my hawaii trip / don the beachcomber pix!

id like to thank the neilster and hanford in particular as well as anyone else who gave tiki tips.your advice and tips were most helpful,and appreciated.our week and a half on oahau and maui was wonderful,pearl harbor,luaus,polynesian cultural center,baileys antiques,intl market,road to hana,helicopter ride around maui,bike ride down a volcano,round of golf at kapaluha plantation course and many great meals highlighted by a great dinner and (many)cocktails at mommas fish house.while on maui i explained to my wife and the couple we were travelling with that there was a restraunt/bar called don the beachcombers i wanted to visit,even though it was closed--that must have raised some eyebrows!but everyone was a great sport about it and went along w/ my tiki madness.when we pulled up in front we parked and i jumped out to take a few pix,thats when my wife took a try at the front door............it was OPEN! not open for business, just open,as in noone around anywhere!we all piled in quickly.i quickly took a few snaps while giving a short lesson on the history of dons.all the while my heart pounding half expecting the hotel staff,police or tiki gods to come pounding thru the door.the room seemed to be in broom swept condtition and ready for business....at some point.the interior is just beautiful,the booths,bar,stage,lighting and polynesian touches were all in wonderful shape.after 10 minutes there was a LOUD air horn right outside the door,jeezlouise we parked right in front of the garbage pickup and the driver was none to happy.we hightailed it out of there,oh well.i went back on my own a couple days later(door locked)to take some ext shots and ask around about a possible reopening(nobody had a clue)
i hope you enjoy the pix i was able to take----------dave from jersey

mahola!---dave from jersey

Hey Now Dave,

Thanks for the pix! Was the Tiki at Don's or somewhere else?

Tim

PS How long did it take for your stomach to settle down from the twists and turns on the Hana Highway?

thanks tim,that tiki was at the polynesian cultural center,which is the home to quite a few very cool tikis i might add.yes the road to hana is a bit draining.we did make it all the way to the town of hana,but by that time we were ready to see the sun again.hana averages around 370 inches of rain per year.luckily for us mai tais were beckoning us from mamas fish house on our way back!-----------------dave from jersey

What part of Jersey are you from? Have you checked out the NYC tiki scene yet? Come up for a visit some time!
Manic Cat of NYC Tiki Central chapter

Cool lamps in Don's. I wonder what the plan is for the restaurant. Sounds like you lucked out. Thanks for the pix.

I was at the Royal Lahaina Resort taking photos for their Luau a few weeks ago. "Don the Beachcomber" was jammin with a wedding reception. I would gather they open it for private parties and conventions. I didn't see any food, just a big wedding party drinking at the small bar.
There is a huge Tiki just outside, kinda between the luau entrance and Don's. It must be 15 feet tall, but not cool enough to take a photo of, I hardly remember what it looked like. Kinda dark if I remember corectly.

I believe the tiki outside of DtB's is one of the "split lip" tikis, where the top lip is connected to the bottom lip. (Sabu had a picture of one somewhere, I think). I'll see I can dig out a photo of it.

~Hanford