Mono Kai Motel San Diego

I am a frequent postcard seardher, much less a buyer. I am very into finding local vintage places and so, if a postcard on Ebay has the address listed, that's great. I can track it down. So, for those in San Diego, here is a postcard with the address if you want to see what's there now.

A Swanky post from way back. I recently picked up one of the postcards from the Mono Kai Motel in San Diego. Not much evidence of Tiki...

But man what a great looking motel sign! Almost need to be stoned just to look at it.

Wonder what is there now?

DC

Looks very "mono". Modern Mono, but not Stereo yet.

To elaborate a little...just so it doesn't look like I am babbling mindlessly :)

I was musing about how the first Martin Denny albums came out in Mono, but how then his sound came to full bloom in the late 50s with the introduction of Stereo...which sort of mirrors the transition of mid-50s Poly pop (which this Motel is a good example of) to when it came to full bloom as Tiki in the late 50s/ early 60s.

I looked up the place on Google Maps. The good news: The building is still there. Bad news: Sign is long gone. Bet some of those giant birds of paradise are original though.

On 2011-05-11 20:12, Dustycajun wrote:
Almost need to be stoned just to look at it.

Tried, nothing happened.

I drove by this morning at 10am to get a similar shot as the post card.

I think the post card phote was taken in late fall around 8 or 9am.

On 2011-05-12 14:09, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
I think the post card phote was taken in late fall around 8 or 9am.

I'm going to humbly disagree. The post card photo shows a shadow of a palm tree in the street, and that makes me think that the photo was taken in the afternoon with the sun in the west.

On 2011-05-12 14:50, arriano wrote:

On 2011-05-12 14:09, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
I think the post card photo was taken in late fall around 8 or 9am.

I'm going to humbly disagree. The post card photo shows a shadow of a palm tree in the street, and that makes me think that the photo was taken in the afternoon with the sun in the west.

:) Ah, but the shadow being cast by the palm tree (that is no longer there) falls from southeast to northwest. Also, the post card description with "Two blocks east of highway 101" yada yada and the "Opal/Cass" street sign shows directionality. Also, I took the picture I posted and went to comb the beach for treasures. :D
No treasures, just a log that's been floating around for a few years. I'll have to bring the chainsaw to make it manageable.

What is it now ?

On 2011-05-12 19:58, tikiyaki wrote:
What is it now ?

Boring ol' apartments.

On 2011-05-12 16:30, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:

On 2011-05-12 14:50, arriano wrote:

On 2011-05-12 14:09, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
I think the post card photo was taken in late fall around 8 or 9am.

I'm going to humbly disagree. The post card photo shows a shadow of a palm tree in the street, and that makes me think that the photo was taken in the afternoon with the sun in the west.

:) Ah, but the shadow being cast by the palm tree (that is no longer there) falls from southeast to northwest.

Oh, well there's my problem. I'm all twisted around.

Here is another postcard I picked up from the Mono Kai with a slightly different shot of the sign and a pic of the pool.

DC