Hibiscus and Barry's Excellent Hawaiian Adventure - Tiki Travel

H Hibiscus Member Boston-ish Joined: Sep 22, 2008 Posts: 211	H Hibiscus Posted posted on Thu, Dec 4, 2008 7:19 PM We left Kona and had a several-hour-long layover in Honolulu before flying back to the mainland. What better way to spend the time than at that beloved tiki palace, La Mariana! We loved the fact that even the taxi driver didn't know where it was, tucked away so far as it is from the beaten path. Some of you are familiar with this wonderful old place, but for those who aren't, it's in a very industrial area of Honolulu, far from Waikiki. You pass warehouses and rusty buildings and think, How can there be a bar of any kind, let alone a cool, legendary one, in an unappealing area like this? But come to a chain link fence by the side of the road, drive through, and you come to a lovely little hidden marina, a walkway lined with tikis... and this - (LMSC stands for La Mariana Sailing Club) Here are a few details - A little waterfall in the back room - A small remembrance area was set up for the recently departed Miss Annette, the 90-something owner who lovingly presided over La Mariana - Some of the many, many tikis - Barry and 2 of the 7 Mai Tais we had between us that evening... The food isn't the real draw here. It comes in one flavor...fried. Still, combined with the excellent drinks and the easy, ultra-tikified vibe, this place makes me ridiculously happy. I would live here if I could! Not only was our waitress, Toddlyn, really nice (she turned on the waterfall just for us), she's talented as anything - she created two fabulous (signed!) tiki mugs (as well as shot glasses). Did we buy some? You have to ask? They are now happily sharing my mug shelf with Queequeg, the skulls from Velveteen Lounge's NETT room crawl, mugs from the Kowloon and Bali Hai, and all the others.

We left Kona and had a several-hour-long layover in Honolulu before flying back to the mainland. What better way to spend the time than at that beloved tiki palace, La Mariana! We loved the fact that even the taxi driver didn't know where it was, tucked away so far as it is from the beaten path.

Some of you are familiar with this wonderful old place, but for those who aren't, it's in a very industrial area of Honolulu, far from Waikiki. You pass warehouses and rusty buildings and think, How can there be a bar of any kind, let alone a cool, legendary one, in an unappealing area like this? But come to a chain link fence by the side of the road, drive through, and you come to a lovely little hidden marina, a walkway lined with tikis...

and this -

(LMSC stands for La Mariana Sailing Club)

Here are a few details -

A little waterfall in the back room -

A small remembrance area was set up for the recently departed Miss Annette, the 90-something owner who lovingly presided over La Mariana -

Some of the many, many tikis -

Barry and 2 of the 7 Mai Tais we had between us that evening...

The food isn't the real draw here. It comes in one flavor...fried. Still, combined with the excellent drinks and the easy, ultra-tikified vibe, this place makes me ridiculously happy. I would live here if I could!

Not only was our waitress, Toddlyn, really nice (she turned on the waterfall just for us), she's talented as anything - she created two fabulous (signed!) tiki mugs (as well as shot glasses). Did we buy some? You have to ask?

They are now happily sharing my mug shelf with Queequeg, the skulls from Velveteen Lounge's NETT room crawl, mugs from the Kowloon and Bali Hai, and all the others.

Post #422227 by Hibiscus on Thu, Dec 4, 2008 7:19 PM