When she was a young girl, Debbie’s grandparents would often take her on Sundays to the Islands, a Polynesian Pop restaurant in Phoenix. She remembers the experience fondly. But, when her family drove past the Kon Tiki (the Phoenix location long gone now), her parents told her it was a bar – and she was not allowed to go.
Debbie finally got her chance in high school. Her band director announced that her jazz band would play poolside at Kon Tiki. Here she was, in the very place she was not supposed to go. What had been taboo was now enchanting. She fixated on the torch-lit Lanai next to the swimming pool and spa, the giant Tiki masks, and the fire fountain. The experience left an
indelible impression.
Read the rest of the story in Polynesiacs: Tiki at Home, page 292.
Enchanted Tiki Trailer, Tucson, Arizona
