SoCal & Vegas Flashback

Are you freakin' kidding me!?!? 8" of effing snow on October 30!?!? The night before the last Amherst Flea Market of the year, October 29,  we were greeted with 8" of heavy, wet crap, downed branches & tress, & massive power outages. To say this felt like Deja Vu is an understatement. Needless to say, Amherst was cancelled, which cost me a lot of money & now I had to worry about leaving my family with no power, as I was scheduled to fly to Vegas at 7:00. Fortunately, we're on the same grid as the police station, so we got our power back quickly. I finished packing & headed out to meet my buddy, Dave, at Logan Airport. Boston didn't get the snow, so our flight was on time. We had dinner at Johnny Rocket's & boarded the plane for Vegas. We arrived in Vegas, just after 11:00 & grabbed a midnight snack at Del Taco, (Bad idea!), headed for the Orleans & hit the sack. If you've never stayed at The Orleans, you're missing one of Vegas' best kept secrets. It's off the strip, but a great hotel at a great value. The Orleans has many restaurants & bars, a movie theater, live entertainment, a bowling alley & an arena that is home to the Las Vegas Wranglers minor league hockey team. It also, now host to the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly weekend. I always rent a car, so being off the strip is no big deal to me.

Car Club Christmas Party

I know, I know, this blog is a chronological mess. Well, it's going to continue to be 'til I get caught up. I promise to be on real time by the end of the summer. Now, about this post.

 Me & Karan

 Bernie & Paula

 Pete & Francine

 Mauna Kai Lounge

 Galaxy Diner

On Saturday night, December 17, I hosted our car club's First Annual Christmas party. Usually, when we get together, it's strictly us guys, (the dames just get in the way), but seeing as I was in a holiday mood, I included them in this gala event. I decorated the Galaxy Diner & Mauna Kai Lounge in vintage festiveness, re-stocked the bar & planned the food for the evening. When the night arrived we chowed on calzones from DiPetrillo's Bakery, as well as, a smorgasbord of dips, cheeses, etc. You know, the usual holiday party fare. When it came to beverages, it wasn't the usual spiked punch. No, no, not for us Tiki-Loving guys. We partook of flaming volcano Scorpion Bowls. We had a great time & I was sorry when it was time for everyone to go. this really was the highlight of my holiday season & I'm looking forward to a bigger & better 2nd Annual bash.

Thee Swank Bastards

Wednesday, June 27 2012 Headed to The Spot, in Providence, RI, to see Las Vegas Surf Band, Thee Swank Bastards. I've been hearing about these guys on Tiki Central for years & was stoked to finally get the chance to see them live. The show itself was great. The Wednesday night crowd was small, but the boys were in good form, mixing killer surf riffs with their repertoire of "blue" jokes. haha! The Spot is a very cool, "Bohemian" atmosphere bar that I would readily go back to.

Thrifting In Worcester

My buddy, in Connecticut, has had great luck finding Tiki in the Thrift Stores, down there. I however, get skunked everytime I go thrifting in Worcester. Well, the past month, I decided to look for more than just Tiki on my thrifting expeditions. I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out. First, I scored 2 great vintage shirts. This dead-stock, late 50's/early 60's Arrow & an amazing Italian Gabardine for $2.99 & $5.99.

I decided to check out the CDs, too & scored these two great additions to my music library, for two bucks each. "Peggy The Pin-Up Girl" is a great tune, I'd never heard before.

On the same day I scored the CDs, I also found these 6 Hawaiian albums for $.99 each.

And....this killer hat, that's going to be made into a lamp, for The Mauna Kai Lounge. For now, it'll keep Mr. Tiki's head warm!

Recent Tiki Finds

Here's a few of my recent Tiki scores. sorry, I haven't posted this stuff in awhile. first up is the latest Bahooka mug, featuring Rufus the carrot-eating fish. I wasn't able to attend the event as I was wallowing 3000 miles away, but my buddy, Luke, went & scored a mug for me. Designed by The Pizz & produced by Tiki Farm, this mug is a nice departure from the usual Tiki mug.



Did a swap with my buddy, Pete, at the Idol Mixtures Christmas Party for these two killer hurricane glasses. One is from Black Tahiti in Washington, D.C. & the other is from the Hukilau Lounge in Key West, Florida. I have seen very little from either of these places & I have never seen any tiki mugs, so these hurricane glasse are welcome additions to my collection.

Coconut mug from Ming Garden's Polynesian Room in Providence, Rhode Island. This is another place I have seen very little from & this mug is in perfect condition.

Hurricane glass from Kowloon in Saugus, Mass & a HIP Originals Hula Girl

A gaggle of the "Usual Suspects"!

Friday Night At Vincent's

Friday, March 30, 2011

Headed out tonight to meet my buddy at Vincent's in Worcester. Michelle "Go Kat Go" Terranova was putting on her first Worcester show, featuring Skinny Jim & The Number 9 Blacktops from Illinois. Michelle is renowned for luring National & International Rockabilly acts to her shows at Cafe 9,in New Haven, CT. Lucky for us, she recently moved to Massachusetts & brought her love of all things Rockabilly with her. This first show was a good one, featuring a mix of Rockabilly with good old Rock & Roll washed down with a few ice-cold Narragansetts in the killer atmosphere of Vincent's & I went home with a coupla new CDs. AHHH! Now that hit the spot!

Vincent's cool sign.


Skinny Jim & the boys gettin' it on!


Thanks, Michelle. That was a great night & I can't wait for the next one.

My Last Meal In SoCal

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Well, I reached Trader Vic's in L.A. only to discover that there was a Lakers game right next door. The restaurant was packed & parking was scarce. Rats! Trader Vic's was gonna have to wait til the next trip. Now, I was really hungry & I began to brain-storm for a Plan B. I was not eating at some giant, conglomerate, chain restaurant. This was SoCal. It had to be someplace cool. Then, I remembered driving by this amazing coffee shop, on my way to L.A. from Redondo. I turned the car around & headed back, in search of Pann's. Finally, Pann's came into view. The closer I got, the cooler it looked. OK, this was gonna be a good way to end my trip.



I sauntered in, sat down at the counter & looked up to see a bunch of cool, vintage drag racing photos, on the wall behind the counter. I'm guessing these were regular customers back in the day. How cool is it that Pann's kept these pics up all these years? While waiting for my dinner, I heard the strains of "Little Darlin'" by The Gladiolas coming from the jukebox.! This place was getting better by the minute.

BLT, Potato Salad & a Coke. God Bless America!





After finishing my meal, I figured I had better head for the airport. I had no idea that I was only about 5 minutes away from LAX. Now, I had time to kill, so I decided to do a bit more cruising. As soon as this gourgeous sign for the Academy Theater came into view, my heart skipped a beat. This sign was spectacular & in complete working order. I got closer, parked the car & hopped out to takes some pics. as I got closer, I realized that the place was no longer a theater, but some type of church. Sigh! At least they had maintained this killer sign.


Back towards LAX, I happened upon Randy's Donuts, another Southern California, roadside icon.


Now it was time to turn in the rental & take the shuttle over to the terminal for the long trip home. My first trip to California had exceeded all of my expectations & the people were amazing. I was very impressed with the hospitality of everyone I came in contact with. I felt so at ease with everyone I met everywhere I went. I hope, someday, I will have the opportunity to relocate to SoCal. I've really had it with New Engalnd winters!