My friends Jeanie Duval and Tom Hemmen took a trip up to Vancouver B.C. to visit The Dark Manor Inn. They had a great time and sampled many of the drinks. Here’s what they thought…
You don’t know what humidity is until you go to Florida.
I just touched down in Fort Lauderdale and it’s so humid here that my glasses fog up as soon as I go outside. I flew in from Seattle on a six-hour flight and I’m here to do two things: visit the legendary Mai Kai and reconnect with my friend Dave who I haven’t seen since the early ’90s. Back in the day, we were heavily into skateboarding and punk rock. Time passed. I grew up to be a guy who blogs about Tiki bars and Dave became a professional photographer (Gittleman Studios). I made an offer to Dave: if he could take some pictures of the Mai Kai for me, I would pay for his drinks. It was a deal!
Who out there remembers that classic ’80s tune from Modern English? I know two people for sure and a few nights ago they were sitting with me at Rumba Seattle. My friends Coco and Zak were going to see Modern English play at the Neumos, from which Rumba is only a few blocks away. I really only know that one song from Modern English, so I didn’t join them for the show. When I thought about it, I asked myself, “Did Modern English have any other hits?” I was talking with Zak and we came to the conclusion that if Modern English played their hit first, everyone would leave right afterwards!
It was Wednesday, which is Tiki Night at Rumba. I asked Coco and Zak if they’d want to meet up for some drinks before they head to the show. They said “Yes,” to which I said, “Great, it’s a date!”
“No, I have never been to (insert Tiki bar here)” may be one of my favorite things to hear. It’s always fun to take friends out for a good time at a Tiki bar, especially if they’ve never been to one. Friends will order drinks that are stronger than what they’re used to. People let their hair down and things are more fun because everyone is just a little bit more tipsy than usual. At the end of the night, if I can turn someone new onto Tiki bars, I’ve done my job.
I hadn’t seen my friends Hanjing and Chris for a long time. We all used to go rock climbing together a few years back. I was totally into climbing until I realized that I have a fear of heights and it never went away. I moved on to other interests, but Hanjing and Chris never stopped. Good for them!
I told Hanjing and Chris about Tacoma Cabana down in Tacoma. They were interested in going, but there was one condition: we were going to go climbing the next day. Fair enough. It would be cool to throw my climbing shoes on and hit the rocks again.
I don’t think anyone loves McMenamins more than my good buddy Rob, well except maybe his wife Laura! Laura and Rob live in Portland and every time I go to visit them, we end up at a McMenamins somewhere. Rob was coming up to Seattle for a concert, so he wanted to check out McMenamins Anderson School.
The North Shore Lagoon is part of McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell, WA. McMenamins converted an entire school campus into a hotel, a movie theater, a convention center, a fine dining restaurant, a pub, and of course, a Tiki bar. The entire place is pretty awesome. The North Shore Lagoon is in the building where the swimming pool was (or should I say, still is). The bar sits above the pool. You can enjoy a Zombie and look down and watch people swim. This is my review of the North Shore Lagoon if you want to learn about the bar itself.
After Rob’s flight into Seattle, I picked him up and we headed up to Bothell. It was during rush hour, so it took some time to get up there. However, good things come to those who wait. We arrived at Anderson School. I gave Rob the tour of the grounds and then we got down to business at the North Shore Lagoon…
I live in Seattle. What I love about living in the Pacific Northwest is that two really cool cities are only a couple hours away. One of these is Vancouver, BC and the other is Portland, OR. I had a free weekend, so I went down to Portland to get together with my buddy Rob and hit Hale Pele!
When you have a friend come into Seattle from the East Coast and he likes Tiki bars, there is one place you have to take him. Sadly, that place is not in Seattle but in Tacoma! It’s the Tacoma Cabana, to be exact. Tacoma is about 45 minutes south of Seattle (with no traffic). For a bar to worth such a drive, it must be good!