What inspired you?

For me, I am trying to recreate the feeling and mood of Hala Kahiki, and Aku Tiki Room probably first, and the Mai-Kai feeling next. It is in those places I got a feeling I wanted to recreate at home.

What places inspired you? Or was it not a place at all? Something you imagine?

Plan:

So dark that your eyes must adjust. Inside it is night. And after being there a while you start seeing things you didn't see at first because your eyes were not used to it.

Music that sweeps over you like waves on the beach. A constant background that speaks to you, but never yells.

A journey in every cocktail. You take the first sip and experience the flavors. Second sip is a little different. Bottom of the glass and you are not where you were when you sat down.

Everything you point at has a story and I can tell it to you. Same for the drinks. It's not just a drink, it's living history lesson.

Suddenly, you are no longer in a back room of a house in East TN. You are in that elsewhere we call the Tiki Bar. Timeless, placeless and perfect. And you never want to leave. You almost feel the pull of your ancestors...

Your key to Beachbum Berry's books. Login and start concocting!

[ Edited by: Swanky 2010-03-13 17:19 ]

Childhood memories of the Mauna Kai in Marlboro, Mass.

My story probably sounds weird...

Watching reruns of Gilligan's Island as a kid and all the creative and cool things they built to make the island into a 'home' away from home, inspired me at a young age, to try and do the same. We had a large section of woods behind our house in those days and my brother and I built huts, etc. to pretend we lived there.
It was fun to think that you really could make something out of virtually nothing and I loved the idea of making an existence from what you could find on a tropical island. We even wanted to build a bamboo peddle-car like the one they had in an episode.

About 10 years ago, I was shooting a video for Microsoft about the coming of the Y2K 'apocalypse'. We hired Russell Johnson (he lives on nearby Bainbridge Island, of all places) and, in the video, the 'Professor' has invented a computer that solves the feared clock issues in the software. One of the gags is that it was created on the island and uses an hourglass with beach sand to keep time. I built the prop out of bamboo, coconuts, seashells, sand, vines, and lauhala matting (and dry ice for a 'smoke' effect emanating from a coconut battery on top). It turned out really well (he even signed it for me: 'Thanks John. Love, Russell Johnson, the 'Professor') and got me thinking about making a whole room at home to relive those imaginary days on Gilligan's Island.

My other influences have been family trips to Hawaii and Disneyland and the desire to recreate that magic for family and friends.

And finally -- the idea that you really can dream up and make your own home into anything you want if you're not worried about resale value :)
I discovered that it's really not rocket science and you can always 'fix it' later. Pick up that hammer, saw and paint brush and fear not! :)

On 2010-03-13 19:20, Mr. Pupu Pants wrote:
...
And finally -- the idea that you really can dream up and make your own home into anything you want if you're not worried about resale value :)
I discovered that it's really not rocket science and you can always 'fix it' later. Pick up that hammer, saw and paint brush and fear not! :)

On that note. We refinanced our house after being here 2 years and when it was appraised, the bar was not too far along. Built, flooring down and paint on the walls. But the bar itself was just some plywood. However, turning that utility room into living space raise our home's value by about 30-40%!

Now, when we sell the house one day, we'll have to figure out what we do with that room again to make someone want it. But, for now, the Tiki bar has increased our homes value.

"Now, when we sell the house one day, we'll have to figure out what we do with that room again to make someone want it. But, for now, the Tiki bar has increased our homes value."

Just make sure you're there to make the buyers a "Mai Tai".

I'm sure they'll want the room the way it is!

Amen to that !

Hey Ben, do you have any Pics of your Place posted on TC? I sure would like to see what you have done with it?

On 2010-03-15 21:44, RevBambooBen wrote:
"Now, when we sell the house one day, we'll have to figure out what we do with that room again to make someone want it. But, for now, the Tiki bar has increased our homes value."

Just make sure you're there to make the buyers a "Mai Tai".

I'm sure they'll want the room the way it is!

Good idea! We sort of thought maybe the bar would be a selling point as the "man cave". She'll get a great house, kitchen, etc. He gets the wet bar, out where she can't hear his friend screaming at the game...

What inspired me?

The Ukulele...

About 2 years ago I started playing the Uke and would sit in the basement working on old school Hapa-Haole songs dreaming of sand between my toes, the sound of surf you know Hawaii...

Well one day sitting in a fish taco place that had thatch on the walls and such, kinda Buffett decor, I look at the wifey and said I want to do this to the basement but in a Hawaiian sort of way. She said "NO WAY, your out of your mind."
I said why not a Tiki Bar Basement would be cool!!! Her reply "No one has those."

At the time I didn't even know about Tiki Central... I found this site because of South Park. I did a Google search for the chords/lyrics to "The Hukilau Song" which is in one of the shows and Tiki Central was one of the places that came up.
"Whats this place" and clicked on the link.
Holy Cow!!! there are people out there that remember the old way of Tiki!!!!

Growing up in SoCal during the 60's I remember the tiki stuff everyhere, but had thought it was dead and gone or turning in to the Thatch and Buffett world of "Tiki" that I know as a SCUBA Instructor...

When we were planning a trip to Vegas for Lei Days and the Ukulele playing that goes on during the event, I read on here about Frankies and knew if we went there she should change her mind.
Well after her eyes got adjusted to the darkness of Frankies she looks at me a said "Is this what your wanting to do?". I just smiled and took a sip of my Lava Letch...
When we got home I started showing her pictures of home/basment bars on the site and she went for it.

[ Edited by: Beach Bum Scott 2010-03-16 17:21 ]

I got the inspiration as a kid when my mom took me to some Polynesian style lounge for my birthday. The flame must have been flickering somewhere in my psyche for several decades as I gave the tiki notion little thought until about the time I hit the big 4-0... I can't exactly remember what touched off the torch again (maybe discovering Martin Denny?), but a few years ago I bought Sven's Tiki Modern and was immediately re-struck with just how cool all of the elements of the tiki lounge really are. The textures and exotic nature of the materials; the dim, colored lamps; the mysterious look of the tikis; the idea that the genre is still, while popular again, not mainstream...

I also took a part time bartending gig in 2006 and got into making cocktails and learning all I could about popular drinks from the past.

One thing led to another and I finally discovered TC and was amazed at the work that TC'ers were doing. I knew then that I would not be content until I could do something of my own.

Now, 3 years after stumbling upon TC and lurking about drooling over all the cool home bars posted here, I've started on my space. It's nothing much- basically a small closet being converted into a dry bar, but I hope it will look OK when I get "done" and temporarily satisfy my quest for a little corner of tiki-ness. (One great thing about doing a small space is that, as a novice, my mistakes cost less... but after studying others' comments and advice here, I hope the mistakes will be few)

Anyway, lot's of different sources of inspiration for me, but TC is definitely a big one!

What truly inspired us was the first fully-realized home tiki bar we were ever lucky enough to be invited to - TikiMaxton and Maggie's Castaway Cove in Portland. That and visits to various "real" tiki bars over the years gave us a vision for the Honolulu Lounge.
That first home tiki bar visit - which started with a meet and greet Maxton put together at the Alibi Lounge -is what emboldened us to do more tiki traveling, including pushing Tim and Christie (and poor Ford) to organize the first Hukilau in Atlanta. Funny how tentative we all were about meeting people we only knew via the internet back then. In fact, I am smiling because we have just returned from a weekend visit with Mr. and Mrs. NeptuneTiki at their palace of Witco in north Florida. Yet another example of how tiki traveling has made our lives much better for the great home bars and tiki collections we have been able to visit and the fantastic friends we have made over the past ten years or so.
KG

I think my inspiration came from my divorce actually...suddenly I found myself able to do what I wanted and free of a LOT of responsibilities I had before. I was contemplating the replacement of my patio furniture (which she wanted so I let her take) and could not find a suitable bar type set. I decided to build one...and it's all over now...

I'm trolling the web looking for bar pics and materials...poking my head into every dollar store, secondhand shop etc looking for items. People are on the lookout for items for me (in other countries even). I'm probably at the best stage of my tiki patio...building. The possibilities are limited only to the edges of my backyard!!

You can find photos in the 'home tiki bars' section under 'Canadian Tiki Bar'

On 2010-03-19 09:12, jcorrigan wrote:
I think my inspiration came from my divorce actually...suddenly I found myself able to do what I wanted and free of a LOT of responsibilities I had before. I was contemplating the replacement of my patio furniture (which she wanted so I let her take) and could not find a suitable bar type set. I decided to build one...and it's all over now...

I'm trolling the web looking for bar pics and materials...poking my head into every dollar store, secondhand shop etc looking for items. People are on the lookout for items for me (in other countries even). I'm probably at the best stage of my tiki patio...building. The possibilities are limited only to the edges of my backyard!!

You can find photos in the 'home tiki bars' section under 'Canadian Tiki Bar'

I CAN TOTALLY RELATE!!! the rest of my inspiration was that i want to have a fun place for my son to forget the negative things of the day and just relax! he is 8 and digss tiki stuff also.Im try to creat everything on a low budget. but as my family and friends see the things come together they often bring me things and say This reminded me of you. Its a good feeling.Small projects here and there are starting to come together .

[ Edited by: bedslead 2010-05-12 13:32 ]

My childhood was heavily affected by Peter Pan and the Jungle Book. Every trip to Disneyland was like walking through a dream.My dad was a collector and a builder. I got into drawing and everything became grandiose. When I discovered Tiki News I knew I'd found others with the same weird passions. Meeting BOSKO, Otto, 'Ona Tiki and Moki solidified the deal. I stopped looking at the pirates on the Disney ride and started looking at everything else on the ride. The jungle cruise details became more important than the creatures we were supposed to be looking at. Escapism is so fun. I wanted to recreate that same feeling I got when walking through Disneyland. The suspension of disbelief can be very powerful and enjoyable. Hell... what kid doesn't want his own fort? Even us big kids need a place to dream.

I too, grew up in California in the 60's and I worked at a Tiki Bar/Restaurant as a teen. After a trip to Hawaii about 8 years ago, I carved a couple of crude tikis and put them on the deck. When my wife was recuperating from Chemotherapy, I decided to make the deck full on tiki/tropical so she would have a nice place to relax and escape.

Al-ii's Lagoon Room....

One step inside... I was permanently inspired.

I've always been into Hawiian shirts, boonie hats and World War II aviation and have loved Hawaii since I visited it on cruise a few years ago. I hit other ports that deployment- Japan, Malaysia and Australia, all of which I enjoyed but I loved the personality of Hawaii, despite the tourists. Japan too, but that's a different story.

Anyway, fast forward a few years, now I'm Iraq and killing time on duty, so my love of WWII aviation spills over into the jet age, art deco, streamline modern, googie and... tiki. So when I get home I order the Book of Tiki. My next set of orders take me to Diego Garcia, a tropical paradise in the middle of nowhere. It's beautiful, there's a wrecked PBY, the people are all wonderful, I'm learning Tagalog but only one thing is missing: No one on this island can make a drink to save their lives!

So I pick up Trader Vic's book and some mugs. It's nice to start with but I need more. Then Beachbum Berry's books, more tiki mugs and a 1947 copy of Trader Vic's. (side note- the drinks I pull out of that one really seem to surprise people). I've the only bottle of orgeat on the island. Next stops? The Philippines and Guam. I've got the tropical island fever and I don't ever wanna go home! So I'm working on building a tropical 1930's-1940's themed tiki bar on a tropical island.

Oh, and 100 posts. Yay me.

[ Edited by: Wayfarer 2010-05-06 08:53 ]

Hi Wayfarer!
Sounds like we're kindred spirits on all that cool stuff. I'm a real history buff on WWII and am incorporating that into my bar as well. I just picked up a collection of those old lead ship ID models on ebay that I'm going to build a special shelf for with a sign ('Know your enemy'). Also collected some fighter models and a large sub model to hang from the ceiling.
Jet age, art deco, streamline modern and googie are all influencing the themes in my house (Tiki Bar, TWA Space Port, Diner Kitchen, Disneyland attraction themed room).

Our rec. Room (that leads to the basement bar) will have a bunch of sci-fi and jet age stuff I've collected over the years -- a spacesuit from the movie Mission to Mars, Spaceship wall sections and control panels from the movie Sunshine, a 4ft model of the TWA Moonliner in Disneyland, etc. In fact, the double doors that go between our rec room and the steps to the basement (currently just look like closet doors) will be space ship airlock doors on one side and bamboo covered doors on the other.

What branch of the service are you in? Thank you very much for your service to our country.

[ Edited by: mr. pupu pants 2010-05-06 16:10 ]

My inspiration was growing up in suburban Orange County, California during the mid-60s and experiencing numerous backyard Polynesian-paradises (home-made). Indeed IT WAS EVERYWHERE although I barely caught the tail end of that populuxe decor style. Styles changed weekly back then.

I remember my mother's 45rpm record collection. 1950s rock and roll. But lurking in that stack of vinyl there were a few Martin Denny singles - my first taste of musical exotica although I would use the term psychedelia today because that suits my mind well.

Equally important to my developing psyche was So Cal's big four attractions at that time: Long Beach Nu-Pike, Pacific Ocean Park, Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm.

I don't recall exactly when I saw my first tiki carving - they were everywhere, omnipresent. I do recall watching the movie Its A Mad Mad Mad Mad World as a kid and thinking "when I'm old enough to have my own telephone, I'm going to have a tiki god as my phone stand".

I don't recall exactly my first Polynesian Restaurant - but I do remember Kono Hawaii in Santa Ana, Sams Seafood in Huntington Beach, the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach, Polynesian Terrace at Disneyland etc. This type of restaurant was everywhere too.

My influence for all this was my father, Tanner. He was literally born on a pineapple field on Hawaii in the 1920s. Hawaiian history, culture and style was embraced in my house growing up. As a pre-teen and teenager much of that was forgotten and dismissed as "old-fogy" shit due to the kitsch factor of do-it-your-self Poly-Pop and seemingly un-hip, old-fashioned and out-of-place with those "mod" times. Looking back on it all today, I embrace my formative inspirations. It was my father Tanner (and in a lesser sense my mother) who took me around to those special places (most gone now) at a young age while I formed my own sense of place and being. Orange County was fantastic back then.

Today I must Thank a close friend for bringing all this full circle in my life.

Cheers!

You guys here at TC are my inspiration!

I have good memories of Trader Vic's Kansas City, Worlds of Fun, Mt Fuji Inn Omaha, many trips to Florida inclulding the Mai Kai. I never thought about Tiki until last year for some reason, I decided to read Aku Aku and then most everything else Heyerdahl wrote. I was hooked. Even though I've always liked anything and everything South Pacific related, it never really hit me till I was over 40.

My wife thinks I'm nuts! Am I?

I thank each and everyone of you here for inspiring me every day.

On 2010-05-06 13:52, Mr. Pupu Pants wrote:
Hi Wayfarer!
Sounds like we're kindred spirits on all that cool stuff. I'm a real history buff on WWII and am incorporating that into my bar as well. I just picked up a collection of those old lead ship ID models on ebay that I'm going to build a special shelf for with a sign ('Know your enemy'). Also collected some fighter models and a large sub model to hang from the ceiling.
Jet age, art deco, streamline modern and googie are all influencing the themes in my house (Tiki Bar, TWA Space Port, Diner Kitchen, Disneyland attraction themed room).

Our rec. Room (that leads to the basement bar) will have a bunch of sci-fi and jet age stuff I've collected over the years -- a spacesuit from the movie Mission to Mars, Spaceship wall sections and control panels from the movie Sunshine, a 4ft model of the TWA Moonliner in Disneyland, etc. In fact, the double doors that go between our rec room and the steps to the basement (currently just look like closet doors) will be space ship airlock doors on one side and bamboo covered doors on the other.

What branch of the service are you in? Thank you very much for your service to our country.

[ Edited by: mr. pupu pants 2010-05-06 16:10 ]

Thanks, I'm in the Navy.

Are you going to post pictures of the rest of the house some time? I love Hula Sue's, it's one of my favorite threads up here. I'd like to do something like that someday, except as a business and not a personal bar. Mostly I've just sketched ideas and have been slowly collecting stuff for it. It'll be great seeing those ID ships of yours up, Hula Sue's is one of those things that keeps me coming back to this site!

The rec room sounds awesome, will you serve the Test Pilot in there? And where do you find this stuff? It seems like you can find anything.

[ Edited by: Wayfarer 2010-05-08 21:28 ]

Thanks very much! :)
I can definitely post pictures of the other rooms but I'd rather wait until they're further along. Hula Sue's is probably the furthest along (construction-wise) besides the kitchen 'diner'.
Over the years, I've found alot of stuff on ebay and antique malls and some film prop houses. Some stuff on CraigsList too.
I have a pretty specific plan for what I want to do so when I 'see it', I 'know it' and hopefully have the money in hand to buy it. :)

One thing that really helps me is to create folders on my computer and file away any pictures I see -- from all kinds of places -- that give me ideas thematically or in terms of actual construction/fabrication. I periodically go through them for inspiration and it's amazing how many different ways you can look at something if you know what I mean.

Thanks, I'm in the Navy.

Are you going to post pictures of the rest of the house some time? I love Hula Sue's, it's one of my favorite threads up here. I'd like to do something like that someday, except as a business and not a personal bar. Mostly I've just sketched ideas and have been slowly collecting stuff for it. It'll be great seeing those ID ships of yours up, Hula Sue's is one of those things that keeps me coming back to this site!

The rec room sounds awesome, will you serve the Test Pilot in there? And where do you find this stuff? It seems like you can find anything.

[ Edited by: Wayfarer 2010-05-08 21:28 ]

[ Edited by: Mr. Pupu Pants 2010-05-10 14:10 ]

I know what you mean about the pictures, just coming here and seeing all the different takes on how to make a home tiki bar has shown me quite a bit.

There was the Cathay House in Madison Wisconsin. We didn't go there all that often, but it was a Polynesian/Chinese place. Blowfish lamps and all.

Then a life which ended up with me and surf music, exotica and a closet full of hawaiian shirts.

Not to mention about 30 years experience with rattan.

Childhood memories of a miniature golf place on the Jersey shore, half memories of an odd building with a pineapple through the roof, Disneyworld in the 70's (staying at the Contemporary and loving it and the Enchanted Tiki Room and Swiss Family Robinson), all the normal stuff, Gilligan's Island, etc.
I'm trying more for a mid-century googie aspect, formica and hairpin legs instead of rattan, but still mixed with bamboo. Something like a basement home bar in the rust belt, before it was the rust belt.
Does that make sense? When I figure that out I'll let ya know.

On 2010-04-30 15:20, MadDogMike wrote:
I too, grew up in California in the 60's and I worked at a Tiki Bar/Restaurant as a teen. After a trip to Hawaii about 8 years ago, I carved a couple of crude tikis and put them on the deck. When my wife was recuperating from Chemotherapy, I decided to make the deck full on tiki/tropical so she would have a nice place to relax and escape.

See mad dog I always knew you were a softie!!! Good for you dude I have to admit I am too espically when it comes to my wife.... Take care bro..

My inspiration was a multi thing, seeing my dad's photos from WW2 while stationed in hawaii and there abouts, plus I spent a fair amount of time on Anna Maria island florida when I was younger and worked in the gulf as a diver and basic trade hand for a company there and I couldnt get that awesome sand out of my blood and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. I love laid back, easy going music and always like to draw attention also , so kabam the Lava lounge was born. I was trying to complete my bar so my dad and I could sit, listen to music and have a cold one but as life goes he never lived to see it done and lung cancer took him from us. Its been two years now and I wish he could see it, I wouldnt be able to get him from our yard!!LOL.

Miss ya dad, free beer tomorrow at the lave lounge wish you were here....

Growing up in Houston and Galveston, Atomic/Midcentury architecture was all around me, as were palm trees, sand and sun. It all was such a ubiquitous part of my existence that it didn't really dawn on me that it was passion of mine until I left. I've found myself hunting out and admiring unusual architecture and kitsch since I left Texas for Tennessee, and tiki falls right into that category. My travels to different places have added their own parts to my memories and dreams, so my bar for the time being is more of a beach bar than tiki. The next iteration will be headed more in the traditional direction, and that's not far off.

I to grew up in SoCal. My dad always wanted a boat, but never made that "Big Purchase". We were always looking at boats in all the old boat yards in San Pedro & Long Beach. We would stop at different shops & restaurants in the area. I remember The Reef & Pierpoint Landing in particular. They were more nautical than tiki, but all had glass floats, fish nets & bamboo. As I got older I got into old cars because my dad worked at a body shop. When I finally got my drivers license in '72. I was into the Beach Boys & Oldies. My car in high school was a '55 Chevy. I was always a little retro. If you hag a girl friend, you would wear matching Hawaiian shirts to school dances, although I was all ready wearing them any way. Fast forward 30 some years & my wife (the same girl who wore the matching Hawaiian shirts)& I finally decided to go to Hawaii. It was on this trip that I went to my first "Tiki Bar". I bought my first tiki too. Upon returning from Hawaii I was still mostly into hot rods. We were at the Paso Robles car show & a vendor had a few copies of Tiki Magazine. I saw a mention of Tiki Central, & here we are. We now have an outdoor bar & patio. We are also in the middle of remodeling 2 rooms to a tropical look.
I think if grew up in place like SoCal where there was so much around you, it had to affect you in some way. I didn't even mention all of the apartments, shopping centers, & even bowling alleys & miniature golf courses. It just took some of us longer to appreciate it.

Chiming in late-ish (hey, I'm the new kid, sue me) because I'm a bit surprised nobody's said it: I was inspired by the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World. Growing up in FL we had (have?) the 2nd largest concentration of tikiana (izzat a word?) although it sometimes competes and it sometimes morphs with the whole Caribbean/Key West thing.

But I remember being a little kid in early 1972 marveling at the Polynesian Village, as it was called back then, and the sheer overwhelming immersion of it all. All I could think was "Me want."

A couple of years later, as a special occasion, we visited the Mai-Kai for my dad's 40th birthday. Big group of us. I was at the kids' table, enjoying some sort of fruity-juice thing in a funky vessel when I look up and there is this...THING being presented to my dad, who was blushing furiously as some really pretty girl presented him with a drink. (Turns out the drink was meant to be shared, but nobody told my dad. Shortly afterwards he was up on stage doing what he thought was a passable version of the hula. Thank G-d nobody handed him the fireswords.)

Not that I've gotten very far with this in our fixer-upper house, but I will.

My inspiration was listening to exotica on the airplane heading to and from Kauai, so when I Googled the artists, I got side-tracked over here to TC. I was surprised to find all the great Tiki enthusiasts and was thrilled to be able to relive my childhood of the 50's when I lived on Rosecrans Street and frequented all the spots on Shelter Island. OK..what really inspired me was the DRINKING!!!

I gotta give a shout out for the girls here. Not only is a bar a fun thing for a man-cave...having a Tiki Lounge in the house is a fabulous decorating opportunity and adds entertainment value to the girly pad!!!

On 2010-03-13 19:20, Mr. Pupu Pants wrote:
My story probably sounds weird...

Watching reruns of Gilligan's Island as a kid and all the creative and cool things they built to make the island into a 'home' away from home, inspired me at a young age, to try and do the same. We had a large section of woods behind our house in those days and my brother and I built huts, etc. to pretend we lived there.
It was fun to think that you really could make something out of virtually nothing and I loved the idea of making an existence from what you could find on a tropical island. We even wanted to build a bamboo peddle-car like the one they had in an episode.

About 10 years ago, I was shooting a video for Microsoft about the coming of the Y2K 'apocalypse'. We hired Russell Johnson (he lives on nearby Bainbridge Island, of all places) and, in the video, the 'Professor' has invented a computer that solves the feared clock issues in the software. One of the gags is that it was created on the island and uses an hourglass with beach sand to keep time. I built the prop out of bamboo, coconuts, seashells, sand, vines, and lauhala matting (and dry ice for a 'smoke' effect emanating from a coconut battery on top). It turned out really well (he even signed it for me: 'Thanks John. Love, Russell Johnson, the 'Professor') and got me thinking about making a whole room at home to relive those imaginary days on Gilligan's Island.

My other influences have been family trips to Hawaii and Disneyland and the desire to recreate that magic for family and friends.

And finally -- the idea that you really can dream up and make your own home into anything you want if you're not worried about resale value :)
I discovered that it's really not rocket science and you can always 'fix it' later. Pick up that hammer, saw and paint brush and fear not! :)

heh thats a great story about the Prof, i'd love to see that video. Im a huge Gilligan's fan, and Hawaii too since I was very young , though I've never been. I love all things rustic and tribal, and can probably also build anything out of bamboo and coconuts,hehe, right now I'm working on a ukulele :wink: I'm a big fan of coconuts in general too , in fact I've still got a huge bag of coconut shells I don't know what to do with lol

my main inspiration is my illness . Being in constant pain and feeling physicaly ill all the time is of course draining and upsetting, but negative feelings and stress are counterproductive to good health, so my man goal has been having something cheerful to work on as a distraction, and a happy, positive, stress relieving enviroment to spend time in. After all who can be uptight at a tiki bar? :) I can't realy do very muchor afford to purchase anythign but I love looking at all the wonderful pics of others home bars on here , THAT is VERY inspiring :wink:

On 2010-05-24 14:28, TikiMeplus3 wrote:
My inspiration was a multi thing, seeing my dad's photos from WW2 while stationed in hawaii and there abouts, plus I spent a fair amount of time on Anna Maria island florida when I was younger and worked in the gulf as a diver and basic trade hand for a company there and I couldnt get that awesome sand out of my blood and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. I love laid back, easy going music and always like to draw attention also , so kabam the Lava lounge was born. I was trying to complete my bar so my dad and I could sit, listen to music and have a cold one but as life goes he never lived to see it done and lung cancer took him from us. Its been two years now and I wish he could see it, I wouldnt be able to get him from our yard!!LOL.

Miss ya dad, free beer tomorrow at the lave lounge wish you were here....

I'm so sorry about your father. Its a shame that he didnt get a chance to enjoy it with you. Still you were making the bar for your dad and that such a beautiful tetimonial to love. He inspired you so is there in spirit. I sure your dad would be proud and honored. Cheers to you both.

[ Edited by: Bau 2010-09-25 17:21 ]