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Diary of an Ass Monkey
30 July 2007 @ 09:10 am
On my infrequent excursions to Long Beach Island over the past fifteen years, I've always kept an eye out for this little roadside stand that sells tikis and tiki-related merchandise. I've never actually stopped there, mostly because I've always been trying to outrace the rest of the shore traffic. But being a fan of the painter Shag, I've always found the sight of it extremely pleasing and often pledged to stop in some time when I wasn't in a hurry.

So, I was saddened this weekend to find it in ruins.

The thatch-roof stalls were empty and dilapidated. The tiki torches had all burnt out and mostly fallen to the ground. The Hawaiian-shirted salespeople vanished. And the lone surviving tiki had fallen into a state of hideous neglect, serving no other purpose now, but to hold up a leaning, handpainted, plywood sign reading "Tiki museum for sale."

Listening to: Matthew Sweet - "The Kids Are Alright"