 |
Blowfish Bar – Flagler Beach, FL |
TikiTomD
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 629
From: Flagler Beach, FL
|  Posted: 2011-06-25 09:25 am Permalink
Hukilau 2011 was the best of times, and memories of new and old tiki friends and the Mai-Kai strongly linger. Now the challenge is to find a place for all that Hukilau booty.
The prize was Swanky’s Mai-Kai Mystery Girl Bowl, beautifully crafted by Kristina Lucas Francis...
I’m grateful to Tim Glazner (Swanky), photo below from Hukilau, for holding onto his dream and making it a reality...
Making room above the bar for a couple of “Tiki for 2” mugs sculpted by Kevin Kidney and produced by Munktiki for Hukilau...
Mahalos to Kevin Kidney (left) and Jody Daily, photo below from Hukilau...
Above the side of the bar was room for the Mai-Kai Maru Amu mug and an Orchids of Hawaii Hula Girl Inset mug...
The blowfish tile from Tortuga Tile Works found a home above the sink...
Now contemplating a Polynesian mural similar to Julian’s on the wall above the stairway, but will have to find an artist and $$$$...
-Tom
_________________
|
littlegiles
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 08, 2003
Posts: 397
From: Lancaster, SC
| Posted: 2011-06-25 10:09 am Permalink
Tom, you have a beautiful place there. Thanks so much for sharing pictures. Congrats on the Mystery Girl mug/bowl. She looks great up there in her own little niche.
_________________
|
tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2079 | Posted: 2011-06-25 11:01 am Permalink
Love the use of Bosko.
Old school tiki cool.
Great place!
|
VampiressRN
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 5079
From: Sin City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2011-06-25 3:00 pm Permalink
Wow Tom...your place is looking classier and classier!!! That Blowfish Tile is fabulous. 
_________________
 "Oh waiter, another cocktail please!!!"
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-06-26 11:18 am Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2011-06-25 06:09, TikiTomD wrote:
At the center of town for more than 80 years, the Flagler Beach Pier has been rebuilt many times after hurricanes shortened its nominal 1,000-foot length. Its current length is 806 feet. Since the 1960s, it has featured an A-frame entry, but no tikis.
|
|
Very interesting: It seems to be a Florida custom to use the A-Frame as a sign.I thought Julian's was unique in that way, but then that shopping center with The Tropics, Ellinor Village appeared, and now this entrance.
This is very much in keeping with the Googie and Roadside architecture concept of "the building as a sign".
|
TikiTomD
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 629
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2011-06-27 05:37 am Permalink
Mahalos to everyone for looking, and thank you for the positive feedback littlegiles, tikiskip and VampiressRN!
Quote:
|
On 2011-06-26 11:18, bigbrotiki wrote:
Very interesting: It seems to be a Florida custom to use the A-Frame as a sign.I thought Julian's was unique in that way, but then that shopping center with The Tropics, Ellinor Village appeared, and now this entrance.
This is very much in keeping with the Googie and Roadside architecture concept of "the building as a sign".
|
|
Sven, interesting observation... I'm going to see if the Flagler Beach Historical Museum can unearth the particulars on how the Pier A-frame came about...
-Tom
|
TikiTomD
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 629
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2011-07-10 06:55 am Permalink
With encroaching darkness, a Swanky puffer fish lamp has served from the beginning as the valiant, but lonely beacon of the Blowfish Bar. It's been sufficient to plot a general course, but after a few high proof tropical cocktails, it's been apparent that some additional aids to navigation were needed to avoid piling up on the reef. The solution... TikiSkip red float lamps, hung from the corners of the overhead shelf unit...
-Tom
_________________
|
The Blue Kahuna
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 01, 2011
Posts: 331
From: Points East & West
| Posted: 2011-07-10 08:01 am Permalink
Inspirational!
|
tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2079 | Posted: 2011-07-10 09:09 am Permalink
That's exactly where I thought they should go.
I like the light cast on the ceiling.
Thanks again!!!
|
Pele Paul
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 26, 2008
Posts: 104
From: San Dimas, ca
| Posted: 2011-07-11 08:31 am Permalink
wow very very cool!! looks like a 5 Star resort!!! Id stay there for sure!!!!!
paul
|
TikiTomD
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 629
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2011-07-16 09:12 am Permalink
Thank you, Blue Kahuna, TikiSkip and Pele Paul, for the feedback and encouragement. The home bar is an ever evolving enterprise...
I've been talking to a local artist about painting a mural on the stairway wall adjacent to the Blowfish Bar. Here's an early concept sketch using the same Polynesian scenery elements presented in panoramic glory on the mural at Julian's, but flipped around and scaled down a bit; the artist intends to alter details to his own style (scanned image truncated a bit)...
-Tom
|
TikiTomD
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 629
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2011-07-17 09:36 am Permalink
Party time at the Blowfish Bar last night! Joining us were our Space Coast friends, TikiHardBop (George), TornadoTiki (Chris), and metikigal (Christina), as well as Miami friends, Joanie and Oliver.
Mai Tais were the featured drink. Two variations were offered. One was based on the contemporary “Royal Mai Tai” created by Joey Gottesman, an “island” (aka “tourist”) style cocktail offered at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Mai Tai Bar in Waikiki and first featured in the July/August 2009 issue of Hawai’I Magazine: http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/10/8/mai_tai_Hawaii_recipe_Moose_Royal+Hawaiian/2
Royal Mai Tai ingredients
1 oz silver rum (used Havana Club)
1 oz dark rum (used Myers’s) (recipe called for ½ oz but increased for a stiffer drink)
½ oz Disaronno Original
½ oz Cointreau
½ tsp Maraschino cherry and vanilla puree (1 tsp natural vanilla extract in 10 oz pureed cherries)
1 oz orange juice
2 oz pineapple juice
½ oz freshly squeezed lime juice (not part of the recipe, but added)
While a very flavorful drink, all of us agreed that it was quite a bit sweeter than our taste preferences, much in common with the Mai Tais we encountered on our Hawaiian island vacations.
The cocktail that we all agreed was very fine (“the best”) was based on the original Trader Vic Mai Tai recipe recapped on page 71 of Beachbum Berry Remixed, with slight modifications:
1 oz amber Martinique rum (used Saint James)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum (used Myers’s)
½ oz Cointreau (used in place of Curacao called out by the recipe)
¼ oz orgeat syrup (used Trader Vic’s)
¼ oz sugar syrup (used Master of Mixes)
¾ oz freshly squeezed lime juice (reduced from 1 oz called out in recipe to adjust tartness)
The spousal unit, Pat, made appetizers to balance the cocktail spirits. Being of Italian heritage, she over-excelled with this task, with a rollout of food that included Native Drums (page 31 of Beachbum Berry’s Taboo Table); smoked salmon dip; boiled jumbo shrimp and cocktail sauce; meat balls; summer sausage, cheese and crackers; pigs in a blanket, and salsa with tortilla chips. This sure didn’t leave much room for our planned dinner trip to Julian’s.
Swanky’s Vinyl Exotica I and Vinyl Exotica II (http://www.swankpad.org/exotica/exotica.htm and http://www.swankpad.org/exotica/exoticaii.htm) rendered the perfect sound ambience. Playback was from an iPod Touch connected to a Bose Wave Music System.
After a few drinks, we found out from Joanie that Oliver plays a mean guitar. So, we dispatched Joanie to retrieve his guitar and were rewarded by an afternoon of spirited guitar play, passionately delivered in a variety of musical genres. Not only was Oliver a talented player, but he was also an equally talented vocalist.
Chris (TornadoTiki) and Christina (metikigal)
George (TikiHardBop)
Christina and Pat
Oliver
Oliver and Joanie
Calista, our standard poodle, seeking attention
Chris and Christina, with Tommy and Joanie at edges
Tommy (our son) and Kathy
Tango, our other standard poodle, just chillin'
A gift to the house of George’s peach-mint infused bourbon liqueur
We all concluded the day with dinner at Julian’s Dining Room and Lounge in Ormond Beach. Chris and I, as designated drivers, curtailed our intake several hours before departure, intended at 6:30 pm but actually closer to 8:00 pm, while we partied to Oliver’s guitar play. The food at Julian’s was excellent as usual, though the entertainment was not. Fortunately, the latter was drowned out by the banter of the dining room crowd.
Christina and Julian’s magnificent Polynesian mural
Joanie and Oliver at Julian’s
Life was indeed good in the great company of friends, the best of all mixers...
-Tom
_________________
[ This Message was edited by: TikiTomD 2011-07-18 16:01 ]
|
TikiHardBop
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Feb 21, 2009
Posts: 355
From: Rockledge, FL
| Posted: 2011-07-18 09:55 am Permalink
Tom, the mural idea sounds very cool. I think it would be a cool idea of actually re-creating the mural from Julian's, but from a different angle. And I bet if you put your engineer hat on, you could probably figure out the exact angle from your house to the mural at Julian's. Kind of like having super-duper X-ray vision. And then you could really freak out guests when you take them to Julian's!!!
And much mahalo for the gracious hospitality. I thought I could smell mai tai's coming out during my bike ride to work today! We'll have to do it again before the weather changes. And add some beach time to the visit next time!
|
TornadoTiki
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Sep 14, 2008
Posts: 15
From: Florida's Space Coast
| Posted: 2011-07-18 2:18 pm Permalink
We had a great time at Tiki Tom and Pat's, and Julian's was a treat for its food and for that luminous mural. Here are a few photos from the evening.
Metiki Gal at the Blowfish Bar:
Tiki Tom mixing up mai tais:
Great mug collection and Bosko posts:
Pat and poodle:
The group:
Julian's in Ormond Beach, Florida:
The mural over the bar at Julian's:
|
teaKEY
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 09, 2004
Posts: 3663
From: The thumb !
| Posted: 2011-07-21 05:18 am Permalink
Looks to be fun times and the mural over the local bar is magic.
|
