Exploring California tiki culture old and new turned out to be a terrific way to experience the best of the Golden State and enjoy a tour along its magnificent coast.
As twilight descends upon this series highlighting Kemey’s and my road trip from San Francisco to San Diego, I want to take a moment to say thanks to all the bars and restaurants (tiki and non), hotels, etc – and especially to the friends and family who made time to see us – for the immense hospitality provided. A word of gratitude is in order for Kemey too, for indulging me in such a tiki-laden two weeks on the road (though, truth be told, I’m pretty sure she had a blast).
I should point out that, with respect to California tiki culture, our itinerary was not exhaustive. There are considerably more tiki bars and venues across the state than we were able to hit. In fact, since our late August/early September tour, there have been even more California openings of tiki-themed venues, including the much-lauded Pacific Seas at Clifton’s Cafeteria in LA. Nevertheless, starting our tour with dinner at the Tonga Room – America’s oldest tiki bar – and ending it with drinks at the then days-old False Idol (not to mention getting to see Martin Cate’s vision evolve from his Smuggler’s Cove bar in San Francisco to his False Idol bar in San Diego) afforded a sense of continuity in good times, creative cool and an easy going lifestyle that make California such an awesome place to visit.
To help you browse all the posts in my California Tiki Tour & More series, here’s a list with links to all of them:
- California Tiki Tour & More
- San Francisco: Golden Getaway
- Big Fun, Big Flavour, Big Sur
- Sideways Detour to Solvang
- LA Daze
- Enchanted Day at Disneyland
- A Good Time in Huntington Beach? It’s a Shore Thing
- San Diego Serenade
- Twilight
Craving more tiki in your life? Check out Critiki, an online reference resource for “the collecting, travelling or researching tikiphile” with information on more than 900 locations alongside more than 8,000 related images images. The site certainly came in handy while I was organising our trip.
For all sorts of top tips to inspire you to dream big and make the most of your own amazing trip to California, go to visitcalifornia.co.uk.
Thanks for coming along on the ride with me. Please feel free to have a look at all my tikichris miniseries and special features.
