Tag Archives: Orange County

Old Town Orange – Classic Cars, Soda Shops & Tikis

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Whenever I’m in Old Town Orange, I feel like I’ve stepped into the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It has an old-fashioned small-town feel that you would never think you’d find in Southern California. Disneyland and its reproduction of an idealized Main Street are just five miles away, but lovers of vintage Americana will find the real deal right here.

Walking distance from Chapman University, Orange is apparently the only city in the county built around a plaza. The space was turned into a park in 1887, and the fountain was replaced with a “new” one in 1937. The neighborhood is particularly notable for the many pre-1940 buildings and homes that have been preserved. (Therefore even the two Starbucks locations in the plaza actually look kind of neat.)

This sign for Rod’s Plaza Beverages was one of my favorites. The Old Town Orange Historic District is lined with antique malls and vintage shops, restaurants and Watson’s, which is The OC’s oldest operating soda fountain and featured as a film set in “That Thing You Do.”

And right next door to Watson’s is a branch of the World Travel agency, where I happened to spot some tikis and a United Airlines Aunty Menehune figurine in the display window.

Just as tikis help sell jacuzzis at the fair (via the idea of creating an island paradise at your home), we have these tikis tempting you to an exotic getaway. Well, they caught my attention anyway.

Although, I nearly walked right past them because I was too busy checking out this beauty. Classic car owners love to cruise around these streets, especially on Sundays. (There’s also an annual show in April.)

This guy gets bonus points in my book for having a dashboard hula girl!

The Bootlegger Bar – Crystal Cove, CA

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Bar & Restaurant Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

Crystal Cove beach

What to do when there’s a minimum 45-minute wait for lunch at The Beachcomber Cafe in Crystal Cove? Well, there is the beach, of course. Or, if you head towards that teal shack over there…

Prohibition exhibit

A Prohibition Exhibit! Considering I adore the Roaring Twenties as much if not slightly more than mid-century Polynesian Pop, these words were hot jazz music to my ears.

Prohibition bottles from Crystal Cove

The cottage features rotating exhibitions and this one illustrated the role of this little Orange County beach in The Noble Experiment. Apparently, Crystal Cove’s geography made it an ideal spot for rum runners to bring in booze by boat.

The Bootlegger Bar at The Beachcomber Crystal Cove

And so I love that The Bootlegger Bar adjacent to the Beachcomber pays tribute to this colorful history. If the pangs of hunger prove to great to bear, you can try to snag a seat and order from an abbreviated menu.

Vintage bottles and tiki mugs

I also like how vintage-looking Prohibition bottles were mixed among the tiki mugs. (Also, I think we could start playing a tiki version of “Where’s Waldo?” Except it would be “Where’s Mr. Bali Hai?”)

The Beachcomber Cafe's volcano bowl

Here’s a gander at the neat pirate mural on the back wall, and the Beachcomber’s custom-designed scorpion bowls from Tiki Farm.

Rain movie poster

At first I wasn’t sure how this gorgeous movie poster fit in. Looking it up later, I found that “Rain” was filmed in 1932 (with Joan Crawford depicting a wanton temptress) and set in the South Pacific, thus going along with the Prohibition era/pre-Tiki theme. (The Beachcomber’s web site says the film was “reportedly” shot at Crystal Cove, but Wikipedia claims it was Catalina Island.)

The Bootlegger Bar patio