When Ashley Morgan, aka Sleepy Siren Treasure Co. ins’t sculpting mugs shaped like dead oceanographers, she’s spending time with husband Cliff deep down inside their basement bar. It’s part nautical, part pirate and part tiki, all things that Ashley and Cliff love. The name of their bar is called Dr. Bones, Apothecary…
NOT Dr. Bones’ Apothecary!
Q: What does Jacques Cousteau and Ashley Morgan have in common?
A: They both love the sea AND Ashley Morgan created a mug in honor of Jacques called Jacques Tu’Slo which is a skull! Ashley’s style blends pirate, the sea, tiki and a little bit of creepy for good measure! Sleepy Siren Treasure Co. is located up here in the Pacific Northwest in Tacoma and I’m excited to see what she comes up with next! Here is Ashley’s story…
Continue reading “Tiki VIP #51 Ashley Morgan – Sleepy Siren Treasure Co.”
Before you reach Susan and Eddie Pena’s home tiki bar, you have to walk through the kitchen, then the dining room, then the living room and finally you turn to your right and bam! You are in The Mainlander Room. Susan and Eddie Pena’s home is a totally mid-century modern time capsule and once you step inside their home, you are transported back to a time before the internet and cable television.
The Mainlander Room is right next to the living room and the transition between the two is seamless, with some of the tiki and mcm blending the two styles together. When I visited The Mainlander Room, I honestly didn’t want to leave! Susan and Eddie, I can’t wait to come back, in the meantime, here is their story …
Continue reading “Home Sweet Tiki Home #6 The Mainlander Room – Tacoma WA”
I will always remember driving to New York City from Pennsylvania, the first thing you would see was the twin towers of The World Trade Center. Those towers were tall! I wonder if it was just me, but there was always this weird optical illusion with the twin towers, the further away you were from them, the larger they appeared!
But when you were Downtown, near the WTC, they didn’t seem nearly so big.
The McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma Washington doesn’t look that big from the outside, but you have no idea just how huge this place is until you step inside …
Well, it ain’t Tiki … but it is delightful!
I love Frankl furniture and big tikis. Susan and Michael do as well! Not only do they have a Frankl couch and chair set, they also have a Frankl bar! The Crow’s Nest is also home to some very large Tikis carved by Bosko and Gone Tiki. This is just the beginning of what you’ll find in Susan and Michael’s place …
Continue reading “Home Sweet Tiki Home #5 The Crow’s Nest, Tacoma WA”
Heather and John had a dream…
That dream was to build a tiki bar in their basement. There was just one problem, their home in Seattle didn’t have one. So, they moved to Tacoma, bought a house with a basement and got to work. I’ll let Heather and John take it from here…
Your life should be filled with interests and hobbies that change constantly!
I actually met Jim along time ago back in 2004 and I didn’t realize it…
The Devil’s Reef makes me want to move to Tacoma!
Continue reading “Devil’s Reef VIP Opening 1/19/2018 Tacoma WA”
Back in the ’50s and ’60s, Tiki was big, I mean really big! Large Tiki establishments like the Mai Kai and Trader Vic’s were in every town. Many of the Mid-Century homes had bars and tons of those were being converted into home Tiki bars.
Polynesian pop was so popular that Tiki-themed hotels and motels started popping up. Taking things one step further, Tiki apartment complexes were built! Imagine walking out your front door and having a large Tiki to greet you every morning as you go off to work. Many Tiki apartments were built across the country, but by the ’70s, most of those apartments were torn down or converted to some other theme. I did find one survivor in Tacoma, WA. It’s named—yep, you guessed it—the Tiki Apartments.
