Westside Nautical Bar Crawl - 4/30/2011 (Photos start Pg 5)

PM me your regular email ID and I'll keep you in the loop.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-05-01 14:36 ]

(IF) I'm in town I'm in.
but most likely I won't be around.
bummer.

Jeff(btd)

John-O, what's the itinerary? When and what time for a meet-up.

Worms crawl. People walk. Walk here, drive there, walk some more, drive over there. Tour. Nautical Tour. Great concept.

John O,
well now that I'm not going to the East Coast,
I guess I don't have an excuse to not do this huh?
:wink:

Jeff(btd)

On 2011-04-05 17:51, Jungle Trader wrote:
Worms crawl. People walk...

Thanks for sharing Jungle Worm !! Also Mahalos for the Mai Tai 2 months ago at Forbidden Island. I'm glad I was able to return the favor and get you safely across Lincoln Ave. You were going to jay walk, but I said No !! use the crosswalk.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-04-06 09:39 ]

BTD, in your honor I am rechristening this crawl the Nautical and Surf Music Tour. While everyone else is getting shit-faced at Chez Jay, I'm going to walk you over to the former site of the Deauville Castle Club. On March 22, 1963 this is where the "Surf Battle" of the bands took place...

In "Pop Surf Culture" authors Brian Chidester and Dominec Priore's own words...

**"Surf music peaked at one single event held over a three-day weekend at the Deauville Castle Club in Santa Monica."

"...In all, the event would never be topped."**

Surf music may have been born in the OC, but it's shining moment took place in Santa Monica !! I will show that very spot.

Update - We can also visit the former location for Pacific Ocean Park (POP) where many early 1960's Surf music competitions took place as well.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-04-06 15:34 ]

Looking forward to it John-O! Ship Ahoy!

JOHN-O, I didn't think anybody saw me. Dangit!

You're doing this at the same time as the Tiki Ti 50th?

Someone needs to call Mike Sr. and tell him they need to change their date !!

SURF?
Feh....
this is supposed to be Nautical bar tour.
ha ha ha.

Paul,
I heard the Tiki Ti's actual anniversary date is Thurs. the 28th.

Jeff(btd)

Fantastic. I'm in.

On 2011-04-07 16:25, Capt. R.H. Falernum wrote:

Fantastic. I'm in.

Capt. Falernum !! How appropriate. Will Miss Misha be boarding as well ??

I certainly hope so since this is looking to be a very "manly" voyage. BUT that might be appropriate for a Nautical tour...

Ha, ha. :)

For those who have PM'd me, I'll send out emails in a few weeks.

I hope to shanghai more crew members next weekend in the desert.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-04-10 15:56 ]

I've got a group of Desert Castaways ready to sail of the day. Should we bring our eye patches and hats?

In honor of John-O's Westside Nautical tour, a tribute to the granddaddy of all Westside Nautical establishments, the late great Ship Cafe on the Venice pier (1905-1947; though burned and rebuilt circa 1924, and burned again in 1947):

Caltiki Brent

[ Edited by: congawa 2011-04-11 10:47 ]

Wow, wonderful! Never knew about this place! What a nice collection of ephemera.

The Ship Cafe burned down again ??

CRAP !! Now I have to take it off the crawl itinerary. I'll swap it out for this great place...

As much as I love the Tonga Hut, I too would have loved to experience that previous incarnation.

I wish there were more interior shots of the Ship Cafe in its various versions. Fires on the Venice pier (and Ocean Park) were commonplace in those days, usually wiping out a great deal of the pier, buildings and amusement rides (when you think about all the pre-OSHA electrical cables and transformers in an almost all wooden structure, its no surprise). There was one in 1912 that burned everything, which was rebuilt. Then another in 1924. In 1946 the pier (including Ship Cafe) were being dismantled, and there was a mysterious fire in 1947 that finished it all off (usually these fires are caused by one of two things--transients, or insurance arson).

I'll try to scan and post some shots from the 1936 Laurel and Hardy film OUR RELATIONS. In that movie, they go to a restaurant obviously inspired by the Ship Cafe (though all created in the movie studio), but it's a lot more like what it SHOULD have looked like inside (with a high ceiling, rope riggings, masts, and waiters dressed as pirates).

Caltiki Brent

For Ship Cafe "completists," here's the only time I've seen the real Ship Cafe in a movie--and it's only the hull for a few split seconds in the background, behind a rollercoaster on Venice pier in this 1935 Keystone Cops tribute KEYSTONE HOTEL.

Forward this YouTube video to 7:10, and through the murky print in the background left you can see part of the Ship Cafe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3CJdGNSCEA

Caltiki Brent

On 2011-04-13 10:47, congawa wrote:

As much as I love the Tonga Hut, I too would have loved to experience that previous incarnation...

Tonga "Room". Sometimes Tiki is not always better. Ha, ha. :)

Thanks for the historical background Brent. I'm going to see if Jeffrey Stanton references the Ship Cafe in his encyclopedic book "Venice California, Coney Island of the Pacific".

On 2011-04-13 11:13, JOHN-O wrote:

On 2011-04-13 10:47, congawa wrote:

As much as I love the Tonga Hut, I too would have loved to experience that previous incarnation...

Tonga "Room". Sometimes Tiki is not always better. Ha, ha. :)

Thanks for the historical background Brent. I'm going to see if Jeffrey Stanton references the Ship Cafe in his encyclopedic book "Venice California, Coney Island of the Pacific".

Oops, my faux paux--Room of course! The Hut's doing just fine, and never was a swimming pool!

Several of the images were linked from Jeffrey Stanton's website. I wish I had his book.

http://www.westland.net/venicehistory/mapsdocs/kp-map16.htm

Caltiki Brent

It looks like Miss Misha will be sailing with us for this event.

Getting excited about the destinations we have in store.... and, oh, how I wish the Ship Cafe could be one of them.

It is, if only in our dreams....

Well at least we still have this "Ships"... :)

Huh? What? NOOOOO!! :(

Stupid LA !! :evil:

BUT not all is lost...

As we'll see on April 30th. :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-04-14 08:56 ]

Please RSVP your interest this week.

The headcount stands at 20 and the ship can only safely accommodate 25-30 people. The gangplank will be brought in soon.

I'll send out the voyage logistics via email in a few days.

comin soon,
can't wait.

Jeff(btd)

Hmm... We just might have to pay a visit to Pieces of Eight, um I mean Shanghai Red's next weekend.

Thanks DustyCajun !!

On 2011-04-21 08:47, JOHN-O wrote:
Hmm... We just might have to pay a visit to Pieces of Eight, um I mean Shanghai Red's next weekend.

Thanks DustyCajun !!

We should bring along BigBro's Sounds of Tiki, and have them blast some Paul Page cuts while we're there.

Caltiki Brent

On 2011-04-21 08:47, JOHN-O wrote:
Hmm... We just might have to pay a visit to Pieces of Eight, um I mean Shanghai Red's next weekend.

Thanks DustyCajun !!

John-O,

Your welcome. Also don't forget to stop by the old Don The Beachcomber UFO building on the way over to The Warehouse.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=21785&forum=2&hilite=beachcomber marina

Think about what a one-night crawl you could have done in Marina Del Rey back in the day when Don the Beachcomber, Pieces of Eight and The Warehouse were all open!!

DC

Aaah yessss - THOSE were the hunting grounds of the MARINA SWINGER...

...immortalized in my favorite New Wave hit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGwb787Mxko

...during the heyday of the yacht club set that populated "bad film" classics such as:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH-fwS-WhsA

(of which the above soundtrack will be on my next Tiki CD)

...when beachcombers combed the beach for other things than driftwood and fishnet floats:

John-O, since I am assuming that I will be too exhausted to attend from several days of Tiki Ti-ing (and previous weeks of Tiki revelry), please bring me back one or two of those napkins from the Galley:

On 2011-04-21 15:26, Dustycajun wrote:

...Think about what a one-night crawl you could have done in Marina Del Rey back in the day when Don the Beachcomber, Pieces of Eight and The Warehouse were all open!!

And we could have gone from place to place in a boat !! :)

On 2011-04-21 16:41, bigbrotiki wrote:

John-O, since I am assuming that I will be too exhausted to attend from several days of Tiki Ti-ing (and previous weeks of Tiki revelry), please bring me back one or two of those napkins from the Galley:

I can do that. I'll get you some clean ones too.

Not like the vintage cocktail napkins you see on eBay with vintage stains. Gross !!

Yup, Pieces of Eight and manly man Paul Page are gone but we still have great places like Chez Jay to enjoy.

It was started by another mid-century man's man (and world adventurer), Jay Fiondella.

Here's a poem written to the place by poet W.E. Hogue...

**It was next to the Santa Monica Rand think tank.
Brilliant minds who plotted against the communists, to be frank.

It also attracted many Hollywood stars
Who made it one of their favorite bars.

I once got drunk there with actor Lee Marvin
And a comely woman named Carmen.

Also took there Howard Hughes' last love, the lovely Yvonne.
A beautiful creature from some heavenly salon.

I was introduced to the place by David Sheehan of Hollywood Close-Ups fame.
Whose column in The Outlook was one of the reasons everyone came.

Like Santa Monica college friend Doug McClure,
Co-star of the Virginian. A handsome dud that's for sure.

Jay's had a nautical motif.
A diver's helmet with a skill for comic relief.

Peanuts on the tables, peanut shells on the floor.
Thrown there by beer drinkers hoping to score.

Oh, the celebrities: Paris' grandpa, Barren Hilton,
Henry Kissinger, his spectacles tiltin',

Warren Beatty practicing his Shampoo role
In the secret room the other side of the toilet bowl.

Astronaut, Alan Shepard hung out there.
Ate the peanuts with abandoned care.

When he made the golf shot on the moon,
In his pocket was a peanut from Jay's, resting as in a cocoon.

There are many famous restauranteurs from this time.
Toots Shore's with Jackie Gleason standing in line.

Lou Walters' the Latin Quarter,
Barbara's dad's place this side of the border.

Famous restaurants such as the Brown Derby, Romanoff's and Ciros
Many more who are number one in front of many zeros.

Jay Fiondella and Chez Jay's is up there, too.
But he had one thing the others didn't. Here's a clue

That makes real star gazers want to swoon.
Chez Jay's had Astro-Nut, the peanut that went to the moon.**

Thanks!

On 2011-04-21 16:59, JOHN-O wrote:
And we could have gone from place to place in a boat !! :)

The boat to do that in style would have been the Wild Goose, John Wayne's yacht...

...which was purportedly steered by a young Burt Hixson for Wayne's stag party cruises!

Those Marina swingers, I tell ya!

The Duke even had his own mugs made for the boat:

Dangit. Can't make this. Originally had scheduled construction of Pistol Vic's Saloon for a few weeks earlier but had to resched for that weekend of the "Nautical Tour". But hey I'll be a listenin' and looking forward to the next. This is just the start. Have fun and keep me informed.

On 2011-04-21 17:55, bigbrotiki wrote:
Thanks!

On 2011-04-21 16:59, JOHN-O wrote:
And we could have gone from place to place in a boat !! :)

The boat to do that in style would have been the Wild Goose, John Wayne's yacht...

Well, I guess it's about as good a time and place as any to tell my Wild Goose story. It was circa 1968-69, my mom (the one who first exposed me to the original tiki restaurants and exotica music as a kid--though I typically had no interest then) was a reporter/photographer for a south Orange County paper, and there was some kind of a press junket (related to the building of Dana Point Harbor, which was about to begin) in which the Wild Goose anchored in Dana Point, and then took the press throngs north to its berth in Newport Harbor. My mother brought my brother and I along for the ride. John Wayne wasn't aboard, but when we entered Newport Harbor and passed by his house, there he was along with wife Pilar and their kids, waving at all of us aboard their boat. My mother later went on another Wild Goose junket--that time "the Duke" was aboard, and she got her picture taken with him (she later wrote a history on Dana Point called Home Point for Romance, and the picture is in her book). I remember the captain was a guy named Stark (can't remember his first name), who my mother knew, and in the mid-70's he was lost at sea somewhere off Cape Horn.

I remember all the teak interior, and running around the decks with my brother. I'm sure the members of the fourth estate partook in many fine cocktails inside the boat during the trip. Lon Chaney Jr. (who lived in Capistrano Beach) also had a yacht from a converted Navy ship called the "Simile(?)", and we went aboard that once in the harbor, though it stayed anchored. I actually once started to write a country song about the Wild Goose, in a Johnny Horton story-song vein. I may have the inspiration to finish it now, and maybe turn it into a Ding Dong Devils song.

Caltiki Brent

One of my parents favorite stories:

When I was three years old (1966) I was with my parents somewhere in Newport Beach and I went missing. My parents freaked out of course running around calling my name and looking everywhere...couldn't find me. Just as they were about to phone the police I was seen walking towards them, hand in hand with a gentleman who had found me near his boat - John Wayne. True Story!

Almost forgot to mention Jay's true story regarding his boat - his restoration project.

You can read the newspaper article at Chez Jay framed and hanging on a wall near the restrooms in back.

Long story short - Jay spent countless hours restoring a boat in his backyard, a massive project. I believe he planned to sail around the world in it. After the restoration was finished Jay hired a moving company to put the boat on a massive trailer and take it down to the marina. On the slow trip down to the marina the moving company was going around a corner at a busy intersection - and the damn boat fell off the trailer and crashed in the middle of the intersection totally destroying it!! In the middle of the afternoon during peak traffic no less...

I had the pleasure of meeting Jay and his daughter a few times. I attended the "Remember Dennis Wilson" party held at Chez Jay about ten years ago with members of the Wison family and close Beach Boy friends. I always had a great time at Chez Jay. I have not been back for several years though since Jay passed (RIP)

Great stories, guys: Pop culture history to touch, that's one of the many things that is great about Southern California!

can we get a roll call of who is going?

Jeff(btd)

On 2011-04-25 16:38, bigtikidude wrote:
can we get a roll call of who is going?

Jeff(btd)

Why is there someone you don't get along with ?? Ha, ha.

I'll be emailing the ship's roster later this week.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-04-25 17:16 ]

On 2011-04-21 16:41, bigbrotiki wrote:
Aaah yessss - THOSE were the hunting grounds of the MARINA SWINGER...

YES!!

Marina Del Rey: In it's heyday was the only Los Angeles city with no churches, no cemetaries, and no schools. It was tailor made for the wealthier swinging single lifestyle.

I stumbled on this 1972 Sports Illustrated article last year. It captures the ambience of the place and the era perfectly and is a darn good read:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1085706/index.htm

"Only in fun and games does the marina abound, but this hedonistic approach has attracted, as year-round residents, a rapidly growing number of assorted Angelenos. The apartment buildings they occupy are mostly pale, low-slung affairs that rise from the water's edge like sides of a bathtub, a tub so filled with toy vessels there is scarcely room for a bar of Lifebuoy. Only one marina resident in four bothers to own a boat himself, the rest being content simply to live near the water. It is taken for granted that every apartment complex has swimming pools and tennis courts, and many of them feature luaus, Sunday barbecues and everything else one associates with Southern California living, except perhaps oranges just for the picking."

...and:

*"Marina del Rey's freewheeling lifestyle is most faithfully reflected in the local chapter of the South Bay Club, a chain of singles-only apartment complexes of the kind so dear to newspaper feature writers, most of whom have proved admirably adept at sniffing out the occasional 85-year-old bachelor to be found living in such places.

There was a more serious front-page story two years ago when somebody spiked the potato chips with LSD at a party at the Marina del Rey complex, resulting in the serious illness of several people. The incident also resulted in an effort to play down the club's swinging-singles image and emphasize instead an activities schedule worthy of a Caribbean cruise, including yoga classes, south-of-the-border nights, karate lessons and an appearance ("in person," advised the sign in the lobby) of Atoris the mentalist.

Not nearly as regimented but certainly as active is the singles' scene in the lounge of the Second Storey/The Basement, another of the marina's restaurants. A younger crowd dances to hard rock in a lower-level room but upstairs it is strictly the mating minuet: the men in shirts twice unbuttoned, the women with sunglasses perched atop the head, everybody wearing suedes and leathers and available looks. Garth Reynolds, the mustachioed part-owner, calls the Second Storey "a superswinger's spot," an assessment that drew no quarrel from Ginny Miller, a curvy, hazel-eyed secretary who occasionally drops by after work in order, as she put it, "to meet quality guys."*

...And finally this quote about the Warehouse restaurant:

"Up went several dozen restaurants: such places as The Warehouse, a drafty establishment carefully built with a rusty iron roof and rafters hung with a great clutter of Mexican oregano sacks, Indonesian pickle barrels and German nail kegs. Clad in a Frank Buck safari suit, Burt Hixson, the 31-year-old proprietor, explains, 'I didn't want it to be another of those corny restaurants with fishnets and conches.'"

...which cracks me up, since Burt's previous restaurant, Beachbum Burt's was one of those "corny" restaurants that served drinks in coconut monkeys. It seems he was trying to recreate his own image in the Marina.

Thanks Sabu and Bigbro, that "Marina Swinger" content provides the Nautical crawl with greater historical context. We'll be visiting places that represent 3 phases of Mid-century Nautical bar culture including pre, mid, and post.

1. The Galley (est 1934) opened around the same time the Hollywood Don the Beachcomber did. Now while that DTBC is ancient history, the Galley is still going strong !! Here's some historical background taken from their website...

**"**Some of the oldest pieces of history are from the 1934 movie Mutiny on the Bounty. Since many of the stars and crew frequented The Galley - it isn't surprising to see that most of the movies memorabilia made its way into the restaurant. Memorabilia includes: Two Dead Eyes used in the movie now drape the walls of the restaurant. Pictures taken on location during different scenes with stars like Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. The steering wheel used in the movie now hangs from the ceiling. A boat used in the movie now lives on the heated patio outside the restaurant.

In the early 1940's WWII propaganda posters were mailed to The Galley. The war bond posters were sent in the hope of urging onlookers to do their part in the war. The collection of 11 posters are framed around The Galley with the original envelopes on the back.

One of the collections most valuable pieces is that of the Sullivan Brothers. This piece was used after the Sullivan Brothers, five brothers that served on the same naval ship, were killed off of Soloman Island. When the President of the United States heard a mother had lost five sons in one tragedy, he created a new naval law, named after the Sullivan brothers that prevented brothers from ever serving on the same ship."

2. Chez Jay (est 1959) is firmly rooted in the JFK-era Tiki golden age. Although it doesn't drip with Disney-esque nautical kitchiness, it does ooze Mid-century history and has a colorful background as well. This was taken from a 2008 LA Times article...

**"**Stories of the famous who hung out at Chez Jay were often repeated: Daniel Ellsberg, who worked at the nearby Rand Corp., supposedly passed the Pentagon Papers to a reporter there. Marlon Brando allegedly waltzed off with a waitress. Henry Kissinger spent so much time in the back, a rear table was dubbed the "Kissinger Room."

Alan Shepard, commander of Apollo 14, was dining at Chez Jay when owner (Jay) Fiondella persuaded him to take one of the restaurant's trademark peanuts with him to the moon in 1971, Fiondella often said. He recalled telling the astronaut: “I want to have the first astro-nut." When Shepard returned the legume, he reportedly signed an affidavit that stated it had accompanied him to the moon. “Jay used to carry the peanut around in his pocket and put it down on the bar," Stebbins said. “One time, actor Steve McQueen put it in his mouth and Jay had to wrestle with him to get it away.""

3. The Warehouse (est 1969). Sabu, I really appreciated that 1972 reference to the place. It illustrates Nautical bar culture during a time when the convenience of the birth control pill was introduced and AIDS wasn't yet on the radar. Even though "free love" started in the Hippie 60's, it wasn't until the 70's when casual sex really became an acceptable part of mainstream American culture. I remember reading a magazine article that summed up one woman's perspective of that time...

"Those were the days if I liked a man enough to go out on a first date, I liked him enough to have sex with".

Looking for Mr. Goodbar, indeed !! :)

If Los Angeles was arguably the 1970's epicenter for casual sex, then perhaps Marina Del Rey was it's main neighborhood of promiscuity, and the Warehouse its last surviving headquarters. This Saturday, as we're enjoying our Mai Tai's in the Warehouse's nautical splendor, we can contemplate all of the one-night stands (and STDs) that started out there. Yes, mid-century Tiki culture may have sold the safe illusion of Modern Primitive sexuality, but it came to fruition in the early 1970's in places like the Warehouse.