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Canadian Tiki Part Deux |
TikiPearlsOfTahiti
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 09, 2004
Posts: 31
From: The Frozen North
|  Posted: 2008-08-10 5:57 pm Permalink
Thanks so much for the pics. Brings back lots of memories! I used to go to the Sheraton Mount Royal Kon Tiki all the time in the 70s, and 80s. I cried when they closed it sometime in the 90s. Wish I could have bought some of the stuff they auctioned off. I loved that place. Had my sweet 16 birthday there, and after they briefly reopened the Kon Tiki in the newly refurbished Mount Royal hotel, I got engaged there! Great memories of that place. I remember the bar had a fishtank all around it, so you could lean on the bar and it was part fishtank. And, the waterfall when you walked in, the great won ton soup, poo poo platter (!) the volcano drinks with the dry ice in the middle. I have several mugs I saved. There's a restaurant called the Jardin Tiki near the old Olympic stadium, the owner bought a lot of the stuff from the Kon Tiki, the food at the Jardin Tiki is bad Chinese food, and it's pretty tacky, but still, I like to go there once in a while, the drinks are still good and fun!
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This girl just wants to be in Bora Bora!
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3394
From: HELL
| Posted: 2008-08-10 8:46 pm Permalink
..damn..
..they should have left the traders on the barge......that would have been my dream home.....just sail it around the coast, docking here and there to check out other tiki bars around the country....
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Eddy Brazil
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 08, 2006
Posts: 161
From: Victoria, BC
| Posted: 2008-08-21 3:39 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-08-08 13:00, 1961surf wrote:
Anybody know what the building is being used for now ?
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I'll do some sleuthing - sounds like it could be in Deep Cove (near Chalet Estate Winery). If I find out, I'll report back.
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Slacks Ferret
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 02, 2003
Posts: 1178
From: Calgary
| Posted: 2008-08-21 6:43 pm Permalink
Tikiwahine dug this info up on this thread:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=13849&forum=1&vpost=148774&hilite=trader%20vics%20vancouver
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Eddy Brazil
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 08, 2006
Posts: 161
From: Victoria, BC
| Posted: 2008-08-21 9:50 pm Permalink
Since I'm off to Seattle for the weekend - I won't get to check this place out until next week. However, it must be Rachelle's Vineyard Bed & Breakfast in Saanichton, outside Victoria - 739 Mt. Newton Cross Road.
"Nestled among 100 year old arbutus and cedar trees at the corner of Mt. Newton and West Saanich roads, a short distance to Butchart Gardens in Brentwood. Originally the Major Jukes Estate of 1910 where concord grapes and his organic hybrid grape “Saancichton Seedless” was developed. We offer accommodations which include:Tuscany House with large spacious rooms and balcony, Beach House on the ocean, and a Polynesian style cottage formerly the Trader Vics at the Bayshore Inn in Vancouver."
Tikiwahine - did you ever get a chance to check it out?
Kitty spoke with the moving company - and it was transported from Vancouver to Saanichton about six years ago.
More details//pics (hopefully) to follow.
[ This Message was edited by: Eddy Brazil 2008-09-02 13:40 ]
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Eddy Brazil
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 08, 2006
Posts: 161
From: Victoria, BC
| Posted: 2008-09-02 1:39 pm Permalink
Well, after repeated calls with no answer - and non-working numbers - Kitty and I decided to make it our mission to visit Rachelle's Vineyard. The two driveway gates (one of which luckily was unlocked) have bold warning signs "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED". We drove in anyway, since the sunshine was out and we naively were looking for this B&B. I very much doubt this property - all 110 acres of it - ever operated as a bed and breakfast. It was probably listed on a B&B directory with the intention of opening, but - the way redundant info floats around in cyberspace - never did. The first (most likely original) Italianate house is vacant and half-boarded up. The huge property is dotted with land-locked boats (with people inhabiting them) and a variety of cottages and shanty-makeshift buildings that people are also living in. Instantly reminded me of a 1960s/70s commune or biker gang hangout. There is, however, a thriving vineyard on the property which is being professionally irrigated and maintained. Halfway down the dirt drive, we saw an old guy working on a piece of machinery. I stopped and got out of the car and told him I was looking for the Bayshore Trader Vic's which was supposedly barged here. He got a bit excited, in his French-Canadian accent, and said surely I could drive down the road/hill towards the shore - and I'd find it. No problem taking a look at it. He wasn't forthcoming with much info about who the owner is, etc - so I didn't push it (in case he changed his mind). The whole vibe, overall, was a bit shady. The fellow did say that the plan is to open it to the public in a couple of years. However, it appears unlikely that will happen anytime in the near future, judging from the clutter and condition of it.
Anyhow, here's the view as you approach it from the drive.
To Kitty's (and my) surprise, the door was unlocked - yet someone is certainly living here (it smelled of stale ciggies - and the clouded jar of pickled eggs on the still-intact bar counter stirred my appetite)! So, we trespassed some more...
Original door leading (I believe) to the kitchen - which likely was gutted and now appears to be a bedroom.
Mugs "Made Exclusively for Trader Vic's - Made in Japan" on the bar.
Old Vancouver Chinese newspapers (some adverts for Granville Street businesses in Chinese and English) decoupage-ing the corrugated section of the bar/entrance ceiling.
Flooring - which has yet to be properly installed (it's sitting atop the original floor) - was salvaged from Mayfair Lanes bowling alley when it was demolished a couple of years ago. I was told that the owner wants to invite friends over for ballroom dancing when it's completed.
Wonderful original real-shell wall sconces, and authentic tapa bark-cloth wall coverings.
[ This Message was edited by: Eddy Brazil 2008-09-02 13:42 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Eddy Brazil 2008-09-02 13:43 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Eddy Brazil 2008-09-02 13:45 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Eddy Brazil 2008-09-03 06:57 ]
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Slacks Ferret
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 02, 2003
Posts: 1178
From: Calgary
| Posted: 2008-09-02 7:37 pm Permalink
Thanks for those photos Eddie. That's some amazing stuff. Great to see so much of it is still intact.
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Pepe le Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 09, 2005
Posts: 325
From: Vancouver, BC
| Posted: 2008-09-03 11:42 am Permalink
Wow .. thanks for posting these Eddy! I'm surprised how much of the interior decor remains. I assumed it was gutted when they moved it but it looks mostly intact!
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dogbytes
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 2240
From: seattle, wa
| Posted: 2008-09-03 12:02 pm Permalink
Eddie! awesome job of trespassing and documenting whats become of that Trader Vics!! what a rush that must have been ~ oooh that row of mugs! WOW..
these canadian threads have been fantastic!
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3946
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2008-09-03 12:34 pm Permalink
Eddy,
What an awesome expedition. Thanks for the great photos, nice to see how much of the interior still remains. How the heck did they move that building with all of that stuff still intact?
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Bora Boris
Mr. Unreasonable
Joined: Mar 25, 2005
Posts: 2416
From: Boogie Wonderland
| Posted: 2008-09-04 8:53 pm Permalink
Eddy you are my "Hero of the Month" and it's only the 4th. 
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Mai Tai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 21, 2004
Posts: 1430
From: Exotic Isle of Alameda
| Posted: 2008-09-04 10:16 pm Permalink
That is absolutely amazing! Fantastic job, Eddy! Makes me want to go up to Victoria to check it out!!!
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 "It's Mai Tai. It's out of this world." - Victor Jules Bergeron Jr.
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suzanne
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 31, 2005
Posts: 660
From: A Jet to Paradise
| Posted: 2008-09-05 07:26 am Permalink
Cool!!!!
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virani
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 17, 2003
Posts: 1435
From: Volcanic area of France
| Posted: 2008-09-05 08:29 am Permalink
Fantastic. Imagine living in a Trader Vic's...wow.
Thanks a lot
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10599
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-09-05 09:37 am Permalink
That is friggin' FAN-TAS-TIC !!! Reminds me of the good ole days of urban archeology, like excavating at THE TIKIS, or recently, at the Chin Tiki. Great job, Mahalo folks. 
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