TIKI KON 2023 Part 1: The Beginning of the End

During all of my years in tiki isolation while living in Central California, I never got to any of the big tiki events. Tiki Oasis and Tiki Caliente, when I eventually learned when they were happening in any particular year, it was always too late. I was a nurse at the time and my work schedule had to be submitted too far in advance for me to ever be organized enough to plan to go.  The year I finally scheduled myself to attend Tiki Day at Disneyland, covid hit and I was blindsided by my own personal health issues.

Oh well.

Late last year sometime, I learned about some tiki convention up in the Pacific Northwest, where I had since relocated. Tiki Kon? That was one I had never heard of before. But it’s 20^th season would be coming up in the summer of 2023. Did I want to go? Hello? YES!

My friend Erich was planning on being up for the summer and he said he wanted to go. We had met a woman named Gillian at Kapu in Petaluma, CA the February prior and had become fast friends with her. She was also pumped for Tiki Kon. I knew (Tiki With) Ray Wyland would be going and I was sure many of his tiki friends that I had met would be there as well. It was shaping up to be a potentially awesome, first-ever tiki event for me.

As the weeks flew by, Gillian and I stayed in fairly close contact about the Kon. We learned that this year’s Tiki Kon was to be the final one. If anything, that would increase the demand to get into it. There were three tiers of tickets available—all set to go on sale at a set time on a set date. The Super Weekend Pass was $459. The Deluxe Weekend Pass was $259. The Standard Weekend Pass was $125. None of those prices included the hotel room. That was completely separate.

Gillian was hoping to score the Super Weekend Pass as it included a ticket to the very limited, very exclusive, all-day tiki bar tour around the Portland area, featuring several of the commercial bars and many private, home tiki bars as well. Gillian had been amazed when I told her that Erich and I were just going to get the cheap passes. I’m broke and I could just see the costs of the trip mounting even before we got our tickets.    

The day the tickets were finally released, Gillian was on it; waiting online when the hour hit. The Super Passes were gone in a heartbeat. Literally. She had to settle for the Deluxe package instead. I secured tickets for Erich and I that same day. No problem. But getting those passes was only the first hurdle…

Several weeks later, tickets would be up for grabs for a 2-hour private seating at Portland’s Hale Pale bar…for $45 each. Gillian was on it again. She wasn’t going to fail this time. At the appointed moment of the tickets’ release, she was ready to snag some. She got three in her cart—but as she went to pay for them, they disappeared. The event was sold out right from under her. Wow! The $45 would have been just for a seat—-and did not include any drinks.  Tickets for a symposium on rums (that included rum tastings) with the owner of San Francisco’s Smuggler’s Cove, Martin Cate, were $85 each. When those became available, they were snatched up faster than Gillian could even think of adding one to her cart. Zowie!

As it got closer to the date of the Kon and the event schedule was released, Gillian was again discouraged. The schedule had several things (symposiums, parties, etc.) overlapping each other. She was also dismayed as there were no designated meal periods between the various talks and shindigs either. Gillian clearly wanted to maximize her time there—and get the most out of her Deluxe Weekend Pass. When she asked what I was planning to do—especially where events overlapped—I told her that I really hadn’t looked at the schedule yet. I was more “Kon curious”—and just wanted the event to happen and see what it was like.

We arrived in Portland that Thursday, the unofficial first day of Tiki Kon. People were bustling around the hotel in their festive aloha wear. The only Kon activity that day was the private seatings at Hale Pale, but the lobby was still a whirlwind of people, colorful prints, and luggage. Although the main check in for the event wasn’t until the next day, I was able to get my wristband early.

We may not have had Hale Pale tickets, but we had our own plans. Gillian, who had gotten to Portland the night before and had done Hale Pale on her own, had booked us reservations at The Coral Club in Vancouver, WA—just across the Columbia River. We met in the lobby. It was great to see her. It felt like no time had passed at all since we’d last seen her a month prior when we’d gone to the Tiki Dreams exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum in Yountville, CA.

I had previously visited The Coral Club on a “scouting” expedition to see if it had been worth bringing my friends to during Tiki Kon. I really liked the place. It’s smaller and has its own unique take on tiki décor. The food and drinks are good, too. Erich and Gillian were pleased with it as well.

Lyric was the only employee I recognized that evening from my earlier visit. As luck would have it, she was our server that night. Even though it was only a Thursday evening, with Tiki Kon in town, it was fairly busy. Lyric kept things moving a fairly decent pace. Although I am sure she didn’t remember me, it was nice to see a familiar face.

I started the evening off with a Bahama Mama. It was refreshingly cool blend of rums, coconut cream, pineapple juice and a float of coffee liqueur that gave a surprisingly different flavor tilt than I was expecting. Erich opted for a Painkiller. But look out! Gillian wasn’t wasting any time. She jumped right into the evening by ordering a Zombie. You GO, girl! She also ordered fish tacos for dinner. I had the fried rice. Erich went with poke spoons. We shared a bean pico appetizer.

As we dined, sipped, chatted, and laughed, we got a good look at the place. I had forgotten about the unusual fish-shaped lamps hanging over the bar. Gillian really liked the large faux window decal over the real window that gave the place a more authentic tropical feel. She’d later describe Coral Club as a boutique tiki bar. “It was small, but pretty and thoughtfully decorated,” she said.

Round two found Gillian trying a Tradewinds; an interesting mix of genever, apricot liqueur, cream of coconut and lemon. On Lyric’s suggestion, Erich selected the Frangi Pani; a blend of rums, hazelnut liqueur, absinthe, lime, and pineapple. My choice was a Leilani Volcano. This was a blended mix of rum, cream of coconut, pineapple, lime, and guava. Oooooo. I’m a sucker for drinks like this.

Our next port o’ call was Wahi Hana, just a few blocks away from The Coral Club.

This time we didn’t have reservations and were seated at the bar. That turned out to be a good thing as it gave us a chance to meet and talk to our great, young bartender, Valerie.

I’d had a marvelous experience when I had visited Wahi Hana several months before. It had been just magical and I was hoping to see some of the same wonderful people I’d met that night while we visited during Tiki Kon. Unfortunately none of them were present, but Valerie more than made up for their absence.

I was perusing the menu and only half hearing the conversation between Valerie and Gillian over the din of our fellow diners and imbibers in the restaurant, when I heard Valerie say something about Dole Whip with a pineapple rum float. W-H-A-T-!?! YES, please! Gillian and I both started off our Wahi Hana adventure with one (Soooooo good!), while Erich slurped down a tasty Royal Hawaiian.

Despite having already eaten at Coral Club, we were still a bit hungry. Erich ordered Spam Fried Rice. (“It was okay,” he said. “One has to like Spam to really appreciate it.”) Gillian had some grilled bok choy. I had a bun-less Wahi Hana Burger. We all shared some fabulous coconut shrimp as well. 

During our second dinner, I noted that Wahi Hana had upped its game with their “windows” that looked out from the large communal “hut” visitors sat in. The hurricane was much more intense than before.

The volcanic eruption looked to be improved as well. There was also a new typhoon that rained down now and again. It was all so very cool and fun.

At one point, Gillian asked Valerie about mugs for sale. They had two styles available. One was their original signature mug, the Hula Mai. The other was a fairly new one, the Kaikoa. (There were several others listed on the menu, but those had long been sold out.) Gillian and I both picked the Kaikoa mug.

When it came time for our second round, it was hard to pick something. There were so many drinks to choose from. Erich went with the non-alcoholic Pink Tide, which is a combination of lime, lemon, pineapple, pomegranate, and passion fruit juices. Gillan’s Swizzle Me Timbers was a wild concoction of lemon, orange, dark rum, bitters, falernum, and cinnamon. My drink was the Tiki Illusion. This was a delightful mix of pomegranate, coconut, pineapple, orange, cherry, pineapple rum and dark rum.

Sadly, that was our last call for the night. Although it was still fairly early, we needed to get back. Tiki Kon would officially be starting the next day—and we didn’t want to miss a moment.

I’m not exactly an early riser. Neither is Erich. Fortunately, Tiki Kon had that already figured in. (Guests + cocktails = sleeping it off!) Nothing was set to start that day before noon. Of course, the first thing that did open that day was the Tiki Kon Lounge. Ha! And, of course, there was a l-o-n-g line already to go with it.

There were actually two bars; one in the lobby and one inside of the room housing the Tiki Kon Art Show. As I sipped my drink (Ah, breakfast!), I took a gander through the artworks on display. There were so many cool pieces.

One piece that really impressed me and I considered buying was this neat tiki wall piece made entirely of cardboard. It was amazing. 

Further wanderings through the display landed me in front of this wonderful piece by artist David Gambale. I had met David when I had visited my first home tiki bar, the Rockin’ Jellyfish Lounge, earlier that year. He’d been a guest at the gathering. The hosts, Stephan and Heidi Curran, had a piece of his work hanging in their bar and I was enthralled with it. It was very cool. And here I was staring back at another of his awesome pieces.  It was larger and more detailed than the Curran’s piece. It was also $675…and marked as being sold. Wow!

Mr. Gambale had been an interesting fellow. He had casually invited everyone at the Curran’s shindig to a party at his home bar during Tiki Kon. I took that with a grain of salt. He didn’t know me really. I was sure he wouldn’t even remember me or the invitation.

While I sipped, I wandered around a bit more. I came across the Tiki Kon Museum. It was a wall in one area of the lobby that acted as a kind of scrap book of Tiki Kon and its short 20-year history.

At 1 p.m. I went to my first symposium. Titled Sugar and Spice, the talk was to be given by Craig “Colonel Tiki” Hermann, one of the originators of the first Tiki Kon.

Before the Kon, my friend Erich and I had headed to the wine region of the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland. While Tiki Kon was my thing, it wasn’t necessarily Erich’s. To make it kind of fair, we did the wine tasting thang first. (Oh my stars! That was shocking. The price to wine taste averaged between $40-45 per person, with one place charging as high as $50 each-just to sample mostly mediocre-tasting wines. It was totally absurd.)

While we were there, I received an invitation to a room party at Tiki Kon via Facebook. What!?! How exciting. It was sponsored by Craig “Colonel Tiki” Hermann himself. I had heard that the room parties were the thing to do at Tiki Kon. An invitation? Zowie! I RSVP-ed and told Erich. I thought it only polite to attend his symposium first. It was only when I actually bothered to look at the Tiki Kon schedule that I saw this particular room party was open to everyone going to the Kon. No RSVP was really needed. That burst that bubble. (Ultimately, I didn’t make it to his party. I had dinner reservations and had to miss it.)

After the lecture, I wandered around a bit. I happily ran into (Tiki With) Ray Wyland, some of his friends; Travis Bay, Geneen Sparks and Kevin Fenton. I was thrilled to see Steve and Tamara Lerma, the owners of Da Tiki Hut in Tacoma with their son, Nathan. I also passed Gillian now and again as she flitted about to various workshops and classes. One time she was with Ms. Swizzle Stick and her sister, Cara Powell.

Erich was up in our shared room. He had been out getting some exercise, walking about Portland. I told him I was going to get in line for the first room party, Headhunter’s Hideaway. That sounded more up my alley than whatever else was going on at the moment. He went with me.

The line was crazy long, but those who were hosting this hospitality suite were well prepared. While in line, several characters came up to us. There was a nurse offering inoculations (pudding shots—of the alcoholic variety—served in large syringes), a witch doctor, and another person handing out survival kits.

One native (Stephen Curran, homeowner of the Rockin’ Jellyfish Lounge) was giving a spiel (while spewing corny jokes) on all that we needed to do to successfully navigate Headhunter’s Hideaway.

An explorer, complete with pith helmet (David Gambale, the artist) was leading people into the wilds of room 1470. He didn’t seem to recognize me, but I didn’t really expect him to.

Inside he was graciously promoting an up-and-coming artist, JT Mofett, who had done the poster for the room party. (Which I bought a copy of to support the kid — and which I have already framed for my eventual home bar.)

A photo op had been set up, involving a large, cannibal stew pot. I snapped a quick, blurry shot of Ken and Heather Pleasant (who carry the Witco torch started by Heather’s grandfather, William Westenhaver, as Pleasant Tiki) being cooked up. And then, it was my turn to stew.

Finally, it was time for some jungle juice, with a choice of three different cocktails. What a nifty little experience it had been; like a little tiki bar inside of a hotel room. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Immediately following Headhunter’s Hideaway, it was up to the 15^th floor for another room party…and another crazy long line.

This time, it was sponsored by Plantation Rum and Devil’s Reef. Although not quite as elaborate as the Headhunter’s Hideaway room, it was still very well done, complete with cocktails, rum samplings, and another photo op space.

Skipper Rico’s Misadventures in Paradise was the next symposium I attended. Erich went with me. We were late arriving as it had taken us so long to get through the lines at the room parties. Although we’d missed much of it, it was still fascinating. A series of misadventures beyond his control gave Skipper Rico a most incredible South Seas adventure. I almost missed it and probably would not have bothered to go, but I’d promised to be there. While Gillian, Erich and I were just leaving Wahi Hana the night before, my friend John in Southern California had texted me that his friend, Bill Young, was also in Portland and that we should meet up. I told him to send me Bill’s contact information or to have him try to get ahold of me. I hadn’t had time to check for any further messages from John before we were back at the hotel. On the elevator up to our room, this man riding with us looked at me and asked what my name was. Amazingly, it was John’s friend, Bill. His brother-in-law is Skipper Rico. Bill was there to help with the equipment for the presentation and had asked us to come.

Following Skipper Rico, Erich, Gillian, and I skipped out of the Kon for reservations at an incredible restaurant in Portland, Raven’s Manor. It’s a haunted mansion-themed place. But our reservations were for more than just dinner and drinks. They were for the “Elixir Experience” which was so very much fun! I loved it so much, in fact, we went back just for dinner and drinks the very next evening. (Well, Gillian, with her mid-level Deluxe Weekend Pass, went to the Tiki Kon luau that next night, while cheap-o ticketed Erich and I had to fend for ourselves.)

By the time we got back to the hotel, I think we were all pretty much done for the day. I wondered what the next day of Tiki Kon had in store for us. I went to bed with visions of cocktails and room parties dancing in my head. Tomorrow would be a whole new day of Tiki Kon adventures!

Continue to Part 2 HERE!