Bay Area Tiki Crawls
Part of the rich Polynesian narrative is intrepidly canoeing among countless lush islands, presumably in a never-ending quest for the perfect tiny-umbrella'd rum drink. Honor that tradition in modern style with Bay Area Tiki Crawls.
Organized by the benevolent tiki nuts behind TikiRoom.com, BATC's the annual, four-day, elaborately costumed crunking extravaganza that hits the Bay's most iconic tiki joints by tour bus, most alluringly those tucked away on the exotic, mystery-shrouded islands of Oakland, Palo Alto, even far flung San Jose. Fri night's South Bay bus has room for 30, picks up/drops off in Alameda, and hits Smoke Tiki (which boasts a large metal indoor palm tree and serves up its own smoked meats), Palo Alto's Trader Vic's, and a San Jo auto-body shop called Notch's that doubles as a tiki bar -- perfect for fixin' your rig even as you get wrecked. For Sat's East Bay jaunt, 50 crawlers'll meet at Alameda's legendary Forbidden Island for a spell before shuttling off to Conga Lounge (home of the Cruzan & coconut rum/banana liqueur/pineapple "Gilligan's Island"), Piedmont Ave's Kona Club, Emeryville's Trader Vic's, and finally back to the Island, which given your probable state, just got a little more Forbidden.
If you fear leaving your comfort zone, there's a non-bus enabled open-to-anyone SF crawl Thurs night hitting Trad'r Sam, the Tonga Room, and Bamboo Hut, whose location lends itself conveniently to celebrating your own rich narrative: sneaking out of a tiki bar and into a strip club.
