in trade.

more trip blog coming soon. tons of pix of the waldorf and seattle but no time to post.

Day 4 - Quilchena to Vancouver

Did you know Merritt BC is Canada's Country Music Capital? Well who did, really? But that's what it proclaims itself to be. There are murals on businesses all over town and brass stars with imprints of country music legends.

The Hag

Canadian country legends Hank Snow, Wilf Carter and others

We had a huge breakfast at Merritt's historic Coldwater Hotel and dropped a bunch of loonies on the claw game in the lobby trying to snag plush toys (and getting our asses kicked by a kid who got a toy on his second try).

About four rainsoaked hour later we arrived in Vancouver and did all this before we even got to our hotel:

Thrifted at Value Village and Sally Ann

Orchids of Hawaii R-5. Apparently vintage mugs in the wild are not so easy to find in Vancouver.

Shopped at Attic Treasures on Commercial Drive where Gary bought a Coco Joe pendant.

Had ice cream at Casa Gelato. 218 flavors including saffron, dragonfruit, rum & coke, and porcini mushroom.

Dropped into Funhauser to say hello to Peter and Alan (and buy mugs n stuff). Dan and Reido of Taboo Tiki just happened to be there and I was able to finally complete a trade we'd been negotiating for yonks.

Our swanky room at the Sandman Suites had a high tech washer-dryer hybrid. The learning curve was very steep but once we figured it out (sort of) we put it to good use.

Gary put his gangrenous leg up and didn't leave the suite that evening, while I had a lovely visit with Peter and Alan in their penthouse apartment with a million dollar view of waterfront Vancouver.

Tomorrow: Waldorf! Waldorf! Waldorf!

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-25 10:13 ]

Day 5 - Vancouver

In the morning we walked across the beautiful Burrard Bridge to Vancouver's Maritime Museum, housed in an elegant 60's A-frame structure.

Pirate flags.

Gary in pirate drag.

In the early afternoon we made our way over to the Waldorf. We checked out the vendors.

I bought this cool piece by Vancouver artist Bob Scott (the paint glows under blacklight). He does assemblages mostly using wine corks. Gary bought a Dawn Fraser watercolor. Taboo Tiki (Dan and Reido) and Heather Watts were also vending.

Heritage Vancouver's Donald Luxton's lecture on Vancouver tiki. After a broad contextualization of North American polypop/tiki his talk focused mostly on the history of the Waldorf and Vancouver's Trader Vic's in the Bayshore Hotel with lots of info and annecdotes about the owners, architects, etc. Then Dawn Fraser from Seattle presented her Polypop touring museum concept to (mostly) positive feedback.

Elicia and Todd (Mr. & Mrs. dogbytes)

Tikiwahine enjoying a post-natal tipple.

Details of the extraordinary large Hawaiian mural in the downstairs Polynesian room, painted by Vancouver artist [i forget his name, i'll look it up later], about whom not much is known (except that he did some work for Whitespot drive ins and seemed to be something of a boozehound):

The famous drum chairs in the upstairs Tahitian Lounge

detail.

"Blue" Hawaiian. The bartender improved on the recipe by adding a cranberry juice float. After a similarly dismal experience with a Mai Tai I switched to g & t's.

Shaboobie Boobarella gets all tribal.

Thanks to Pepe and everyone else who made this event happen. I'll be back again if you do another one - and I hope there will be many more for years to come.

Tomorrow: Seattle.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-25 12:40 ]

We arrived home yesterday afternoon safe and sound and a little exhausted but very happy. I'll be posting about the rest of our Lost in Paradise adventures in the next few days. We took lots & lots of pictures (I took more than 1,600 and Gary probably took more) - far more than can be posted here. I may just upgrade my flickr account and post them there, but for now, I'd like to share this - for the benefit of dogbytes, our Seattle friends, and all Americans in general:

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-30 01:20 ]

Ha Ha SMOKIES. so many to choose from.

oh sure, Canadians have SMOKIES, but do they have the more superior and amazing American Lil' Smokies? i think not!

we loved having you visit, but my Moai Cries and misses you both very much

Day 6 - Vancouver to Seattle

Peter was nice enough to organize Sunday brunch for us out-of-towners at Subees, a cavernous restaurant with crazy art, like chandeliers made from irons.

l to r: Tikiwahine's mum, Peter's mum (i think), Peter, Elicia, Todd.

Mimi

Tikiwahine, DrunkenMunky, baby Jasmine

Then on to Funhauser for an open house with libations. I opted for the Havana Club-free kind, as it's probably not prudent to arrive at the US border reeking of rum, Cuban or otherwise. Peter bought some of the buttons we made to sell in his store, nearly covering our costs.

The top two are my crappy sketches, the others are by Gary. The goalie has tiki goal pads.

Alan and Peter

A Seattle friend of Dawn Fraser's (sorry, dude, forgot your name).

More Seattle tiki-ites, names also expunged from the memory banks.

We followed Elicia, Todd and Mimi to the US border.

"Brethren dwelling together in unity" (Peace Arch)

Traffic was backed up for about a hour. The dogbytes party was waved through after some perfunctory questions. Gary & I were directed to the border station where we had our car searched. Our orange and four apples were confiscated and I had to explain to the border guy why we were bringing tiki mugs into the country (going against my rule of never talking tiki to the "normals"). He was also curious about the bags of buttons we had with us, and I had to explain to him that "sdt" stood for Sweet Daddy Tiki, my login name on some geeky tiki-lovers' forum. He was a nice, older guy and was satisfied with our explanation. The whole process took maybe a half-hour and was spiced up by a shouting match between a 14-year old girl (with toddler) and her mother. We were on our way before we could find out if it would evolve into a full-on Jerry Springer-style white trash disfunctional family chair-flinging party.

Arriving in Seattle: Let's just say that Gary and I shouldn't enter The Amazing Race. We did get to see a lot of neighbourhoods up close, some of them quite nice.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-07-31 19:30 ]

Day 7: Seattle

We're in the dog guest room.

dobytes takes us to the hugest Goodwill store I have ever seen. The amount of stuff is daunting - I can't even bring myself to have more than a cursory glance through all the records. I buy two Trader Vic's Bar Guides (the original and revised editions) as a gift for our hosts. Gary buys a shirt you'll see later. After doing the Pike's Market thing we go for lunch at The Islander.

I'm not sure why Gary has such a sour face.

Casually elegant decor

Seared tuna. yum.

Islander Mai Tai

Coming back through the market, we drop into this little tea shop and sample different varieties. I order a pound of something without even asking how much. I know it's gonna be expensive cuz this place screams tourist trap, but I'm not prepared to shell out A HUNDRED AND EIGHT BUCKS A POUND! We beat a hasty retreat. More expensive than pot sez dogbytes.

Soviet-era Lenin statue.

Archie McPhee:

We feed Cap'n Archie quarters and he dispenses sage advice about fending off scurvy by drinking lime juice.

dogbytes McPhee

Gary needs this for his banged up leg.

Back to Casa dogbytes to rest up for the next round of eating and drinking. Todd serves up a round of the Rongorongo room's signature cocktail, The Space Needle.

Hula Hula: We meet up with Jonelle (sp?), SweetPea and Mimi(?). Forgive me if this is wrong or I've forgotten anyone. I'm old, my brain gets addled.

Leopard fez by Archie McPhee, shirt by Goodwill of Seattle.

Under blacklight.

We leave before karaoke begins.

Day 8 - Seattle

In the morning dogbytes dropped us at Seattle Center so we could do uncool touristy things: Science-Fiction Museum/Experience Music Project (EMP), Monorail and Space Needle. The Sci-Fi Museum/EMP is in an extraordinary building designed by Frank Gehry that most of the locals we talked with seem to hate but we loved. Within moments of snapping our first pics of this eminently photogenic structure, some guy said to Gary "Haven't you ever seen a crushed beer can before?" We took dozens of pictures, of which I'll only post a few here:

Inside the Sci-Fi museum (vestibule only - no picture taking allowed in the exhibits):

Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still (repro, not the original)

men's washroom sign

The Sci-Fi museum exceeded our expectations and we spent several hours poring over displays and artifacts from movies, tv shows and literature. Gary was especially thrilled to see more than a dozen original paintings by his favourite sci-fi cover artist, Ed Emshwiller. Our only disappointment was that the gift shop wasn't particularly well stocked - we would have dropped a big wad if the tchotchkes had been better. Our favourite souvenir of the museum was the penny we embossed with a ray gun design in the penny flattening machine. It wouldn't take our Canadian quarters (c'mon, they're almost at par), but it did allow us to flatten Canadian pennies.

We were a little overwhelmed by the Sci-Fi Museum and not prepared for another museum right away, so we just dashed into the Experience Music Project and zipped around it in few minutes. It also looked pretty awesome and someday I'd like to give it a proper go.

Then we took the monorail downtown. It was crowded and I gave up my seat to a chatty Texan.

She gave Gary her recommendation for where to eat lunch. Instead we found a little place called Jasmine, tucked away in the market. The menu is mostly Thai curries with a few Moroccan or Turkish (I can't remember which one) dishes, reflecting the background of the two proprietors, I think. Our curries were exquisite.

before

after

We wandered around downtown, admiring the older buildings and neon signs

and browsing in cool stores with names like Nancy, Fancy and Schmancy.

We took the monorail back to Seattle Centre but we didn't have enough time to go up the Space Needle before the evening's entertainment, so we called our chauffeur (I mean hostess) to pick us up.

In the evening Todd and Elicia took us to a West Seattle eatery called West 5, where we met up again with Jonelle (sp?) and SweetPea, seen here with a clever foil swan they sculptured for their take-home treats.

Iggy and Jessie (or possibly Jessie and Iggy).

Dawn and Mimi.

For dessert Gary & I both ordered the chocolate soufflé, not realizing that dogbytes brought a cake with her to be taken afterwards to Dawn's house. Had we known, we would have... probably had the soufflé anyway.

At Dawn's gorgeous mid-century home we met other Seattle tiki folks including Tiki Riviera and the fabled Woofmutt, who was not fearsome at all, but quite affable.

Day 9 - Seattle

We need a break from the vacation hurly-burly so we get a leisurely start to the day, enjoying breakfast with Elicia in the garden.

stuffed French toast

Miraculous weeping Moai

After blogging and checking our email we're off to Trader Vic's for lunch, but first we hit a thrift store on upscale Mercer Island. Gary buys a viewmaster with lots of reels and an Arnold Palmer learn-to-golf record.

This is the first Trader Vic's either one of us has been to. It's gorgeous. We sit in the bar where it's less formal than the restaurant and crammed with more of the good stuff - artifacts from PNG, tapa lining the walls, etc.

I have the bongo bongo soup (rich & delicious) and a deliciously juicy burger of Kobe beef with cambozola cheese and a side of curry fries.

To drink - a scratch Mai Tai and a Navy Grog. We pocket our swizzle sticks of course. On the way out I buy a Moai bowl.

Then on to the Hawaiian General Store, where the shirts are LARGE!

Hawaiian quilt

This is my favourite thing in the store, and I would certainly have bought it had I not splurged on the bowl at TV:

Authentic Russian tiki nesting dolls! This blew my Ukrainian mind.

Back to the dogbytes B&B to rest from our day of hard labour. This evening's meal is at Elliot's - a seafood place on the waterfront. The oyster bar has dozens of choices from the west coast, east coast, and abroad. Being from landlocked Edmonton, we are not used to such variety. We tell our oystress the qualities we like (briny, meaty & local), and she brings us an assortment of raw oysters on the half shell. Slurpalicious! Woofmutt joins us again this evening, and once more is a convivial companion.

We all go for a walk along the boardwalk, flatten another penny (this time with an octopus design) and enjoy the salty evening air on our last night in Seattle.

look into the vortex!

Day 10 - Seattle to Spokane

We bid farewell to Seattle and our gracious hosts (that's the trunk of my car in the foreground - we set our cameras on top and used the timers). We navigate the crazy steep streets of dogbytes's lakeside neighborhood until we're headed east on the I-90, then we can pretty much put a brick on the gas pedal until we hit Great Falls two days from now.

Two hours later (it would be less, but there's road construction), we pull into Ellensburg, WA to search for Dick and Jane's Spot which we've earmarked for a look-see after reading about it on Roadside America. We drive past several cool 50's motels with neon signs we intend to photograph on the way out (but don't). As we're gassing up the car we notice this A-frame building across the street:

Could this have been a full-fledged tiki establishment in the past? The tattoo parlor is closed, so we grill the guy in the Hawaiian shave-ice kiosk in the parking lot. He can only tell us that it used to be a rib joint most recently. The rootbeer shave ice is welcome refreshment in the punishing heat - it reminds me of the rootbeer Eskipops of my boyhood.

Downtown Ellensburg has many cool historical buildings. We lunch at a bakery cafe called Dakota Cafe. You must go there to try the lemon bars (the chocolate-peanutbutter bars are also worth the trip). We and ask directions to Dick & Jane's. It's only a few blocks away and we hoof it. It's a private house that Dick Elliot and Jane Orleman have turned into an amazing folk art palace.

We take many, many pictures.

Just east of Ellensburg the terrain turns from rocky mountain forest to "channeled scablands" - an arid landscape like the badlands of southern alberta or a mini grand canyon. A short while later the countryside changes again to verdant irrigated fields that look, on google maps, like a polka-dot crazyquilt.

Fatigue catches up with me and suddenly I'm very tired. Gary and I play memory-intensive games to keep from falling into a road-induced trance.

About 5 pm we're driving through Spokane, intending to whiz through and keep going for another couple of hours, when we spot this sign from the I-90:

It is a siren call that lures us off the road. We pull into the Quality Inn to get our bearings. The desk clerk makes us an attractive offer on a room (the price going ever lower the more we hesitate) so we decide to stay put for the night. After unloading our luggage we check out the Goodwill store we can see on the other side of the freeway, then make our way back to the Trade Winds. It's a little on the shabby side and the flags being used for curtains in some of the rooms tell us that some of the residents are long-term.

The sign is not as eye popping as it used to be (as seen here). We poke our heads into the front office to find this black velvet painting flanked by tiki heads.

We tell the clerk we're looking for tiki. He says he doesn't think he's in but he'll give him a call, so we're not sure what he actually heard, but we don't hang around to meet Mr. Tiki. We head downtown.

Like the Trade Winds, Spokane seems a little worse for wear, a little past its prime.

We could have dropped a bundle on books and stuff at this funky store but we arrived too close to closing time, thank goodness.

Dick's is a retro marvel. We pick up burgers ("buy the bagfull"), milkshakes and onion rings to take back to the motel

We kick back on our beds with junk food and classic tv.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

My new blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2007-08-03 09:30 ]

Day 11 - Spokane to Great Falls, MT

A breakfast buffet was included in the price of our room. The highlight was U-make waffles.

On the road - lunch in Missoula, etc. etc. I'm going to cut straight to the chase here: The Sip-N-Dip lounge in the O'Haire Motor Inn in Great Falls was probably the best time I've ever had in a bar.

We got to the Sip-N-Dip bar around 6:30 and the bartender took our orders. The cocktail menu had about a dozen speciality drinks on it including a Mai Tai, Blue Hawaiian, Evil Tiki and Grass Skirt, and a Fishbowl for 2 (at least) with about 9 oz. of rum and other booze. The drinks didn't seem all that potent - I had 5 cocktails over the course of the evening (I know because I saved the little plastic palm tree spears from my garnish) and I didn't get a much of a buzz - but they were very tasty and beautifully presented.

Blue Hawaiian

Mai Tai

Evil Tiki

Happy patrons enjoying a Fishbowl.

It's a fairly small place - besides the bar, there's a piano bar and about a half dozen comfy booths. The TiPSI factor is low - this is the only tiki we saw in the place:

but the decor is classic.

The matting on the walls and ceiling has a rich patina and tapa lamps and glass floats hang from the ceiling.

Aquatic themed mural behind the bar.

Velvet painting.

Booth. The seahorse Formica tabletops are original.

Our server, modelling the cat's-eye glasses she bought for 50¢. She was very friendly and worked the room like a seasoned veteran - chatting with the regulars and making the newbies feel welcome, and serving the whole room on her own. She pointed out the other Albertans in the place, this friendly couple from Foremost (between Lethbridge and Medicine Hat).

When they found out we were from Edmonton, the dude (an Oilers fan) sent us a round of drinks.

Our server gave us a reprint of a 1966 article about the O'Haire from a magazine called Tourist Court Journal that's full of all kinds of interesting information about the place that I'll post in the Locating Tiki thread.

We moved to a table and had a Montana sized meal - a perfectly cooked steak sandwich with all the trimmings.

At 9:30 the mermaid started swimming, visible through the two windows behind the bar that look into the deep end of the pool. She smiled and waved to the patrons and posed for pictures. Gary got some video which he'll post somewhere, eventually.

Shortly before 10 o'clock, Piano Pat (Spoonheim) started playing and singing. She should be called Piano and Organ Pat because she plays both, often at the same time. Her repertoire this night included Fly Me To The Moon, Tiny Bubbles, Ring of Fire, Folsom Prison Blues and the dreaded Margaritaville. We really enjoyed her unique phrasing though it's not easy to sing along to. We chatted with many friendly people - young and old, locals and visitors - including an Irishman from Nova Scotia (who got more Irish the drunker he got) who was mourning the recent loss of his wife. Eventually we moved to the piano bar to listen to Pat up close and had a conversation with a couple from Scottsdale/Colorado. We gave our server a set of our tiki buttons and she bought us a round in appreciation.

When we left, shortly after midnight, the mermaid was still swimming. What a place.

Wrappin' up:

Day 12 was spent driving from Great Falls to Calgary. At the border I bought a bottle of 12 year old Appleton Estate at the duty free for half what it costs here. Our border crossing was very brief this time. They didn't ask if we had any food but were concerned that we might have had our car repaired in the states. In Calgary we stayed with Gary's uncle Laurie again and had another fine meal.

Day 13 we went to The Shatner Show at the Uppercase Gallery:

It was a blast. If you're anywhere near Calgary in the next couple of weeks, I urge you - Go.

The Shatner Show (not working the last I checked)

Captain's Blog

Then we drove 3 hours back to Edmonton and our humdrum lives. While I was away a windstorm took down part of a tree next to my house. No damage to life or property, thank goodness.

We had the bestest time. Thanks to Elicia and Todd and Laurie for letting us stay at your places. It was great to meet so many TC folk again or for the first time. I can't wait to go travelling again.

Cheers.

PS. I took a few snaps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swankola/collections/72157601199779448/

On 2007-07-24 01:00, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:

Gary found this fun little book which he gave me because he's not so much into the cocktails. "Okolemaluna (Bottoms Up) - The Amateur Bartender's Hawaiian Friend" by South Sea Scotty (Guletz), with great line art like this:

Here's an alternate cover for that one: