Friday 13Jun14
Day 2 got off to a slow start, as I caught up on some lost sleep and didn’t get out of bed until 9:30am. Since we didn’t have any scheduled events until 4:30pm, Bruce and I decided to take a walk along the beach and find some breakfast.
After an omelette and some French toast (needed ballast!), we walked back to the hotel to get my Potions of The Caribbean book signed by Beachbum Berry in the Tiki Bazaar. Bruce ended up buying the book too, so he also got his book signed while he had the chance. His indoctrination into the Tiki ohana has officially begun!
After that we hit the pool for some relaxation, sunshine, and swimming. It felt good to get the blood pumping a little today. The beer I had at the pool bar afterwards probably negated any exercise benefit from my swim, but today would not be a heavy drinking day (unlike yesterday).
We grabbed an early dinner at the hotel before heading over to the Yankee Clipper hotel to catch MeduSirena Marina’s mermaid show at the Wreck Bar. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the whole show, because I had to head back to the Bahia Mar for my volunteer shift from 7-11pm. I did, however, enjoy some of the staging of the swim show poolside before I had to run. Mermaids – you gotta love ’em!
My volunteering experience at The Hukilau consisted of manning the door to the ballroom to make sure only people with paid admission got into the main event. This may sound boring, but I got a real flavor for the wonderful mix of people who attend this event. Young and old, male and female, everybody really gets their Tiki geek on here! My friends Beth Lennon and Cliff Hillis fit in perfectly, resplendent in their Tiki attire.
The highlight of my day turned out to be the after party, which began after the main event (and my 4-hour shift) ended. It began with the transformation of Marina the Fire-Eating Mermaid into Marina the Orion Slave Girl. She was stunning in green!
The after party was an intergalactic glow-glow extravaganza. Lots of black lights. Glow bands. 60s sci-fi vibe. Planet of The Apes motif with people in ape masks dancing around. The band, The Disasternauts, all wore NASA orange jumpsuits with ape masks, while they played some of the loudest, hardest surf music I’ve ever heard. Good times! Especially for Tiki geeks rejoicing into the early-morning hours. Tonight, I was one of them.
A. Panda's Tiki Lounge 