Kapu 2.0: Tropicade E. Tennessee

I've dusted off my old account thanks to the admins here. Once upon a time there was the Kapu lounge in Phoenix, now we have the gritty reboot. A lot has happened since I used to post here. I live in Tennessee now, and I've been putting together a tiki bar (along with arcade games) in the new house.

The previous owner of the house was a fire and brimstone baptist preacher, and the bar is located in his former den. I'm pretty sure I'm being haunted. Anyway, here's some pics after I just did some rearranging. The liquor shelf is a bit bare, it was a great weekend :)

Thanks for reading ...and cheers :)

Welcome back!

Here's a little weekend project I did yesterday to spruce up the bar front. It was already wrapped in black bamboo paneling, but the black on black think sort of didn't make the bamboo part stick out.

I had a couple of those awful day glow tiki masks somebody got me once, some leftover split bamboo and a blowtorch. Blowtorches are fun, here's what I wound up with

Looking good!

Introducing Pig Pen, so named because it leaves a pile of dirt wherever I set him down. For those of you on Reddit, you've already seen him. Apparently he's a mid century tree fern tiki that I picked up for 90 American dollars at an indoor flea market. I plan on creating some sort of (fake) plant area around him.

...and now I have the obligatory puffer fish light!

I've gotten Pigpen's little area all decorated and lit now.

That looks great man...

Thanks! It's coming together, but like Disneyland, it'll never be finished :)

Nice job repurposing the painted tikis, one of the biggest lessons I've learned is "When in doubt, burn it."

Blowtorches are the best.

That is the coolest tiki/video arcade I've ever seen. You've done a fantastic job. I've always wondered how those fernwood carvings would hold up over time outside of a controlled museum environment. Now I know!

And major props to pulling it off in a former preacher's den! I've always been wryly amused by those preachers who insist "The Bible is 100% literal! There's NO room for interpretation!" And when you point out that Jesus turned water into wine, they go "EXCEPT FOR THAT!" LOL

Wow thanks! It’s a bit weird mixing the 80s and 60s but the fun of tiki is it’s a fantasy world so I say do whatever you love

As for grandpa I only met him once but I feel like he would’ve politely refused if Jesus offered him a glass of wine.

If I meet a preacher that can intentionally turn water into wine (or rum) I might sign up

[ Edited by BeachcomberNC on 2023-09-20 10:03:03 ]

This looks so great! I always love when people create something amazing out of mass produced “tiki” and whatever they have laying around

Thanks! I am nothing if not broke these days LOL. Gotta get creative

…and some boring, mundane the bar is closed virtual pinball surgery

To keep it on topic I did update the gallery wall a bit.

Thrift store find. Ok the rum was from the store down the street from the thrift store.