Halloween at Kona spooky basement tour! (managed to take 2 pix!)

Hey everybody!

We were at Kona tonight and saw a flier advertising tours of their (possibly haunted) basement this Thursday the (30th), Friday (the 31st) and Saturday (the 1st) evenings to celebrate Halloween.

Eight feet underground, below sea-level (or something like that), the four room basement has been creeping out Sam's/Kona staff for years! Supposedly the ghost of Sam is lurking about the premises.

It's off limits to most people, and open only for this special occasion.
They'll have free guided tours of groups of 10 through out the evening on those nights.

Sounds like it might be fun!

That's all the info I remember from the flier, but if you call the fine folks at Kona at HEmlock 8-2405 (that's the phone number on the matchbook I have sitting in front of me, and I'm far to lazy to check anywhere else), I'm sure they can fill in all the gristly details!

http://ericoctober.com

[ Edited by: tobunga 2008-10-31 15:47 ]

I cant find the "hemlock" button on my phone....
...and Sarah, the operator, won't pick up. (Andy Griffith anyone?? huh? no? ugh...)

I went down in the basement once back when it was Sam's. I wonder if the have cleaned it up since it was Sam's? The was a bunch of decor down there that they weren't using at the time.

Isn't the basement their original bomb shelter?

WooHoo!! Here the all the information: :)

Trick or Treat through KONA's Basement
Trick or Treat at KONA

Since my wife and I took over the old Sam's Seafood back in January '08 we have heard so much about the possibility of this place being haunted. The mysterious electrical issues, the feelings of being watched, sightings of people who aren't there and so on. With my attempts to verify such paranormal activity, I have heard from many reliable sources that Sam died in the restaurant. Maybe it was a heart attack, maybe it was at the hands of an evil doer. I'm still not quite sure. The long standing joke in the restaurant is "oh it's just Sam again".

Beginning Thursday, October 30th we will trick or treat our way through the basement at KONA. Approximately 6 feet below sea level our 4 room basement has been off limits to almost everyone. A true time capsule for this legendary restaurant that still has a portion of the old "rumrunner tunnel" dating back to the days of prohibition. I've heard stories that the 4 basement rooms used to be used as a speakeasy during prohibition and even a brothel (that may explain the walls in room 3 painted deep red).

Groups will be escorted through the basement in set times and escorted out (as long as your escort makes it out that is). Will you get scared? We don't know. Do the employees get scared when they are down there? You better believe it!

Chuck Purrington, proprietor
Each night beginning at 8pm

Thursday, October 30
The KONA $2.95 Happy Hour 4 to 7pm
Dinner from 4 to 10 pm,
KARAOKE begins at 9pm.

Friday, October 31
The KONA $2.95 Happy Hour 4 to 7pm
Dinner from 4 to 10 pm
Live entertainment in the Tiki Bar featuring
classic rock from The Michael Dena Band begins at 9pm.

Saturday, November 1
The KONA $2.95 Happy Hour 4 to 7pm
Dinner from 4 to 10 pm
Live entertainment in the Tiki Bar featuring
classic rock from Twang begins at 8pm.

There is no charge for this event.
We only ask that you enjoy some of our great food and spirits (drinks that is).

KONA Restaurant
16278 S. Pacific Coast Highway
Huntington beach, California 92649

Too cool...

I vaguely remember the 'rumors' of Sam's being haunted when I worked there briefly years ago.

The Mrs. and I will have to go check out the tour!

Thanks for all the info Woo Hoo... I thought it would be good to post, but I had to rely on only what I remembered reading while I was at Kona...

Sounds interesting, especially if they still have bits of decor stored down there that we can sneak away...

On 2008-10-27 12:37, Dartin Menny wrote:
Too cool...

I vaguely remember the 'rumors' of Sam's being haunted when I worked there briefly years ago.

The Mrs. and I will have to go check out the tour!

Maybe we can go with you? How fun would that be?!?!?!?!?

Sounds like a good time. I think I am gonna test my faith on Thursday. I'm sure I'll be able to find a few spirits in my cocktail at least.

On 2008-10-27 21:13, Riptide wrote:
Sounds like a good time. I think I am gonna test my faith on Thursday. I'm sure I'll be able to find a few spirits in my cocktail at least.

What time are you going? Maybe I'll meet you there..

On 2008-10-28 10:40, PolynesianPop wrote:

On 2008-10-27 21:13, Riptide wrote:
Sounds like a good time. I think I am gonna test my faith on Thursday. I'm sure I'll be able to find a few spirits in my cocktail at least.

What time are you going? Maybe I'll meet you there..

I was thinking about maybe sometime in the 6 o'clock hour or so. Early enough so that I can partake of the Happy Hour menu, but not so early that I partake too much & am passed out come 8 o'clock.
Come one, Come all!

I have probably spent the most time there than anybody when Sam's was going to re-open. While restoring/ building the hidden village I spent many a night there being the last one to lock up. Somehow I never felt alone. Yeah there might be some lingering guests there. ..........Boo!

On 2008-10-28 21:22, Tiki Diablo wrote:
I have probably spent the most time there than anybody when Sam's was going to re-open. While restoring/ building the hidden village I spent many a night there being the last one to lock up. Somehow I never felt alone. Yeah there might be some lingering guests there. ..........Boo!

Danny,

We're not alone!!!!

Got the same feeling down there that I got when I saw the ghost at the Kon Tiki Tucson.

Hair raising!!!

No joke!

ghosts of tiki past.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Jeff(bigtikidude)

This is too good to pass up! I've been in parts of the basement...It's very dank and foreboding. You almost can feel the energy of past "events" that took place down there! Does anyone have a spec, er uh spooktrometer they can bring? I'll be at the bar "preparing" with a couple Mai-Tai's around 5:30 Thursday.

WoooHoooOOOooooo!

Mr and Mrs Tikilands will try to be there Thursday around 5:30 for this spooky tour. Can't wait. See you there.

I will be there for sure.I have a 25 years under my belt at this place, and
was in the tunnels when the former manager Josh was making a go of it.
See yah there Thursday at 5:30- Can't wait.

We got to Kona about 8.30pm, and went down in the basement with about 10 other guests shortly after that.

Wow, what a huge space! You could fit like four TIKI TIs down there. It was dark and candle lit, to set the mood, and people were a little jumpy!

I only managed to get two pix:

One of the Original Sam's lettering from the swordfish sign, illuminated by candles... it was amazing to be standing so close to tiki history... well, and touching tiki history too, since I moved the candles around to get a better shot.

The other pic is some of the shelves where you can see unused decorations, like a little tiki hut bird house sort of thing. There's also a turtle shell and other lighting fixtures, but you can't really see them in this pic. There were several glass floats and one of those pointy woven Chinese hats. In fact, the rooms were filled with all kinds of restaurant detritus: lots of trays of glasses, wicker chairs, and even a whole bar! The stuff was haphazardly stored... I'd love to poke around down there with lights on (and at least one other person by my side)... I'm sure there's forgotten treasures hidden away in there.

It was very informal. Our guide just let us look around, and a couple of times, an employee jumped out from behind a wall and went "Boo!". Our guide showed us points of interest, such as the red walls of one room (the bordello, as is was suspected of being), the rum runner tunnel, and mentioned that employees shy away from the basement, especially if they have to go down alone.

It wasn't scary, but it was kinda creepy, with almost no lights and all... and it was free, so that was great.

At one point, our guide had to go back up, and left another employee in charge of the group. We were alone in one of the rooms, and I heard the basement door slam shut. For a moment, I thought we had been left behind, not realizing that the rest of the group was still in another room. I was almost seized with panic. Almost.

After, we had mai-tais in the bar. Martin Denny's "The Enchanted Isle" played in between Rufus ( featuring Chaka Khan) and Depeche Mode, so that was a magical moment: Kona, a mai-tai, and Denny!

I had not seen the Kona version of Sam's, nor had I been downstairs, so I took that opportunity yesterday and went on the basement tour. There was a person in our group that had psychic abilities and was able to put forward a whole lot of new information that made sense, information unknown to Chuck the owner, who knew about what was posted here, and that Sam's had burned down TWICE since its inception, once in the 30s.

Here is the skinny of what our guide saw: "The place of unresolved energy was the red room. It was an illegal gambling den. They also served illegal liquor that was stored in a room next door. There probably were dames, but no brothel. This operation was NOT managed by the owner, who tolerated it and turned a blind eye to it. The owner managed the road side Inn during the day only, and the downstairs den only operated at night. The den's operator was probably a family acquaintance (during the depression families helped each other out anyway they could). He was a big, angry and imposing man. The night in question he came to get his take, and something went wrong. He was killed, by accident. NOT murdered, but he died. To erase all proof of the incident and the illegal activities, the responsible party used the liquor next door to douse and torch the place. That was the cause for the first fire."

Pretty interesting. This person took this tour unprepared, and new nothing about Seal Beach's or Sam's early history. Here is what I found out on the internet, on this site:

http://www.kastner.us/seal_beach_history.html

Seal Beach was a popular beach resort by the 1920s, and sported one of LA's first amusement parks, the "Fun Zone":

Then: >>... in the 30s Seal Beach went through its dark period where it was known as "Sin City." It was called "an open town," because of the lack of police enforcement. Stories still abound from old timers who remember Seal Beach's hey day as a drop off point for rum runners during prohibition, a place where prostitution was found in the upstairs of more than one Main Street establishment.

On 2008-11-01 17:41, bigbrotiki wrote:

Seal Beach was a popular beach resort by the 1920s, and sported one of LA's first amusement parks, the "Fun Zone":

Looks like the Long Beach Pike had some competition.

Nice info Sven.I was there on Thursday and had a great time.If those walls in
the basement could talk , I am sure there would be quite some stories.Sams is
really one of the oldest tiki restaurants left in LA or OC.The Trader Vic's in
Beverly Hills that was closed last year was built in 1957, and that was the
oldest Trader Vic's that was still standing .