Cocktail Hour with Signature Cocktail

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

I'm still working on developing my signature tiki drink. This time I tried one part rum, one part OJ, and one part orange curacoa, topped off with (diet) ginger ale. I thought it was quite fantastic. Dale took a sip and found it a little too sweet for his taste. Next time I think I'll substitute pineapple juice for the OJ.

Birthday Week - Exotik-A-GoGo

Friday, August 17, 2018

Can't believe I started my birthday week celebration a week ago. When Dale got home from work today I asked him if he was interested in going to Psycho Suzi's to hear Exotik-A-GoGo play. He was into it! So, after getting Athena fed and walked we headed Nordeast and got a table with a window onto the patio. Our server told us the band would be playing on the patio rather than upstairs. Shortly thereafter I  saw the band setting up outside. The began playing promptly at 6:30 and you could hear the music inside as the doors were open to the outdoor area. They played most of the songs from their new album Vibralicous! 

I drank Crummy Scoundrels and Dale had beer. 

We shared the poutine tots to start and then we each had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. All quite delicious.

After dinner we headed out to the patio and sat down to listen to the band for awhile. They were great. 

After a bit, the band went on break so Dale and I headed down to the Psycho Suzi's dock. You wouldn't know it from the pictures below but the skies are actually cloud-free. The whiteness is the haze of the wildfires out in California. They are particularly bad this year. 

We headed back to the restaurant to check out the gift shop. I wasn't planning on it but I ended up going home with one big ol' tiki mug. The fellow in the gift shop pointed out that the one I got was one made especially for Psycho Suzi's. I photographed it upon our arrival back home.

As we headed back to the car I noticed someone had set up a little tiki house on one of the retainers for the gardens in the parking lot. Cute.

Awesome evening, Dale. Thanks for indulging me!

A few more photos from the evening:

Puffer Fish Friday

Friday, August 17, 2018

Since we're going for Happy Aloha Friday we'll go for Pufferfish Friday too. Pictured above is my favorite pufferfish of all, Puff Daddy from Pagan Idol.

Happy Aloha Friday

Friday, August 17, 2018

For the past two months every day has seemed like Friday. That's part of the awesomeness of summer vacation. However, next week I start back to work so today is really feeling like a real-deal kind of Friday. 

Birthday Week Tiki Tuesday - Joe's Signature Tiki Cocktail

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Yes, I realize I'm really dragging this birthday thing out by making my birthday weekend into a birthday week but I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm trying to create my own signature tiki cocktail and here is one attempt. It's a version of the hula hula cocktail from Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. In my version I use the the same ingredients as the hula hula cocktail but instead of shaking on ice and straining, I mix the three ingredients in a glass (in this case one of my favorite tiki mugs, see above), add ice and top with tonic water. It's really not bad - very refreshing. As I continue to experiment I think I may try ginger ale next time.

Also, Julie and Regina took Dale and me to see The Meg on Sunday afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Afterward we went to Parkway Pizza and I had a Hawaiian pizza. Today I ate the leftovers. Parkway has amazing pizza.

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 9

Monday, August 13, 2018

More random shots of art around the bar. 

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 8

Monday, August 13, 2018

Before departing I stopped by the gift shop and picked up a few new tiki mugs for my collection. As stated in an earlier post, I believe I'm now at 49 mugs in all.

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 7

Monday, August 13, 2018

Afterward I got a great shot of the Mississippi River from the patio.

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 6

Monday, August 13, 2018

For my second drink I went with the Native's Curse which is one of the last drinks I hadn't tried yet. According to the drink menu the Native's Curse is described as follows, "Unwelcome intruders to the forbidden island are cursed by the natives with a terrible spell... neverending boredom. To reverse the curse natives drink an elixir of West Indies rum, passion fruit, coconut, and citrus. Circa 1956." The coconut in the drink is very pronounced and that's a very good thing.

I sat at my favorite spot at the bar. The windows and doors were open to the patio and there was a lovely breeze blowing in.

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 5

Monday, August 13, 2018

So, the birthday weekend continues. I had a union meeting today and stopped my Psycho Suzi's afterward for lunch. While walking by the union hall I noticed this ship in the back of the building next door. I think it would be a great addition to anyone's back yard tiki bar!

When I got to Suzi's I immediately ordered a Crummy Scoundrel (one of my favorites). Like I've mentioned before there's something carbonated in it and I think it might be ginger ale. 

To eat I ordered the mac and cheese bake with added bacon. Always delicious. 

Tiki Mug Monday - Inventory

Monday, August 13, 2018

Time for my yearly inventory of tiki mugs. I have 49 of them. Quite a few more than last year (22 more to be exact) and quite a bit more difficult to fit in one picture.

Note: The above three were purchased at Psycho Suzi's today. I already have the green Suffering Bastard mug but damned if it didn't look light blue in the overhead lighting used in the Psycho Suzi's gift shop. Oh well, the more the merrier. 

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 4

Friday, August 10, 2018

Taken in the Psycho Suzi's gift shop.

After exploring the patio I headed back inside to the gift shop for a couple more birthday presents.

I have a couple of other bird mugs like this one. One is green and one is yellow. Now I can add this nice blue one to the collection.

This coconut mug is what the Crummy Scoundrel come in. It's not the most exciting looking tiki mug but it's weighty and the full shape of it feel really good in one's hand.

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 3

Friday, August 10, 2018

I sat at the bar just a seat over from the drink station where the servers pick up cocktails for patrons. One server asked the bartenders for a drink called and Irish Hand Grenade. Neither of the two bartenders knew how to make it. The server asked them if they could google it and find a youTube video for instructions as she really wanted to make sure her customer on the patio had a pleasant experience. In the end, they were able to fix one up. It looked something like what's pictured above. The "Irish" in the name refers to the drinks Irish ingredients: typically Guinness stout, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Jameson Irish whiskey. The drink was originally referred to as the Irish Car Bomb but the name has changed as some find the original designation offensive. I can see why. I just have a hard time understanding why someone would come to a tiki bar and not order a tiki drink. But that's just me.

Speaking of the patio I got some cool pictures of tikis out there.