Hawaiian Inn - A real treasure

What a great night.
The East Coast Tiki Revival has begun.

A real honor for Angela and I to meet the folks of Tiki Central; except for Flounder, a horrible fellow... but a heck of a hula dancer.

Cybertiki and Joelle provided over 200 CDs to choose from and all I wanted was a freakin' Smokin' Menehunes CD. The Don Tiki was very cool, though.

The female company we enjoyed was elegant and beautiful. When Tiki Bree started dancing the Hula near the bar in the back - I thought the older dude from "The Godfather" movie was gonna drop over dead. He was writing her notes and generally biting his hand. Pure freaking torture.

Tristan ended up on stage with the skirt and the coconuts doing the Hukilau with the dancers. Torturous as well, but in a different way.

The delicate Humhumu was radiant and regaled us with some of her many Tiki adventures of late. How cool it was to have a West Coast Tiki Icon joining us.

Maikainagirl was a pretty surprise!
There were also some friends along, and some lurkers, along with members JTD - tweedtone and his lovely one and a few other friends of TC.

Geoff and Marian: A very gracious couple and definitely the kind of people you want at a party. Geoff brought the Tiki from the BOT he has - it is a great piece of art. Thanks again Geoff for the inside info on this East Coast Treasure. I'll be heading back sometime within the next few months.

The show was very enchanting. Different from the MaiKai but mostly by atmosphere I think. The Hawaiian Inn is certainly more "loungy" but very well appointed and a blast to be at. The volcano was a slice of cheese not to be missed. I regret not having my picture made next to it but I headed back to the room to mix up a batch of painkillers for post-show.

My beautiful wife had a good time as well, and looks forward to the Hukilau, when you all will see why I call her the Amber Love Goddess. The girl goes native in the summer.

The Inn itself could use a bit of sprucing up... but hey - so could I.

The only complaint I have is that I was left to finish the fresh batch of Beachbum's Own alone at just after midnite. I hit the ocean alone at about 12:45. I just kept waiting for someone else to show back up for their medicine but eventually caved in at about 1:30am. Cyber and I were sipping a delicious shot of Velvet Falernum at 9:00am on Sunday morning.

A VERY special thanks to Humuhumu for delivering a couple of bottles of that delicious elixer.

Cyber brought me some Absente (with the wormwood extract) and KGeoff gave me a vintage Hawaiian Inn swizzler.

It was a warm vibe that carries over today into the workweek and I'm glad to have found this website and met so many of you terrific people.

Except for Flounder ...who I fear.

I look forward to hosting many of you at The Lagoon Lounge (™AlnShellyProductions) in the near future.

Except for Flounder ...who I fear.

I had a wonderful time at the Hawaiian Inn! Big mahalos to everyone in Florida for allowing me to participate in their East Coast Tiki Revival. Thank you very, very much to pablus & cybertiki for providing such a lovely spread and really tasty drinks, mmm mmm. Here's a few of my pictures, and you can see the rest of them here (there's about 150 photos, most of them rotten). For some reason I look mildly deranged in most of the photos. I'm blaming it on the falernum.

The Pre-Party:

Just some of the Room 140 setup, courtesy of cybertiki & pablus.

Just outside of pablus's room was a beachside putt-putt course. It was trippy looking out over the ocean at sunset and not seeing the sun.

Julian's:

The really lovely mural at Julian's, and a great old bartender who took great care of us (he "accidentally" made an extra Mai Tai, and refilled all of our glasses with it).

The folks who made it out to Julian's. From left to right, Mrs. NeptuneTiki, Tristan, TikiBree, NeptuneTiki, Tweedtone, Mrs. Tweedtone

My bamboo handbag had a Mai Tai.

The Luau:

The bubble machine kicked in as they played "Tiny Bubbles." Delightfully cheesy!

I love it when the pretty little girls in the audience start hula-ing along!

Thankfully, the fire part of the show has not been Great White-ed out.

The luau handed out a Certificate of Participation (suitable for framing!) to the boys in the audience who donned coconut bras & grass skirts.

Tiki Bree, Mrs. NeptuneTiki & me strike a pose

The three of us discovered that our noses are all pretty similar.

![](http://images5.fotki.com/v54/photos/1/117859/649712/IMG_2194-vi.jpg[img]
One of the legendary Imperial Luau tikis.

[img]http://images5.fotki.com/v54/photos/1/117859/649712/IMG_2202-vi.jpg)
A lovely wahine splashing in the fountain (a great way to keep fit, according to the Mai Kai).

The After Party:

Pablus' party suite was in room 140, and the hotel was apparently nice enough to hang this sign to help us find it! Or maybe not.

The women of Florida (with an interloper).

They're not trying to take it, it just looked crooked is all, really!

Caught red-handed.

The Day After:
The next day I just bummed around Daytona Beach looking at things while I waited for my shuttle to the airport.

This is a little Hawaiian-themed mini-golf place. They wouldn't let me look around inside.

The Aku Tiki Inn

Traders Restaurant

So, when I was walking around on Sunday, a truck pulled up next to me, and the guy driving says to me "You look like a hippie girl, do you know where I can find some yoga stuff around here?" Okay, so first off, what is "yoga stuff?" Why on earth would someone just be driving around randomly looking for "yoga stuff?" Is this some euphemism the kids are using these days for drugs? And when did I start looking like a hippie????

Again, all-in-all a grand time. The luau was delightfully cheesy, and the company was superb.

The best tiki bar is the one that's within stumbling distance of your bed
The Humuhumu Room

[ Edited by: Humuhumu on 2004-01-19 13:58 ]

For some reason, I can't get this photo to show up in my above post, but it worked in the test area, and it's too cute for you guys to miss it:

A lovely wahine splashing in the fountain (a great way to keep fit, according to the Mai Kai).

I'd like to thank everyone for a great time, and to let everyone know what a great time we all had ... my apologies for the early exit Saturday evening, one of these days I'm gonna learn that lesson about dropping large quantities prescription painkillers and alcohol on an empty stomach! At least I got 12 hours of uninterrupted rest and woke up feeling great - first time in several months I've actually felt good getting up! Next time around I promise to be good and hold off till the end of the evening before dropping off into an opiated slumber.

Humuhumu, thanks for the Falernum - incredible stuff, someday they're going to fix the liquor distribution problem here in the Sunshine State, and us Floridians won't have to go begging for Caribbean treats!

Pablus, what can I say - you are something else bro. When I'm ready to christen the Headhunter Lounge, you have to come down as chief mixologist consultant and baker divine.

Joelle, Christina, Greg, Sahara, Jackie and Steve all wanted me to let everyone know how much fun they had. Everyone should be very proud of the fact that Jackie and Steve are now official converts, and have asked me to include them in our plans for attending the Hukilau later this year. Winning more converts to the great cause of tiki can only be a good thing! Anyway, thanks again to all, and I can't wait till next time around.

Cheers!

No, no, no. We have enough tiki people! They are buying all the good stuff and driving up the prices and down the chances of finding it! I suggest we remove Tiki Central right after Hukilau and move it back to an obsure, annoying Yahoo Group...

Hey, wait...I was there (electronically) for 30 minutes!

On 2004-01-19 11:20, pablus wrote:

What a great night.
The East Coast Tiki Revival has begun.

A real honor for Angela and I to meet the folks of Tiki Central; except for Flounder, a horrible fellow... but a heck of a hula dancer.

Yes, Flounder was a little reluctant to dance, but I applaud anyone willing to strap on a pair of coconuts in mixed company... that includes Tristan.

As for people being great to have at a party, I think you, Mr Pablus, are the man! You are just one big movable party...

Marian and I wish we had spent a little more time in 140 after the show but we had to crash early. We'd been up until 2 am the night previous entertaining Ken-Tiki and Ariel in our tiki room at home.

They had a great time as well. Ken was the first Polynesian Pop collector I knew of in Florida through the old Yahoo group, so it was really cool for he and his wahine to join us.

Mahalo to Humuhumu for flying all the way east to join us and for posting the pics, and to Bre-elle and Tristan for piloting the group to Julians. That was way nice of you.
KG

<

[ Edited by: kailuageoff on 2004-01-20 13:26 ]

Here are a few more of Humuhumu's pics:

Lovely, just lovely....

KG @ his favorite bar with Ken-Tiki.

Which of these items is priceless?

There's nothing like a Mai-Tai, a Beachbum's Own, a Zombie, a Fogcutter and a Volcano bowl to get me stumbling around on stage. It sure does look romantic though....

Pablus,
I am nominating you for the cover of "Tiki Host" magazine. My friend, you set the bar for graciousness, hospitality and the best damned tiki drinks this side of the Mai Kai.
I have been raving about you and your mixology skills to anyone who'll listen (and a few who probably would rather not listen - tough).
We had the best time and you were at the epicenter, deftly orchestrating the evening and ensuring that all felt welcomed.
Nicely done, Pablus. You have my thanks and admiration!
Tristan, AKA Trader Trick

Pablus,
I am forever grateful to you and your gorgeous wife for inciting this special gathering. You both are the most gracious hosts, and I must say that the candied ginger was a superb touch. Saturday night was sensational fun!!!
Also, thank you (in advance) for posting the photos we took of the night's festivity.

Everybody who was there are the best and most fun people to party with. WE MUST DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!!SOON!!!!!!!

Hey, Fathuva,where were you???????

So when will be a good time to whoop it up again, gang??? We can do an Orlando crawl between Geoff's place and mine,"The Tihiki Room." And go have dinner at the Polynesian luau........whatcha think?????
luv to you all,
Bre-elle

On 2004-01-19 11:20, pablus wrote:

• I thought the older dude from "The Godfather" movie was gonna drop over dead. He was writing her notes and generally biting his hand. Pure freaking torture.

This gentleman introduced himself as "one of the owners" of the Hawaiian Inn.
Thanks to your potent cocktails I cant remember his name, but he was VERY charming to me while Tristan was standing right there!!!!! Yikes!! I'm sure glad that my precious Tristan is a non violent sort of fellow. Its one of the many reasons why he's so loveable.

Humuhumu, girl, YOU ROCK!!! I'm so glad we sat together in the bus in Chicago and got to know each other. I see that I have a true sister in hijinx and shenanigans. It's a good thing we dont live close-by.......talk about a dynamic duo....we'd overload the town!!

I think Wayne Coombs finally caught up with Fatuhiva.... He hasn't been heard from since.

Thanks to pablus and cybertiki for their generosity. It was a lot of fun drinking with cybertiki all night, that guys hilarious. I'm not sure if he ever even went to bed.

Oh, and thanks to Kailugeoff for rubbing his tiki in our faces.

Humuhumu for traveling so far and for her ongoing smile.

Here's pics of the night. Well the way I saw it!



You can thank Pablus for the quality.

[ Edited by: FLOUNDERart on 2004-01-21 12:28 ]

It LOOKS like Flounder found the "Yoga Stuff!"

TB

Bree - I like your bar name. Sounds like a nice toasty hiccup. ; )

Looks like great fun was had.

On 2004-01-21 15:33, Swanky wrote:
Bree - I like your bar name. Sounds like a nice toasty hiccup. ; )

How'd you know????? It came out one night when I was hic-cupping!!!! The rest is history, rather herstory.......

[ Edited by: Tiki Bree on 2004-01-21 18:06 ]

no no.. im still here.. virtually enjoying the get together :)

bummed i couldnt make it..

whats up with the carved tiki from the place in pompano beach? is that up in daytona these days / somebody owns it/ or whats the story?

Fatuhiva,
Basement Kahuna and Beachcomber Brad hooked me up with the Imperial Luau tiki some time ago. I brought the tiki to the Hawaiian Inn and charged everyone $1 to touch it and $5 to have their picture taken with it. It seemed like a good way to raise much needed cash. I am still in bankruptcy court due to my inability to pay off my VISA card after buying the darn thing.

We're sorry you didn't make it to the Hawaiian Inn. Maybe us and you and Flounder can get together in Cocoa/Melbourne when it warms up a bit.
KG

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2004-01-23 13:56 ]

On 2004-01-22 08:19, Kailuageoff wrote:
. Maybe us and you and Flounder can together in Cocoa/Melbourne when it warms up a bit.
KG

May Tristan and I be included???? I'm dying to see that fabulous collection in person!!

[May Tristan and I be included???? I'm dying to see that fabulous collection in person!!

Only if you promise to make us all pose for silly pictures...:lol:

The wahine and I want to extend the heartiest of alohas to all those who were in attendance, be it physical or in telecomunnational spirit, at the ECTR at the Hawaiian Inn. Got to meet/re-meet some truly wonderful people, drink some of Pablus' phenomenal libations, scope out some Witco and enjoy some smiles at the Luau Show.

If they have a Mixologist Shoot-Out at the next Hukilau, I nominate Pablus to compete on behalf of Floridian tikiphiles. That man can mix like no other!

Bree and Tristan have hands down the best how-we-met story ever. So good in fact, I may have to swipe it for a song lyric at some point.

Absolutely count us in for an Orlando gathering!

tweedtone
http://www.vodkanauts.com
http://www.barelypink.com

[ Edited by: tweedtone on 2004-01-22 16:01 ]

On 2004-01-22 16:00, tweedtone wrote:
Absolutely count us in for an Orlando gathering!_________________
tweedtone
http://www.vodkanauts.com
http://www.barelypink.com
]

Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We'd love to have you two hepsters in O Town! Thanks, ever so, for the safe ride and fab company to Julian's & back.
By the way, we've already written a song about how we met, it's on Fuchsia Poshette's 1st release "Kiss MY Pekingese" The first person who correctly guesses the name of the song will get a Fuchsia Poshette CD!!!!

Flounder, those pics are great. They're like my pics from the middle stretch of the TC Crawl last year.

Tiki Bree, you bet sistah -- you guys will have to come out for a Southern California visit sometime and then we'll really tear it up!

Now... where are Bree's pics????

Bree's pics are forthcoming.
Possibly tonight. Probably tomorrow.

Sorry - bizzybizzy week.

We needed the space and who watches TV anyway?

What you don't know is that Humuhumu is just to my left. Ahhhh, it's great to be a big, fat party animal in the USA.

This is the "wish you were here" section

I disappeared just as they were selecting participants... awwwww, shucks...

Humuhumu and Trader Trick

cool looking place - that Julian's

aloooooooohaaaaaaaa...

Ahhhh - yes... the moniker Trader Trick becomes all too clear

luau...

just outside room 140

Tweedtone and Andrea

They were just begining to plan their pilfering of the witco decorations... how innocent they appear...

Photos courtesy of TikiBree and TraderTrick!

And that, my friends, is what a Beachbum's Own will do to you -- make you start humping the Veetcoh. Oh my. I'm sorry you folks had to see that.

On 2004-01-24 12:15, Humuhumu wrote:
. Oh my. I'm sorry you folks had to see that.

Darling, their life is now complete because they've seen that amazing photo of you!!!

It'll make a GREAT cover if we could come up with an official TC exotica album! :)

Cheers!
(dunno if that's what you're supposed to say while you're doing kavakava, but I gave the Mai-Tai's a break, and am working on my third massive kava bowl!)

Hello all...
Late poster, that's me!!

Had a great time at the Hawaiian Inn gathering! Fantastic to see Bree and Tristan (who live right up the road, but we never see) and Flounder (who just painted me a SWEET Kahona painting for my Tiki Room (pics to come).
Pablus, I had never met you before, but you opened up your room to us like we were family. Amazing drinks, you are the master of details (I don't remember many of those details, but I believe there was fresh grated nutmeg involved). Thank you very much for the libations.

Saw many friendly faces from the Hukilau, where I lurked unnoticed by all (amazingly enough, being 6'4" and hairy).
Pleasure to meet the lovely Humuhumu, and special thanks to NeptuneTiki for the confirmation on my Witco find earlier in the day.

Got to spend some time with Tweedtone and Andrea. He was my best friend in middle/high school (a looong time ago) and we lost touch over time. Very odd how Tiki stuff brought our parallel paths together, but I am glad it did.

The decor at the Inn was incredible, with more Witcos than imaginable.

I'll try and post a few pics here, but most of them will go on my site in the near future. Unfortunately, many of my pics ended up like Flounder's (thanks to too many Zombies, I think)

The Flounders...

The Tweedtones...

That's us!

How I saw most of the Luau show...

The great Mainlander-style Witco fountain in the lobby...

Thanks again, for all the planning that went into the gathering, and we can't wait to see you all again!
JonPez (and Julie)

[ Edited by: JonPez on 2004-02-13 01:18 ]

[ Edited by: JonPez on 2004-02-13 01:19 ]

I'm back! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Aloha To All!

This is a late posting to the Hawaiian Inn event, but as they say . . . better late than never!

We truly enjoyed meeting everyone and appreciated all the tiki hospitality. We are really looking forward to the next tiki event. I hope we don't have to wait until September for the Hukilau!

Are any Floridians venturing to Macon for the grand opening of the new tiki bar?

Thanks to all for making us feel welcome!

Neptune Tiki and Neptune Wahine or AKA the Neptunes

P.S. I decided I needed my own identity instead of being the wife of Neptune Tiki!

Aloha Again!

I see I was off just a bit to where the Hale Tiki is ---- I said Macon and it's Augusta.
Oppps!

Neptune Wahine

Hawaiian Inn fans,

A few vintage placemats appeared on Ebay this week. Thought one of you might want to try for them, or maybe share them among you. Not my auction - just passing it along.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2230179360&category=1437

Sabu

Thanks Sabu. Those are interesting, but kinda ugly. Where's the tikis?
Sorry I missed you in LA. Bong's Mai-Tais did a number on my skull and I forgot to ask anyone how to get hold of you.