My TiKi Bar

[ConchRepublican]

Heh. I stock up and hand 'em out like candy. Can't wait for my next trip to San Fran, I'll be the black market straw man!

The setup looks very comfy! What do you recommend for keeping mosquitos away?

Also, I don't get the straw comment. Are they hard to come by? Or is this a "straw man" thing that went over my head?

The skeeters are a pain indeed. I usually bomb the yard every few weeks or before a big shindig. Plus citronella torches and plants are in heavy use.

[ConchRepublican]

Do they really have no problem with used syringes and poop on the streets? This sounds like an exaggeration, but I will defer... I don't know SF.

It unfortunately is a big problem.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrze ... 8c59b55ea5

[Amian]

Do they really have no problem with used syringes and poop on the streets? This sounds like an exaggeration, but I will defer... I don't know SF.

It unfortunately is a big problem.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrze ... 8c59b55ea5

Holy crap! (heh)
According to that article, it sounds like there is a huge homeless population in SF. When the city is able to address that, I suspect the poop count will drop.

[Amian]

Heh. I stock up and hand 'em out like candy. Can't wait for my next trip to San Fran, I'll be the black market straw man!

The setup looks very comfy! What do you recommend for keeping mosquitos away?

Also, I don't get the straw comment. Are they hard to come by? Or is this a "straw man" thing that went over my head?

The skeeters are a pain indeed. I usually bomb the yard every few weeks or before a big shindig. Plus citronella torches and plants are in heavy use.

I have been wanting to build a patio in my backyard, but I am a mosquito magnet. I thought you might have a secret method I hadn't heard of before. The citronella torches/candles are pretty good. I have heard that a mild breeze, even 1-2 mph, will keep mosquitos from alighting. Maybe set up a fan?

[ConchRepublican]

The setup looks very comfy! What do you recommend for keeping mosquitos away?

Also, I don't get the straw comment. Are they hard to come by? Or is this a "straw man" thing that went over my head?

The skeeters are a pain indeed. I usually bomb the yard every few weeks or before a big shindig. Plus citronella torches and plants are in heavy use.

I have been wanting to build a patio in my backyard, but I am a mosquito magnet. I thought you might have a secret method I hadn't heard of before. The citronella torches/candles are pretty good. I have heard that a mild breeze, even 1-2 mph, will keep mosquitos from alighting. Maybe set up a fan?

The fan can work, but it all depends on mosquito numbers. Keep standing water to a minimum helps a lot as well as avoiding sunset hours. Unfortunately there is much out of our control (which is why I love the screened in lanais they have in Florida) and we just have to deal with it. Which is why I go all 'Nam and Agent Orange the buggers.

[Steve]

Both Tiki Bars are wonderful, I would be honored to be allowed entrance into either one.........

[ConchRepublican]

Sunday parties are rough so Flemingo Key celebrated Mexico defeating the French at the Battle of Puebla with a Cuatro de Mayo Fiesta Mas Grande!

Flemingo Key Overview


Food staging area of the Afterdeck


The Tiki Bar


One Particular Corner (you Buffett fans will get the reference)


The Butterfly Lounge/Pulelehua


Sean's Garden & Fountain


The Afterdeck




Bar's Eye View

[ConchRepublican]

If you're ever in LA, and are into Tiki, try to get to Clifton's in downtown. They have a "secret" tiki bar on the 4th floor. While I personally like the other floors of the place (1920's, High Sierras, Gothic, etc), it has a really cool semi-"secret" tiki bar. Come early or on a night when its not crowded though as lines form. Considering there's so few real public tiki places anymore, its worth the visit. Its behind a mirror door on the third floor if I remember correctly.

This may get me to L.A.!

[Steve]

Sunday parties are rough so Flemingo Key celebrated Mexico defeating the French at the Battle of Puebla with a Cuatro de Mayo Fiesta Mas Grande!

Flemingo Key Overview


Food staging area of the Afterdeck


The Tiki Bar


One Particular Corner (you Buffett fans will get the reference)


The Butterfly Lounge/Pulelehua


Sean's Garden & Fountain


The Afterdeck




Bar's Eye View

Viva La Flemings....

[Reef monkey]

So here is my tiki bar saga. I grew up drinking from a set of tiki mugs my grandmother bought for herself in the late 50/early 60, and eventually gave to my parents, who had it in our bay house on Galveston Island. My brothers and I always loved these tiki mugs. And then in 2002 when my younger brother and I were still single, we went on a trip to LA together, were staying at the Beverily Hills Hilton, which at that time still had a Trader Vic's, and we loved its kitschyness. We also both loved the Adventurer's Club in Pleasure Island in Orlando.

My mom knew we coveted her mugs, so about the time I got married she bought each of us a new set of tiki mugs. They weren't nearly as cool as the vintage ones we all coveted, but it was still nice to have a set of tiki mugs. Except my set got lost in a move. My wife and I talked about buying a set to replace them, but it just never happened, partly because the mugs seemed so expensive, often $20 a piece, which would make for an expensive set.

Fast forward to 2013, I'm at a business conference in Anaheim, I have a night to myself, I go to Downtown Disney for dinner, follow the signs to Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar, have dinner there, bring home a souvenir tiki mug. That mug became the mug I grabbed whenever I wanted a tropical drink, and my wife and I said "from now on, we'll get a tiki mug as a souvenir whenever we go places that sell them, and we'll build our own mixed set, which would be even cooler than a matching set." Except that never happened either, so I just had the one mug.

Then quarantine happens, and I have a lot of time on my hands, I happen to stumble on a website for supplies for bars, and they have a section for tiki bar supplies since that is kind of "in" again right now. I find they have good quality ceramic tiki mugs between $6 and $8 a piece. I order three, and now I have a set of 4. I share this news with my brother, who lets me know he happened to find a website that sells vintage housewares, and they are selling the exact same tiki mugs that we coveted as kids. So now I have one of those, but I also have a set of 5, which I rationalize to myself is awkward for entertaining, and then I come up with a small gathering for the next weekend that will be tiki themed, with 3 couples (including ourselves), so go back to the bar supply website to order one more. But then I realize the shipping is really expensive for just one mug, and I realize that Amazon Prime sells these mugs, and even though they are about twice the cost as they are on the bar website, with the free shipping, if you are only ordering one, it's actually cheaper to order from Amazon, so I do. But then Amazon's estimated delivery date looks like it might be too late for the party, and I'd be one mug short. So I go back to the bar products website to order a backup mug. And then of course a.) that means I would have 7 mugs, an odd number, and b.) shipping cost is the same whether I order one or two mugs, so I should really order two mugs. Or so I rationalize to myself.

And so, I finally have my mixed set of tiki mugs (forgive the poor image quality). The one on the far right is the vintage mug that is exactly like those in my grandmother's set, the tall narrower brown one in the center is the one I got at Trader Sam's at Disneyland, and all the rest are from barproducts.com (with the exception of one from Amazon, but made by the same company as the barproducts.com mugs, "Barconic.")

Tiki mugs by mmyers1976, on Flickr