Phoenix

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Ready for tiki in Arizona.

UnderTow - Phoenix, Arizona: Dale and Joe

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Dale and I have been so excited to try out UnderTow. So glad we made it on our trip to Phoenix.

UnderTow - Phoenix, Arizona: John and Dianne

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Aw... So happy we were able to experience UnderTow with John and Dianne.

UnderTow - Phoenix, Arizona: The Gang

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

It looks like I'm wearing the lighting fixture above me as a hat. With Peter, Dale, Dianne, and John.

UnderTow - Phoenix, Arizona: Three Dots and a Dash

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

My first drink at UnderTow was the Three Dots and a Dash. I've been hearing of this drink for a while and thought it would make a good start at UnderTow. Three Dots and a Dash was created by Donn Beach during WW2. The drink's name refers to the letter V in morse code which stood victory. 

The other tiki glass I bought also featured the  art of Danny "Tiki Diablo" Gallardo. Same images as the other but this one in gold rather than orange. 

 Fantastic souvenir.

UnderTow - Phoenix Arizona: Online My Shots

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

 Above three shots from the vantage point of our corner table.

Video Porthole

UnderTow - Phoenix Arizona: Online Interior Shots

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The place is tiny. What you see here is pretty much it. No nooks and crannies off to the sides.

UnderTow - Phoenix Arizona

As far as posting this is concerned, I'm behind. Back on April 4th, during spring break, I had the chance to visit UnderTow in Phoenix, Arizona. 

UnderTow is the stuff that tiki bar dreams are made of.  Located beneath Sip coffee bar, UnderTow is supposed to be located in a ship of which the bar is in the hold complete with portholes that depict leaving port, sunset, moonrise, and even passing ships that fire cannons at UnderTow as it passes. 

I made reservations (recommended, especially if later in the evening and on the weekends) and my party (John, Dianne, Dale, Peter, and I arrived as the bar opened at 4 p.m. Our friendly hostess, wearing a muu muu, greeted us and sat us at the corner table they had waiting for us. Good thing we made a reservation. Although it was early and the bar wasn't completely full, all other tables were for only two people. This was the only table that could accommodate more. 

The two bartenders on duty were friendly and attentive and brought John a Zombie. According to Jeff "Beachbum" Berry in his book Sippin' Safari, the likely story of the Zombie's creation is described as follows on the back of a 1941 Beachcomber's menu: "The Zombie didn't just happen. It is the result of a long and expensive process of evolution: In the experiments leading up to the Zombie, three and a half cases of assorted rums were used and found their way down the drain so that you may now enjoy this potent 'mender of broken dreams.'"

Dianne ordered a  Blue Hawaii.

Dale had some Japanese beer and Peter a Smoking Cannon. I got a Three Dots and a Dash.

I went on to consume a Jet Pilot. When I order the Jet Pilot,Dianne asked the bartender what it was like. She told us it was very similar to a Zombie only not as big. I had sampled John's Zombie and liked it so I decided to go for it. Although I had tried a Jet Pilot back at Archipelago in Washington D.C., I couldn't remember very well what it tasted like. This Jet Pilot very much indeed tasted similar to the Zombie. 

After the Jet Pilot  I continued with a Mai Tai. It was spot on and came in a clear glass with 3 different tiki faces embossed on it. Dianne told me she noticed in the menu that the glass was for sale. I double checked for the price and saw it was available for (I thought) a very reasonable $12 dollars. I bought two!

In addition, the art work on the glass was done by Danny "Tiki Diablo" Gallardo, who did the interior design of the bar. How awesome is that?!?

Back patio of Sip coffee bar

Cigar Time

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Another gorgeous day, perfect for a cigar in the back yard. Trying to tackle Beachbum Berry's Potions of the Caribbean.

Opening of the Mermaid Lounge 2018

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Opened up the mermaid lounge on the porch for the first time this season. I can't believe we were in the middle of a blizzard a week ago! As you can see in the picture above there is still some snow on the ground but we've lost a lot of it with the warmer weather. I think it got up to about 57 degrees today.

Dale had wine and I made myself a martini. 

We were joined by Ryan and Brad.

At the end of the evening they needed to dry out.

It's so nice to be out on the porch again. It's been a long winter.

Psycho Suzi Run

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Had another meeting at the union hall after school today so I stopped at Psycho Suzi's for a drink or two.  Started with the Psycho Zombie as I'd been thinking about it for the past few days. 

I arrived at about 4 p.m. so the place was pretty empty, however there were folks sitting out on the patio.

For my second drink I decided to try something new and went with the Siren's Call. I had them add the mug to my bill.

The drink is described as follows.

Recently, Mike had informed be of an app that can listen to music and identify it. I texted him to ask what it was and he replied say it was called Shazam. I downloaded it and had a lot of fun with it. The bar was playing lots of surf music so I got a few song titles through the app I can add to a playlist.

All in all, fun visit. Good to see some sunshine and people on the patio and feel some warmth.

Geeki Tiki - The Gorn

Saturday, March 24, 2018

The Gorn tiki mug I ordered from Geeki Tiki came in the mail today. The Gorn was a monster on the original Star Trek series from the 60s that went head to head with Captain Kirk. It's pretty flippin' awesome.