San Francisco here I come!!!! Questions....

Hello fellow Tiki Centralites!
Thanks to all who helped me out with tips for my Christmas Chicago trip. I had a blast! Hala Kahiki is an AMAZING place. It's room after room of Tiki and Witco. The drinks were great. Unfortunately they had no souvenirs to purchase. The Hawaiian store next door didn't have much of interest to me.
Anyways, I just volunteered to work at "Fred Hall Fishing Tackle & Boat Show" in San Fran's "Cow Palace." The work will be easy and I couldn't pass up a paid trip to San Francisco. I live in a small town called Bishop (next to Mammoth Ski Resort). I will be working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday most of the day, but I will have evenings free to frolic. That would be the 14th,15th, and 16th of this month (January). I might even come in a day early to have a full day free if I find a reason to stay longer. So far I MUST visit AMOEBA Records (which of the two is the best?) and according to James' Tiki Road Trip, I should visit "Tonga Room" and "Trader Vic's" in Emeryville. Are there any other Tiki landmarks I must visit? Any fellow Tiki enthusiasts would like to play Tourist guide even if by phone or e-mail? Unfortunately, I will be driving to SF by myself (my partner will stay home working). I will find out in the next couple of days the details of my trip. I will definetly try to plan for some extra time there. I will have my truck and my cell phone, and whatever hotel they put me in (probably near Cow Palace). Thanks so much in advance!!! Looking forward to this trip! I will post tip requests for Vegas and San Diego later this year. :)
Your friend,
Louis

PS: If you are ever in Chicago and have only 1 place to go, you MUST go to Hala Kahiki. And if you come skiing to Mammoth, please let me know! I'll join you for a Mai Tai at Lakanuki (an amazing modern-day Tiki Bar) in Mammoth and can give you tips for the area.

Of course you must visit Vic's Emeryville and the Tonga Room. Vic's in SF is good, but I'd recommend hitting the original if possible. As for Amoeba, which I adore, both the Berkeley or Haight St. locales are great. They're pretty much the same in size and selection. SF location will probably be easier for you to get to from South SF, and might even be a bit bigger than the original Berkeley store. And it's not far from TV's SF if you can't make it to the east bay.

Keep us posted as to your itinerary and maybe we can do a lil' TC gathering, perhaps at Vic's.

Staying anywhere near the Cow Palace is "dicey" at best. Make sure you leave absolutely NOTHING in your vehicle at anytime of the day, unless you are in the Cow Palace parking lot. If you are given any options, aim for South San Francisco (a few miles down Hwy 101) for accommodations.

Tiki Bob's.

Located in SF in the Theater District, a few blocks from Union Square.

Tiki Bob photos are contained in this photo gallery of the SF Tiki Crawl 2004:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=8436&forum=4

Giant Moai of San Francisco, weathered just like those on Rapa Nui:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=12488&forum=1&5

(Photographed by Tikibars after his trip to Rapa Nui.)

On 2005-01-02 17:52, Atomobile wrote:
So far I MUST visit AMOEBA Records (which of the two is the best?)

Hey Mon! Wow, that's a tough one. I think the Amoeba Records in San Francisco is slightly better (in my opinion because it is larger), but they are both awesome. And of course if you go to the San Francisco location, you will be in the Haight, with tons of cool shops and restaurants, and Golden Gate Park a stone's throw away, and the Golden Gate bridge close by too. And of course they have the new Trader Vic's in SF as well (although I haven't been to the SF one yet so I can't compare it to Emeryville).

But if you go to the Amoeba in Berkeley, you will be on Telegraph Avenue, which also has some cool shops, cafe's, etc, and UC Berkeley nearby as well. And the Conga Lounge is not too far away on College Avenue in the Rockridge area of Oakland. And there is another great record shop on College Ave as well called Saturn Records (lots of stuff on vinyl), and there is an awesome deep dish pizza place on College as well called Zachary's Pizza - really really good deep dish pizza! And Trader Vic's in Emeryville is a must!

Either way you can't lose! If I was you, I'd try to free up an extra day if possible to do both. If I'm in town, my fiance and I will meet you over at the new Trader Vic's in SF, but right now it looks like I'll be back down in Southern Calif during that time meeting with various potential grad schools.

Have fun on your trip!