Tiki Time: Taking Island Shelter on San Diego's Shelter Island

"Most people live on a lonely island lost in the middle of a foggy sea.  

Most people long for another island, one where they know where they will like to be."

These days, I really do find myself muddling through a fog, longing very much for another island.  As she always does, Southern California steps up to provide my every need - even a little bit of island paradise right where the West meets the water.  It may seem a little "on the nose," but in the Port of San Diego, there sits an island-themed island, a place where tiki gods rule and every building is wiki wacky tiki tacky!

At just over one-mile-long, Shelter Island packs a powerful punch of Polynesian Pop!  As it has no permanent residents, every visitor immediately becomes part of the island ohana.  Spending a few sun-kissed hours soaking up the mid-century splendor of this tropical paradise was enough to refresh my spirits and restore my faith in my own native island.

TRADER MORT'S LIQUOR

Trader Mort's Liquor (1965)

The first stop on our self-guided tiki tour was Shelter Island's preeminent liquor emporium.  Since 1965, Trader Mort's Liquor has stood sentry at the gateway to the island's many tiki delights.  Under swaying palms and that magnificent roof, Trader Mort's offers thirsty vacationers a place to stock-up on umbrella-drink essentials.

  

With a roofline is punctuated by the gods, we knew 

that we were walking on holy (haole?) ground!

"I'll take potent potables for $1,000, Alex"

 

The sparsely-decorated and wonderfully-worn interior remains lost 

in time, shelving a host of tiki mugs and other ceramic cocktail vessels.

 HUMPHREYS HALF MOON INN

Humphreys Half Moon Inn & Suites (1961)

The next stop on our tiki tour was Shelter Island's Hawaiian-style hideaway.  While it would be a challenge to get lost on the island (it has but one road), it is more than easy to get lost in the lush gardens of Humphreys Half Moon Inn. 

Since 1961, the sprawling gardens of Humphreys Half Moon Inn have been studded with half-hidden tikis nestled between verdant foliage and serene water features.

There is even a "See-no-evil," monkey-topped, tiki totem by the pool.

While Humphreys is in the midst of a "remuddle," (board-and-batten siding is quickly being replaced with stucco and questionable, silvery, slate corner caps), the grand porte-cochère proves that it isn't too late to fully embrace the genius of the original architecture.  Time and modern sensibilities, however, are rarely on the side of wacky tacky.

Such is the case with Humphreys' restaurant/music venue.  With an inviting a-frame entryway, Humphreys by the Bay, promises a dimly-lit interior replete with ancient fisherman's floats and blow-fish lanterns.  Instead, guests are treated to a dining room completely refashioned in white leather and chrome.

The exterior is not faring much better.  As seen in this photo, the rafter tails are crumbling and the edifice shows only shadows of the original decor (tiki mask/signage?).  See a vintage photo here.

All things considered, our complaints are few and our gratitude plentiful for an ownership who is actively maintaining a vital part of California's historic tiki architecture.

Including this enormous lantern with which I became completely obsessed...  It was so big that a human could easily fit inside it, reminding me of the cages from one of those Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

PACIFIC PORTAL

One part conch shell and two parts starfish, James Hubbell's "Pacific Portal" sculpture is an obvious photo-op on the tiki tour.  Directly across the street from Humphreys, the larger-than-life art installation conjures images of Verne-ian voyages and feats of Cousteau-ian courage.

Like this handstand-y show off...

Not to be outdone, Ben & Erika performed some highlights from their own acrobatic repertoire.

And they even stuck the landing!!!

The view from the bottom...

BALI HAI RESTAURANT

Bali Hai Restaurant (1953)

A brief visit to Shelter Island's most famous outpost concluded our tiki tour.  Considered by many to be the jewel in Shelter Island's tiki tiara, Bali Hai Restaurant began life as "The Hut" in 1953.  Flagging patronage in its earliest years encouraged an overhaul that set a precedent for many updates over the next half-century.

One enduring element of the original restaurant is the iconic "Goof" on the roof!

The Real Goof

I'll admit it; slightly underwhelmed by Bali Hai, I assumed an even grumpier
attitude than that of Mr. Bali Hai, the establishment's less-than-amused mascot. 

Somehow, I feel like I have shirked my responsibility by never before dropping anchor at Shelter Island.  But now that I have, I know I will be a regular visitor.  If you are ever in San Diego and you hunger for a veritable pu pu platter of Polynesia, then get down to Shelter Island.  Who knows, you might see me there!

"If you try, you will find me where the sky meets the sea."

"Bali Ha'i" - Sarah Vaughan with The London Symphony Orchestra

 

Trader Mort's Liquor
2904 Shelter Island Dr
San Diego
(619)224-3771

 Humphrey's Half Moon Inn & Suites
2303 Shelter Island Dr
San Diego, CA
(619)224-3411

halfmooninn.com

Bali Hai Restaurant
2230 Shelter Island Dr
San Diego, CA
(619)222-1181

balihairestaurant.com


Cheers & Aloha!

Mr. Tiny

Mr. Tiny's Neighborhood Watch: Tiki Go Bragh

Limerick, Shamrock, Donnybrooke, and Kerry, these names offer the promise of a wee bit o' Ireland in the form of rolling green hills, stone cottages, and colorful village pubs.

What if I told you that there was a wacky tacky neighborhood in Southern California with street names as Irish as Irish Stew but whose architecture couldn't be further from the Emerald Isle - homes where fieldstone is replaced by lava rock and cozy thatch replaced by high-pitched roofs with longhouse beams?  Only about four suburban blocks long in either direction, there is a neighborhood that somehow manages to seamlessly blend the shillelagh with the ukulele.  

It's true!
Costa Mesa's Killybrooke neighborhood is an
island of island style in a sea of '60s ranch houses.

A half century of makeovers, remodels, and incongruous paint jobs have obscured some of the details of this tiki-tastic neighborhoood, but as the old saying goes, "The [tiki] devil is in the details."

Some people might tell you that these houses aren't anything special, but that's just a bit of the blarney.
The lava rock, decorative screens, assorted stone, and beautiful trim work all speak to their polynesian provenance.

Many of the homeowners, probably unaware of the treasures they have, try their best to disguise some of the tell-tale tiki signs.  If a homeowner has made it difficult to detect the Hawaiian-style heritage, one need only look up; it is easy to put on a new front door or slap on a coat of paint, but very few people change the roofline.

Some rooflines are high-pitched, some are supported by decorative beams.
My favorites have the extreme angled notch and the longhouse beams.

Beyond the Irish names, the most surprising part of this neighborhood is that not a single homeowner has truly embraced the original architecture.  The most exciting homes are those that have essentially just been left alone.

All it needs is a bit of landscaping!

Not the most ostentatious house on the block, I appreciate this one for the louvered
vents on the garage, the roll-down window blinds, and the dynamic roofline.  In its way it does
faintly echo the architecture of some of the modest plantation homes on the islands.

Take a peek at that peak!

The stone chimney and garage gable are great!

I kind of love the monochromatic scheme of these two houses.  In a way it makes the trim more of a textural element.

My favorite roofline!

This garden is headed in the right direction!

Contemporary garage doors just don't do these houses any favors but a polynesian paint scheme
(and maybe a couple of masks on those white insets) would do wonders for this house.

I think this home has got it down - the tropical foliage, the covered atrium with decorative screens, and the rock walls.
It definitely wins the Mr. Tiny's Neighborhood Watch Award!

Do these homes actually look like the type of architecture one is likely to encounter in Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, or Samoa?  Probably not.  There is no denying, however, that these houses are wonderful relics of America's obsession with polynesian pop in the mid-20th Century.  I can't wait for the day when a hardcore-tiki enthusiast brings the spirit of aloha back to this micro-community.  Just imagine the luau block parties!  

Saving the best revelation for last, I must disclose that in a near-adjacent neighborhood in the very same city, the streets, with names including Tahiti, Pitcairn, Samoa, Palau, Oahu, and Maui, are all named for islands.  Was this a major city-planning mistake?  I, for one, would like an explanation!!!  Maybe Mr. "Mele Kalikimaka" can elucidate...

"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" - Bing Crosby

I guess as long as everybody is smiling, we should just be happy too.

I mean why wouldn't those eyes be smiling when gazing upon such 

an incredible neighborhood?

Do you have a polynesian-themed neighborhood where you live?  Would you want to live in a tiki-fied house?  Even better, do you live in a tiki house now?!  Have you ever been to Ireland?  Having never been there myself, it just occurred to me maybe there is nothing unique about this tract of homes; this must be exactly how all Irish neighborhoods look, right?!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny