Happy Valentine’s Day from the Tiki Bar!

To The Tiki Lovers, Pirates, Retro Hipsters and Swingers…

Have a Happy & Fun Valentine’s Day!

Here’s a very romantic recipe for a Chocolate Martini…

And here’s a few old-fashioned Valentine’s to remind you of the good old days…

The Mermaids Swim Again…Wreck Bar, Yankee Clipper, Fort Lauderdale

After an extensive remodeling, the Sheraton Yankee Clipper in Fort Lauderdale is open and the Wreck Bar is in full swing! (I haven’t been there yet, but I hear it’s been preserved as original). Well I’ll know for sure tonight, because a bunch of Tiki friends and I will be swinging by tonight to watch the Mermaids swim again!

When Sheraton announced plans to remodel the old Yankee Clipper (and give it the dumb, dull, corporate, generic name “Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel”) everyone thought that would be the end of the historic Wreck Bar. Well, from what I hear someone had enough brains to keep it intact.

The Wreck Bar at the Yankee Clipper

The Wreck Bar features windows that look out into the pool, giving patrons a view of the swimmers. Underwater dancing Mermaids have been a popular attraction for years, and our favorite Mermaid, Medusirena, will be headlining the swim tonight.

If you’re in the Fort Lauderdale area come on by and join us for a Mai Tai. Show starts at 6:30!

-Mermaids at the Wreck Bar, Tiki Chris @ Tiki Lounge Talk, the Tiki Blog for hip swingers and Tikiphiles.

Living and Loving the Tiki Lifestyle

Sometimes you just have lay back and enjoy the good life. Yesterday, my buddy Mark (aka Tiki Tender) twittered a recipe for a drink called the Tiki Girl. A nice combo of rum and amaretto, this drink was very, very enjoyable, not sweet and sugary like you might think, but more complex like a real exotic cocktail should be.

So here’s what I did…Last night, with the parrots squwaking in the background and some Martin Denny on the hi-fi, I took his recipe (find it here at tikitender.com) and built it in a vintage glass at my Tiki Bar. (I still have the Christmas lights up on the bar so the whole thing was sort of surreal). The only ingredient I didn’t have was the garnish, but I did have a paper umbrella, so it was A-OK.

It’s the little things in life that can really make you smile. After a long couple of weeks at work, crazy money stuff, and dealing with a haunted Cadillac (long story), it was nice to sit down and relax with a kool Tiki Cocktail. After the second one, I didn’t have a care in the world!

Those who follow me on twitter can attest to the fact that these are pretty strong drinks, as can be seen from my twitter stream last night. Make sure you check out Mark’s site at tikitender.com, he’s got lots of fun stuff and great Tiki drink recipes!

Thanks again to all of you for tuning in to my little Tiki Blog. I really do dig writing about this stuff, and hope my goofy rants from the Tiki Bar give you a laugh, or at least a smile!

-Tiki Chris, AKA Mack, AKA Mr. Loving the Tiki Life!

Hukilau 2010! June 11-13 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Well kids, there’s not much to say about the most intimate Tiki event in the world that they don’t do a great job of saying on their website:

http://www.thehukilau.com/2010

So I’ll just tell you if you’re into the Tiki Lifestyle, dig Tiki Art, swing to Exotica music, love Tiki drinks and have a thing for hot chicks doing Polynesian dances, you’ve got to hop a rail and get yourself down to Fort Liquordale, Florida this June.

If you’ve ever been to a Tiki event, you know how much fun this can be.

For those of you who are saying “what the hell is a Huki-whatsis?”: The Hukilau is a weekend of crazy people celebrating all things Tiki. There are Tiki idols, Tiki music, Tiki art, Tiki mugs, Tiki Ti-shirts, and of course Tiki Bars. Have I said “Tiki” enough yet? You catch my drift, right?

Colleen at the Hukilau 2009. That's not me next to her.

There will be tons of great performers like  The Bikini Beachcombers and King Kukulele. And of course, South Florida’s favorite underwater bombshell, Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid will be showing of her fabulous dancing and aquatic skills.

But one of the things that really sets this Tiki Life event apart from all the others is the inclusion of the world-famous Mai Kai Tiki Bar & Restaurant, a Fort Lauderdale landmark since 1956. It’s one of the few remaining original Tiki bars from the golden era of Poly Pop, and has stood the tests of time, hurricanes and changing fads to take its place as one of, if not the top, Tiki bars in the world. When you go, make sure you take a stroll through the tropical garden.

If all goes well (and the banking industry doesn’t turn America into a desert) we’ll be attending all three days. Hopefully we’ll see some of you retro-kats and swingin-kittens there! Come up and say hello to us…I’ll be the guy in the Hawaiian shirt.

For more info on the event, to book tickets online and to arrange for a motel click the Hukilau link above. You can also join their facebook fanpage by clicking the words in the pretty color.

Mahalos! See you in June!

Tiki Stocking Stuffer Idea…Tropical Fruit??? Sure!

What do you get the Tiki Man or Woman who has everything? A Coconut.

That’s right, this year’s hot idea (that I just made up) for Tiki Lovers is a stocking full of fresh, Tropical fruits. Fill that sucker up with all kinds of fun stuff like Bananas, Coconuts, Asian Pears, Kiwis, Blood Oranges, Kumquats, Starfruit, Mangoes, Persimmons, Lychees, Passion Fruit, Pomegranates, Papayas, Melons, Honey Dew and whatever else looks like fun. Top the whole thing off with a nice fresh Pineapple sticking out of the top, and some tropical flowers for a little flair.

Of course Santa will have to keep it cool until it’s ready to give away, but a little planning should help that…use a cooler…in fact, you could buy one of those Styrofoam jobs and decorate it like a pirate chest or bamboo trunk! Hey, I just thought of that too!

Look for some more kookie, kool & fantabulous Tiki-Lover Christmas gift ideas in the next week here at the Tiki Bar Blog.

Have a fun idea of your own? Go ahead and post it in the comments, or email it to me, Tiki Chris, c/o this site (little envelope in the top right corner).

Don’t forget, if you dig Tiki Lounge Talk then Digg Tiki Lounge Talk! Plus you can sign up (on the right) for an email subscription to get updates sent to your email…and no annoying spam!

Also, check out our Groovy New Fan Page on Facebook…The Retro Tiki Lounge! Post all sorts of fun stuff, pix and goofiness daily.

- Aloha from Tiki Chris Pinto (Mack)

UPDATE: Sunshine Tiki of http://www.zentikilounge.com suggested adding some good fruits to use with tropical cocktails, like citrus fruits. Now why didn’t I think of that? Must have been all that rum. Thanks Sunshine Tiki