The Bamboo House (formerly the Outrigger) , Prince George, BC, Canada (restaurant)

This expedition could be risky, much to lose, little to gain. Except for the Bamboo House, the only thing Polynesian we may see is a 'Visit Hawaii' poster in a travel agency, small town boredom (you know it's bad when they have a website dedicated to it), hostile natives (ok.. you wear a Hawaiian shirt in a Prince George bar!!).
I agree with Bigbrotiki, we must be fearless Urban Archeologists!! It's one of only a couple Tiki venues in BC and it deserves some serious attention. Worth the risks, I say!

Taboo Dan, Sweet Daddy Tiki, Tikiwahine, it's up to us! (hey, any excuse to get together!)

I dunno. I'm going to need some convincing. I'm not feeling all that intrepid at the moment. I'm planning an excursion to the tiki meccas of Portland and Seattle this summer and I need to save my meager resources for that trip.

If you/we do go, here are some things to check out:

Prince George has a drive-in movie theatre, one of three left in B.C. (and it has mini-golf!).

Meow Records was voted number 1 record store in Canada by CBC Radio 3 listeners.

Esther's Inn "Your Tropical Oasis in Northern B.C."

Orchid Room (note the white ceiling)

Still thinking about doing the trip but I am waiting to see some pictures that Reido will be posting of his trip up there just two days ago!!!
Reido went up there for some business and he stayed at the Hotel I had mentioned earlier. He said there were two lounges at the Hotel and there were carved Tiki's, tapacloth covered lamps, an outrigger canoe (possibly, the one above) and some other cool Pacific decor.

He also went to the restaurant which had a sign saying closed but took a few more pictures of the building. The saga continues....

Those single bamboo poles hung under the white drop ceiling are hilarious! They make it worse, like a parody of a real bamboo ceiling.

I agree, guys, it only would make it worthwhile if you could get into the Outrigger. Hopefully you can arrange that from the distance, but sometimes someone needs to be at the place to make it happen.

Dan that's very exciting!

The rock wall on the far left hints at the possibility of a waterfall of some sort? But that paisley fabric on the booth benches is frightening to say the least. The hanging bamboo is pretty sad, it looks like they ran out or just didn't bother covering the whole ceiling.

However - this is BC! Even a half-assed attempt is better than no attempt (I think) The items themselves look great, from the chairs to the clubs and the outrigger (though what's up with the burgundy chair skirts?)

On 2008-04-29 22:55, Tikiwahine wrote:
Dan that's very exciting!

The rock wall on the far left hints at the possibility of a waterfall of some sort? But that paisley fabric on the booth benches is frightening to say the least. The hanging bamboo is pretty sad, it looks like they ran out or just didn't bother covering the whole ceiling.

However - this is BC! Even a half-assed attempt is better than no attempt (I think) The items themselves look great, from the chairs to the clubs and the outrigger (though what's up with the burgundy chair skirts?)

Haha... I noticed the skirts too. Do they know that the upholstery and carpet clash horribly? It really doesn't hide the 'Hotel Chain Buffet Room' feel very well. Well sadly, next to the Waldorf, this is the most I've seen for a venue still in operation. More questions arise, like where are these items from?
I hope Reido took some close ups of the pieces on the wall!

and so with the task at hand (or more like the flask in hand) I strapped on my snowshoes and started on a journey into the the frigged northern regions of Canada in search of TIKI!

O.K., So I was on a business trip! But, as any good urban Archaeologist would know... ulterior motives are awesome! and exspensing a tiki expedition is like telling your wife that its a coincidence that the hotel your staying in next weekend just happens to have TIKI in the name...

Esther's INN

Here's a few more!

A few bad pics but you get the point! Tiki is Alive in Northern B.C.! Talking to the locals apparently a lot of people in the region holiday at Esthers in the winter to escape the 'snowed in' blues!...Aloha!

And of course my expedition wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Bamboo House


Doors locked!!!

We MUST get inside!!!!!!

And of course my expedition wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Bamboo House


Doors locked!!!

We MUST get inside!!!!!!

Now that is more like it!!! Good job Reido!
Compare that interior shot of Esther's Inn that was posted by SweetDaddy in the bright color with that glowing white ceiling and then check out the darker evening shot that Reido took and look at the difference!!
That place actually looks really good and check out all the masks and carvings!! Hell....those are even some awesome carvings too!! They sure aren't Indian carvings or something else claiming to be Tiki! Pretty authentic!! Awesome shot of the courtyard with all the plants and cool Tiki's.

Good to see the Bamboo House hasn't been knocked down or anything yet. Interesting how the sign says "Closed Until Further Notice" and there is no "For Sale" sign anymore. I'd like to drag that building down here, find a good spot and re-open it!! TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-05-10 21:20 ]

On 2008-05-10 20:58, TabooDan wrote:
Compare that interior shot of Esther's Inn that was posted by SweetDaddy in the bright color with that glowing white ceiling and then check out the darker evening shot that Reido took and look at the difference!!

Even if there were no lights on at all that carpet would still be ugly.

Good to see the Bamboo House hasn't been knocked down or anything yet. Interesting how the sign says "Closed Until Further Notice" and there is no "For Sale" sign anymore. I'd like to drag that building down here, find a good spot and re-open it!! TabooDan

Do it! I'll kick in $20 to get you started. And maybe some sweat equity too, as long as I don't have to do any heavy lifting. :)

I was up in PG on business recently too, and being new to the world of Tiki didn't know about Esther's but fortunately got moved there for my last night when the hotel my office had booked me in was overbooked. What a stroke of luck!

Quick recap:
-Monsoon Lounge: the bar sandwiched in between the Tradewinds restaurant and the main entrance/atrium. Small, dark, masks on the walls, $15 surf n' turf special with mediocre drinks. Too bad there's no pictures of this spot, it seemed like a real gem (drinks and drinkers - read on - notwithstanding).
-The main atrium: HUGE, with gardens, multiple pools and hot tubs, bridges, masks, tikis
-The Tradewinds restaurant: Orchid room looked like Reid-O's darker picture, and also had a large outdoor "gazebo" under a thatch roof overlooking the Gardens. A coworker told me later that Sunday brunch they have there includes a pig roast!
The scoop on the place is that it was a couple of stand-alone hotels that were acquired by the owners, who connected everything by building the huge atrium over top of the grounds and creating gardens around the pools, etc. It's known as a great weekend party place for the locals because where else can you immerse yourself in the tropics during those harsh Northern winters.

The owner of Esther's is probably the person to speak to about the remnants of Outrigger; clearly a major tikiphile. The outrigger canoe in Reid-O's picture and some of the tikis at the entrance to the Tradewinds apparently came from the Outrigger, the boat being the one that used to hang from the roof there (see Dustycajun's postcard pic on page 2). The bartender told me the owner of Esther's acquired most of the stuff from the Outrigger/Bamboo House some time back.

Having spent about a week up there, seeing other hotels and the rest of the town, I agree with other posters who mentioned that there wasn't much in PG. Downtown at 5pm on a Friday in June was a bit of a war zone. Stores all closing/closed, nobody on the streets except some truly seedy characters, and the thrill of seeing the Bamboo House A-frame tamped down by a couple lighting up their crack pipes in the entranceway.

So, Tikiphiles, don't confuse Prince George with California. Northern BC is going through some hard times (major layoffs almost weekly, serious drug problems, and the city shut down by major flooding and fires several times in the last year alone!), and it really showed. The monsoon lounge was less laughter and ukeleles and more solitary, taciturn drinkers.

This being said, Esther's was a real oasis up there! Sure, it had some rough edges, but considering Tiki joints have been closing in much more prosperous places, keeping a giant Tiki temple like this one alive in a small Northern town is something special. So if you're ever in that area, particularly during the winter, be sure to check it out!

Thanks for the report, thekazz, and welcome to Tiki Central.

Found another old photo of the Outrigger online - This one in winter.

Hey Thekazz, Nice post!! Thanks for the update and welcome aboard as well!! Always good to have another tikiphile in BC checking stuff out!!

Thanks Sabu for the new cool picture!
I really wish I could go back to it's heyday and see this place! It would have been pretty cool driving through sleet and snow and coming across this A-Frame with a little Tiki Oasis inside practically in the middle of no where!!

I'll have a Zombie please!

Thanks for your report Thekazz! Welcome to TC too!!

Sabu...great find, that's the Prince George I recognize ... notice that the palm tree is gone too!!

I'm happy it's still standing at least!!

[ Edited by: Pepe le Tiki 2008-07-11 09:12 ]

Okay, no new information yet but I did have a VERY exciting find for me a few weeks ago!!!

My sister-in-law was in town and told me about a couple tiki 'cups' she had seen at a local antique shop. I usually check these out frequently so I was a little interested in what she saw. I asked what she had seen and she said there were about 5-6 mugs and a few other Hawaiian items.

She then told me there was a mug with "Tropic Isle" on it. Well....need I say I WAS VERY INTERESTED??!!! She had actually taken a photo with her phone and sure enough a bunch of mugs and Coco Joe stuff on a shelf along with a coconut mug with Tropic Isle right on the front.

I was stoked on this as it was another slight variation in style and build from the two coconut mugs I have. As I checked out the other items I saw a red mug poking out from the back that looked like a Marquesian style Toby Design mug. I grabbed it turned it over and right on the back in big old locally made letters were the words "The Outrigger Prince George BC"!!

I had a little mini freak out as I have never seen a mug or anything except a postcard from this place and now I was holding one of my favorite things to collect!! Enough talk you're saying!!

The back with writing and a image of an Outrigger:

What was also cool with this little discovery was that it has a artist's name on the bottom "Jeanne" in black writing. The interesting thing with this is that my mold maker, the man that made the molds for alot of the local tiki restaurants, Hawaiian Village, Tropic Isle, and also Trader Vic's, told me about this artist doing ceramic pieces and specifically for another Tiki restaurant here in BC called The Islanders.

I also didn't realize this until I was taking the pictures for this post was that when I was at the ceramic mold makers (Tom is his name) house a few years ago, Tom gave me the exact original mug made by Toby Design!! So I could possibly have the original mug that Tom took the mold from to produce this exact mug who then gave the mold to "Jeanne" to make and produce.
A bit of a run around story but I think that's it!! Tom did tell me he often was given or kept the original mugs he made the molds from in case he needed to add extra details the mold may have missed or to make his sculpt a little more precise.
He also had other mugs as well that he had done but mainly from the Hawaiian Village.

Anyways, wanted to get this on here as I was quite excited to find something from what looks to have been another great BC Tiki establishment!!

Mahalo, TabooDan

Excellent discovery! Wonder how few of those were made.

TabooDan,

Way to go, awesome find! You owe your sister-in-law dinner and drinks for that one. Now, if we could only find a menu and a matchbook from the Outrigger.

Finally, I found a matchbook from the Outrigger.

One of those cool matchbooks that has the image on the front cover and tucks under the bottom of the book to create the image.

Now, where's the menu?

DC

Awesome matchbook. One of the best designs I've seen.

Unearthed a swizzle from the Outrigger.

DC

A are relic.

Well here is a fun twist. Seems as though the folks at the Exploration Place museum are organizing an exhibit for the Outrigger. And they got themselves a Tiki!

More info:

Exploration Place assistant curator Alisha Rubadeau and Alyssa Tobin from the museum's archives department are organizing a feature display about the Outrigger inside Exploration Place, recreating the restaurant and its spirit of 1960s and '70s hospitality. They believe items of past Outrigger lore are squirreled away in people's homes and sheds and summer cabins. The Outrigger, for example, was renowned for cheap meals but expensive coffee for its day - 20 cents per cup - but every customer got to keep the cup. Where are those cups now?

"We are interested in any items, large or small, and we will make whatever arrangement works for you: donate it, loan it to us for the display, bring in any photos or documents for digital copies, we want to see everything we can," said Rubadeau. "We are especially interested in photos of people doing their parties or meetings with the Outrigger in the background. Anything that might give us a different vantage point."

More of the story here:

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20140131/PRINCEGEORGE0101/301319990/-1/princegeorge/museum-looks-for-help-recreating-pg-eatery

Would be nice to see some of the Tiki Central items on display there. I am going to contact them about my postcard and matchbook. Hope this turns up some new and exciting historical artifacts.

DC

What a great story and a great idea. Kudos to you, DC, for contributing to it.