Time: April 9, 2011 from 2pm to 11:30pm
Location: Aurora Metra Station
Street: 233 N. Broadway
City/Town: Aurora
Phone: 312-560-3966
Event Type: social
Organized By: John Greenfield
Latest Activity: Apr 8, 2011
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Join us for a nice springtime pedal up the Fox River Trail from Aurora to Crystal Lake for dinner at the Breakers, a historic tiki bar & Chinese Restaurant:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=24037&forum=2
The plan:
Meet at 2 pm at the Aurora Metra station.
(Catch the Aurora line at Union Station at 12:40
or Western/18th at 12:46 pm.)
Bike 41 miles to the Breakers in Crystal Lake.
Bike two miles to Metra.
Catch 8:00 or 10:00 pm train back to Chicago,
which arrives downtown at 9:23 or 11:23.
Let me know if you're interested in joining the ride.
If you'd prefer a shorter ride we can probably
rendezvous in Geneva or Elgin via Metra.
Cheers,
John Greenfield
Comment
John,
For me, it'll be either seeing you at Union Station, on the train and/or the Aurora station.
Folks, let me know if you would like to meet up at Aurora Station, on the train or at the Western/18th platform.
John Greenfield
Well, my friend, you don't know what you're missing! Tiki bars are tropically-themed establishments serving rum-based cocktails in decorative mugs or glasses, garnished with fruit, flowers and/or tiny paper umbrellas, or served flaming in volcano-shaped bowls. The decor reflects a Rousseau-like fantasy of the Pacific Islands with reproductions of carved idols, grass mat wallpaper, stuffed puffer fish, tropical plants and the like, and romantic lighting. The music is often soothing Hapa Haole ("Half White") tunes - early Hawaiian pop music played on ukelele, slide guitar and Western instruments. If food is offered, as at the Breakers, it's usually American-style Chinese food with quasi-Polynesian additions like pineapple, often involving a bowl of fire, as in the attached photo.Not very authentic but usually pretty tasty.
Tiki bars gained popularity after World War II, capitalizing on the nostalgia of American G.I.s for the Pacific islands. Nowadays, tiki bar enthusiasts like myself enjoy not only the cozy, tropical atmosphere, especially on a cold night, but also the post-war retro appeal of these establishments, which sometimes date back to the 1940s. I think for me tiki bars particularly hit a nerve with me because one of my relatives used to own a tiki-themed hotel near Miami called the Hawaiian Isle which I used to visit as a kid in the '70s.
Come join me on the ride and find out what tiki culture is all about!
- John Greenfield
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