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Extolling the virtues of the basement tiki bar |
uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1531
From: Kalamazoo
|  Posted: 2010-01-01 06:32 am Permalink
Well without turning this into a weather report again attendance is up in the home bar due to the weather as many of my fellow basement denizens can likely relate too. After finally being called back to work the bar is nearly fully stocked. I have had requests from folks who have never been over before for what they call "an enchanted evening" ...wow cabin fever can really get to ya. I'm happy to think some folks look to our home bar as an escape from the worries and stress of the day. I'm working on a new menu for the lounge with a few new selections that I think the novice cocktail drinker may enjoy. I like to keep the selection to between six and eight cocktails so I can have fresh ingredients on hand but I will always do a special request. Happy New Year from six feet under in Michigan.
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Big Kahuna
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 11, 2007
Posts: 1908
From: SoMass
| Posted: 2010-01-01 08:03 am Permalink
I hear ya, Trav. I had the boys from my car club over Wednesday night for a coupla drinks & some general BS. This was our third attempt, as the first 2 got snowed out. My room is split between Tiki & Kustom Kulture. I'll try to take a few pics this weekend, during the next storm we're waiting for, & post them so you can see where I'm at. I keep the heat down there set on toasty, so no freakin' winter attire is necessary!
Yours Truly,
Frigid In Massachusetts!
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MrBaliHai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 01, 2002
Posts: 775 | Posted: 2010-01-01 08:31 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2010-01-01 08:03, Big Kahuna wrote:
I keep the heat down there set on toasty, so no freakin' winter attire is necessary!
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My bar is located in the same room as the hot-water heater and gas furnace, so tropical temps are always available, courtesy of waste heat.
Lots of lousy weather this December means the Hai'deaway's been getting a winter workout this holiday season as well. Hot rum drinks have been high in demand.
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1531
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2010-07-19 4:42 pm Permalink
A great thing about the basement is not only is it a warm tropical getaway in the winter it is also a cool retreat in the very hot summer. I raise a glass to all the basement dwellers out there from six feet under in the Hukilau Lounge.
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"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann
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Beach Bum Scott
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 28, 2008
Posts: 304
From: The Ranch in CO
| Posted: 2010-07-20 11:21 am Permalink
Amen to that!!!!
Been loving the Basement the last few days....
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1531
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2010-12-01 11:11 am Permalink
Well it's a year and a day since I started this post. We have our first snow today and I'm laid off again. No better time to get the bar in order for some heavy winter escapism. Give a good dusting to the place. Make sure the mood lighting is just right. Hell I may even reorganize the booze behind the bar. Rotate the exotica selection you say?.....done. Shine all the glassware and lastly a new menu for the bar. This time of year the the busy season for my home lounge and I glad folks enjoy the basement escape.
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"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann
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Big Kahuna
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 11, 2007
Posts: 1908
From: SoMass
| Posted: 2010-12-01 7:34 pm Permalink
I'll be setting up the aluminun tree in my lounge tomorrow, Trav.
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kahalakruzer
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 29, 2008
Posts: 309
From: Dana Point! California
| Posted: 2010-12-01 9:18 pm Permalink
Man, I'm gonna admit, I'm kind of jealous of all the basement bars. My idea of a classic rumpus room or home bar is always set in a basement, with cold, dark, dreary winter weather just outside the confines of the sanctuary. It just seems like the juxtaposition makes it that much better. It's like getting under your blankets after the cold walk from the bathroom (or kitchen, or garage...I really don't care where you get ready for bed.) That's kind of how I imagine it at least.
But I don't have a basement, so I guess this is all just my wishful assumption. 
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ErkNoLikeFire
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 07, 2010
Posts: 423
From: Michigan
| Posted: 2010-12-01 10:47 pm Permalink
I miss basement bars, especially this time of year. In my general area the basements are mostly dirt and cinder block based. I plan on sitting in my one nearly finished tiki lounge chair and look at home listings while sipping a drink or three.
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Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 1226
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2010-12-02 07:05 am Permalink
One day I may have a basement bar... I do have a basement. A good portion of my basement is my music room and it is quite tiki-fied. I have four resin-chunk lamps, and a few glass floats, tiki mugs on a retro wall shelf, a couple of tiki lava lamps, and then guitars, ukuleles, congas, bongos, drum kit, organ, marimba, and all the electronics, etc. It's got a pretty cool feel, but hard to get a good picture if it.
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Creature from the Slack Lagoon
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Dec 21, 2003
Posts: 27
From: Not Sober Atoll
| Posted: 2010-12-04 12:41 pm Permalink
I can honestly say that having my home bar makes winters in Wisconsin a lot more tolerable. When it's freezing cold and the snow is piled up deep, I can retreat to my own little slice of paradise.
I know that a lot of people suffer from seasonal affective disorder and tend to get depressed during the winter months. I have one comment for them: build a tiki bar. It works wonders. Forget things like light-boxes, the deviced used so people are exposed to more daylight and vitamin D in the winter. A tiki bar is worth a dozen light-boxes when it comes to raising one's spirits -- sorry for the pun. A tiki bar may not provide vitamin D, but it certainly provides relaxation and vitamin C.
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Pikeys Dog
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Jun 03, 2008
Posts: 265
From: England
| Posted: 2010-12-04 5:11 pm Permalink
It's always easier on the face and limbs falling upstairs when under the influence of strong libations, than falling downstairs.
Surely, the best reason possible for having a basement bar?
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Potato.
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jun 09, 2010
Posts: 91
From: Lincoln, NE
| Posted: 2010-12-06 07:35 am Permalink
I was watching the season finale of The Walking Dead last night and (no spoilers) they were in a basement bunker of sorts and, in the corner... a tiki bar. It's good to know that, even in the event of world collapse and zombie takeover, people still have their priorities straight.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3919
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-12-19 08:36 am Permalink
Uncle Trav,
Basements are hard to come by out here in California, I am jealous.
I found this old photo of a couple dancing at an indoor luau staged in the Basement Bar and thought of this thread.
Looks like some of the items were purchased from the United Airlines Luau Party Planner catalog.
DC
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Mongoloid
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 25, 2008
Posts: 555
From: Long Beach
| Posted: 2010-12-19 11:33 am Permalink
Bottom right corner has a fake pig with an apple in its mouth wearing what looks like a couple garters. That completes the luau vibe in my books. (gotta lose the black socks though brah) Cool pic that captures the never ending quest to bring paradise into your own personal asylum.
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