Trade Winds Tropical Lounge, St. Augustine, FL (bar) - Image Heavy

Name:Trade Winds Tropical Lounge
Type:bar
Street:124 Charlotte Street
City:St. Augustine
State:FL
Zip:32084
country:USA
Phone:904-829-9336
Status:operational

Description:
http://www.tradewindslounge.com See website for history of the bar, at its current, and former, location.

Still in operation, although more as a honky-tonk bar than a Tiki bar. Worth seeing for the enormous hand painted mural and 9+ ft Tiki Water Feature (defunct)in entryway.

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-02-27 11:25 ]

The Building Facade

The entry way has this sign. It is held up by two post that look like palm trunks

Also in the entryway, to the left, is a tall (8 or 9ft?) Tiki that once was part of a water feature, close ups show water tube coming out of the Tiki's mouth and carved wooden catch pools.

Once you enter the main room to the left is a fabulous hand-painted mural of an idyllic island scene. It spans the entire wall.

We found this photograph that the bartender said were the owners, Toni & Duke. Looks like it's probably from the early 70s.

We also found a photo that shows what seems to be a wooden wall carving.

The carving is gone and has been replaced by a Tommy Bahama sign.

This is a close-up of the painting on the wall behind TofuJoe. It appears to be from the same artist/era as the wall mural.

The walls are mostly covered in the reed fencing you can get at Home Despot, but some areas have more artistic/creative/interesting coverings. This shot is of the thatch that is at the end of the bar over the passage to the restrooms.

Here's a vintage photo of the main room, taken from the entryway and looking to the right.

This is a current picture taken from almost the same angle.

The rest of the photos are pictures of the all-teak bar, original to the Trade Winds.

The next two show the back bar (as well as the unfortunate quality of alcohol they currently pour).

This is the idol that sits in the main alcove of the back bar. The bartender called it Yama, the Fertility God. The story is that they owners shipped it back from the South Pacific (while on one of their trips there) "in the beginning" (I don't know if that means the 40s, when the bar was on Avilles and called the South Seas, or the 60s, when it was at the current location). The shipping company didn't have a box big enough to fit it, so they decided to saw the arms off and ship them separately. The arms were lost in transit.

Here are other fertility idols that also adorn the back bar.
One primitive

a few modern

Toni, the woman who would have owned the place in the 60's, died in 2001. Her daughter took over the bar and, according to the bartender, "threw out a bunch of stuff. The ceiling used to be crammed with crap". I'm trying to track down a couple of my mother's friends who knew the bar in it's heyday, to see if they had a drinks menu.

Are there any pertinent questions I should ask if I make contact?

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-02-27 13:36 ]

More Florida Witco. Nice fountain!

Great snappies T, and a nice job of archaeology. I particularly like how you attempted to replicate the old B&W photo. Fine attention to detail with that effort. I swear my brother is in one of the 70-80's era pictures. It's not, but I am a Central Florida native and some of those images are hitting real close to home. Not sure if that is a positive sentiment, though. Get 'r done!

The family has kept this place going for decades, hats off to them for that accomplishment alone. Perhaps the pendulum will swing back in the direction of the old genre of more pure Polynesian. Still, it's nice to see a place hanging in there that long.

TofuJoe looks very pleased in this shot. I am guessing the house band was in the middle of their rendition of "Freebird".

Gimme three steps,
midnite

On 2008-02-27 23:11, midnite_tiki wrote:
TofuJoe looks very pleased in this shot. I am guessing the house band was in the middle of their rendition of "Freebird".

That's because his field of vision JUST includes the Wahine with her expertly rendered breasts, but does not reach to the Tommy Bahama Rum sign, which undoubtedly would have darkened his expression considerably.

On 2008-02-28 06:31, bigbrotiki wrote:
... but does not reach to the Tommy Bahama Rum sign, which undoubtedly would have darkened his expression considerably.

Don't you know it.

I think this place was probably very nice back in its days as a restaurant. I really hope we can find some old menus to see what the food and drink was like.

On 2008-02-27 11:34, Haole'akamai wrote:

Toni, the woman who would have owned the place in the 60's, died in 2001. Her daughter took over the bar and, according to the bartender, "threw out a bunch of stuff. The ceiling used to be crammed with crap".
Are there any pertinent questions I should ask if I make contact?
[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-02-27 13:36 ]

Great find you two. Could you please inquire about the present location of the "Crap" in question.
Thanks for the great photos and good luck in your upcoming Dancethon!
RIP AWLT