Back to Tiki Oasis. Wow! What a great weekend it was. Thanks to everyone for taking time to stop by our booth and say hello. We met so many wonderful people and it was great to have a whole herd of Portlanders to enjoy the weekend with. We also hope that all of you who went home with Vintage Roadside t-shirts are enjoying your new attire!
The weekend wrapped up with more sun, great music, and Ku-Bar watching over the grounds.
Before heading north from San Diego we still had two stops to make to complete our tiki road trip from Portland to San Diego. First up was Trader Mort's at 2904 Shelter Island Drive.
Opened in 1963 and still maintaining its period tiki-style, Trader Mort's is a neighborhood liquor store that also carries a wide selection of wines, soft drinks and snacks. Outside you'll find the original tiki statue, lit torches, and more masks decorating the roof line.
The inside was clean and tidy and seemed to be doing a brisk business. We'd like to thank the gentleman at the counter for sharing some of Mort's history and letting us snap a few photos.
An outside view showing the great architecture of the building.
Just down the road from Trader Mort's is the amazing Humphrey's Half Moon Inn at 2241 Shelter Island Drive.
Another look at Humphrey's incredible architecture.
We once again took the opportunity to explore more of historic Highway 99 through central California. If you enjoy a slower trip and the chance to get out of the car every now and then, the towns along 99 offer many great glimpses of the past.
Enjoying the sunset at the Town & Country Motel in Livingston.
Defunct cafe somewhere north of Bakersfield (our road trip notes failed us on the exact location). We loved the stars on this one.
Fresno has become one of our favorite places to photograph vintage neon signs. The city still contains an amazing amount of signs in varying conditions. The Eagle Cafe is one of many that must have been amazing when it was lit. The animated neon wings make this one a treasure.
The Luau is probably one of the most well-known tiki signs in the country. Partly for being an incredible design and partly for not having a single tiki-related item left inside. While it is a shame the restaurant no longer enjoys a tiki theme, we're grateful the owners have left the sign in place for people to enjoy.
We always enjoy stopping by for a look at the Merced Muffler Man. This time we were lucky enough to spend some time talking with his owner. He let us know the Muffler Man stood for many years over a local wrecking yard. After the yard closed he spent some time flat on his back before rising once again here at the Museum. We're still looking forward to the day our very own Muffler Man proudly surveys our abode!
On previous trips we always seemed to pass through Yreka "after hours" but this time we were happy to make it in time to visit the Siskiyou County Museum. The museum has a wonderful collection of artifacts including mining items, Native American clothing, logging gear and more. We really enjoyed our visit and would highly recommend a stop if you enjoy local museums.
Medford gave us a chance for another "used to be a tiki place" photo with the Tiki Lodge. We didn't have a chance to look inside the office but the architecture and sign still provide a nice photo.
Leaving Medford a road trip tragedy struck. A car in front of us veered over into the shoulder and as they swung back into the lane a giant rock hit our windshield. Normally you cringe and look for a little star-shaped chip. Not this time. Within seconds the little star had grown from a 1/2" crack to a 3" crack. One more movie sound effect and we were looking at a 6" crack. The 100+ degree temperature wasn't helping us on this one. It was 4:30 pm and still 240 miles from home.
We keep a GPS with us for motel & drive-in locating so we thought we'd see if Grants Pass had a windshield repair facility that could help us out. Two options came up and we headed for the nearest one. We pulled into Novus Glass at about 4:45 pm. We went in and explained what had happened. Even though it was the end of a hot day Craig offered to fix our monster crack right then. We pulled into the shop and after an offer of cold water Craig went to work on what initially seemed a lost cause. Hopefully without sounding too much like a commerical, we just wanted to let everyone know of the amazing customer service we received from Craig Gostnell and his business. If you're ever in need of glass repair in the area give Craig a call at (541) 474-5646.
Happily back on the road with our freshly-repaired windshield we made one last stop at another of our favorites. The Ranch Restaurant and Lounge in Rice Hill features a dining room with stools, a restaurant area for dinner and a lounge for your beverage needs. All of the food is prepared at the restaurant and they have a local supplier who bakes their pies. We enjoyed a wonderful slice of blackberry pie on this visit. Delicious!
By the way, the Ranch Restaurant is also a giant A-frame. It doesn't get much better than that!
We hope you enjoyed riding along on this one. We have a visit to a defunct amusement park coming up soon along with road trips to the Bay Area and our annual trek to the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference. This year we'll be traveling from Portland, Oregon to Nashville, Tennessee.Jeff & Kelly
Vintage Roadside
4 comments:
Love the way you guys use the light! Sounds like a great trip aside from the windsheild. Did you have to get the whole thing replaced?
Thanks Rick! We always try and land somewhere when the sun sets for a batch of shots.
We were really happy with the windshield in that he took the time to actually fix the giant crack rather than us having to spend a ton on a new windshield! We felt pretty lucky:-)
Great pics and article, guys BUT hold the phone. You don't honestly think you can throw out the phrase..."defunct amusement park"...and not get our interest peaked, do you? Do tell. Just the kinda thing that's up our alley.
Glad you had a good trip--welcome back to Stumptown. :)
Tina - We should have a post up in the next day or so about our time at the amusement park. It was kind of like winning the roadside lottery for us!
Thanks again for reading:-)
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