The Pineappleman’s Palm Springs Tiki/Retro adventure.

The last time I had been to Palm Springs was for a College Soccer tournament back in around 1990 and the only thing I can remember from that trip was our feisty English soccer coach Mr. Finnerty getting in a long hilarious argument with the manager of a fast food restaurant over how many salads and burgers the team had ordered.    “Salad, Salad , Salad  …..No Burgers”

Well after reading about several Tiki/Retro events that had happened in the Desert oasis –we decided to go and overnight trip and check out what Palm Springs had to offer.     After stopping at the disappointing Morongo Casino and the endless Outlet mall....we finally arrived at our first stop.    The Shag Store.

I absolutely Love Shag's work.  I first got introduced to Shag's art via the painting he did for Disneyland.  Then that overflowed into my love for Tiki.  Now we look forward to seeing him every year at Tiki Oasis.

 

If I had a ton of money I would buy a whole bunch of Shag art.....In the meantime...I added to my meager collection with a couple of tumbler glasses from Mod Springs event and a new Shag Art book

The Shag Store can be found below

http://www.shagthestore.com

Our next stop was the Tonga Hut which just opened within the last year.  

We absolutely loved the ambiance of the Tonga Hut …It had a great mix of retro surf  and lounge music.

The main bar area was stylish and had a little lounge area off to the side.  The place would be perfect for a party. 

The Ugly Mermaid

We had a couple of good Tiki drinks and enjoyed some popcorn chicken that had a really good dipping sauce

And then we were shown the secret private room behind a hidden door.   We are definitely coming back and reserving this room when we bring more friends. 

The Tonga Hut is Below

http://tongahut.com/tonga-hut-palm-springs.html

We then made our way to the Riveria hotel---and old school Palm Spring Resort from the Rat Pack days that has recently had a makeover and has the style and feel of the Cosmopolitan in Vegas.    We sat out near one the pool which has cool cabanas with old school celebrity pictures  and nice firepit areas --

Then headed to the cool little piano bar for some wine and cheese.

 

This stylish resort can be found below....I would totally recommend it and hope to stay there again

http://www.psriviera.com

The next day we found a nice little spot for breakfast that had Shag art on the walls. 

Then stopped by the Bootlegger Tiki Bar which didn't open until much later in the day --so it is on the list for next time.

 

We stopped and took a couple of pictures in front of the Elvis Honeymoon house

 

and  then stumbled across Nat Reed's art gallery --which also had a fun retro flair and some stuff that would be perfect for this years Tiki Oasis theme.

You can check out more of his stuff below....The Robot bar photo perfectly fits in with this years Tiki Oasis theme

http://natreed.com

 After that we just got in the car and drove to see where our adventure would take us......It took us right to the site of where the Mod Springs event had taken place.   The Caliente Tropics....

 

We took a walk around and took a few pictures

Who knew that the Hotel California was right across the street. 

 I wanted to check in ---but I heard that once you do you never check out

 

We also spotted some Tikis in front of a club further down the street.

 

Our trip ended with dinner at the River....with a meal and sunset bringing us back to the modern world and leaving the retro weekend behind.