Tag Archives: Queen’s Surf

Another classic memory of the Queen’s Surf

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To the list of comments about the old Queen’s Surf, add this great one from retired Star-Bulletin editor Chuck Frankel.

I loved the Barefoot Bar at Queen’s Surf Beach. I proposed to Helga there one midnight in 1962, while S. Mossman, the Isaac brothers and Veroa Tiki performed.

I loved the downstairs bar and restaurant too, where you could get a roast beef buffet dinner for $2.99. I remember the first Sunday when you could buy liquor before noon, and we ordered a pitcher of bloody marys.

On the beach, you sometimes could hear Kui Lee rehearsing “I’ll Remember You.”

On the last day of the Spencecliff operations, a big crowd sang “We’ll Hang Frank Fasi On a Tall Coconut Tree,” to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.”

The bar and restaurants are long gone. Much of the sand on the beach has disappeared. The crowd of beachgoers has dwindled..

I try to swim there daily. I am sometimes the only swimmer in the water.

–Aloha, Chuck Frankel

Remembering the old Queen’s Surf

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View from Queen's SurfWhether you’re old enough to remember the old Queen’s Surf, or too young but curious about the former landmark, here’s a bit of history.

I posted some of this earlier, but this week I found the missing first page of a 1947 letter from my father to the president of the International Geneva Association in praise of the newly renovated Queen’s Surf. The letter was accompanied by a set of excellent photographs.

Click on this photo, and you’ll first get to read the letter, and then view the series of photos.

According to my dad’s account:

Queen’s Surf was built during the years 1914 and 1915, by Mr. & Mrs. W.K. Seering of the International Harvester Co., Illinois. In the year 1936 it was purchased from Mr. & Mrs. Seering by Mr. C.R. Holmes for his Honolulu residence. Mr. Holmes also owned the beautiful Coconut Island, which is located in the Kaneohe are on the windward side of the island of Oahu, in the Hawaiian Island Group. In 1945 the residence was purchased by a group known as the Capitol Properties, Limited. It was remodeled and made into an outstanding commercial location as pictured in the attached photographs. It is regarded as the most luxuriest commercial location in the islands. During the war period the residence was used as a rest home for young flyers. C.R. Holmes donated the premises for this use during the war period. Many of the flyers enjoyed the luxuries that were extended there. In the year 1944, during the war conference held in Hawaii by Admiral Nimitz, General Douglas McArthur and staffs; all of their time was spent in the residence now known as the Queen’s Surf.

I remember one or two long nights at the Queen’s Surf in late 1969 or early 1970 with Meda and my late uncle, Jimmy Yonge. At that time, he was chief purser on one of Matson’s white liners that cruised through Honolulu to the South Pacific. When stopping through Honolulu, we would get together for a few drinks. Well, perhaps more than a few, but this was, after all, before MADD. Suffice it to say that Queen’s Surf was one of the centers of night life in Waikiki during the period.

But it came to a sad end when it was condemned and torn down by the city in about 1971 to open up that part of the beach to the public, or so they said.

I ran across this comment left on Yelp with another version of its demise. I can’t vouch for the accuracy, but it sure sounds like the way business was done.

The long and the short of it…

One of the most prominent and successful restaurateurs here was Spence Weaver. With his brother Cliff, they created 50 plus restaurants and bars thru Hawaii and Tahiti.
Among all the rest, they owned Queen’s Surf, the Papeete lounge and the Barefoot bar. kama’aina remembers it as the showroom in which the irrepressible Sterling Mossman held court.

One evening, Fasi met up with Spence at some restaurant and told him basically, ok, yer gonna donate to my campaign. Spence, being just as strong willed, and being his own person, never enjoying having someone else tell HIM what do do with HIS money, replied, uh… I don’t think so!

No, really. ya gotta!

No, Frank, I will not.

This began a personal mutual dislike, personal vendettas, etc…

Frank Fasi, much to the chagrin and general heartbreak and extreme disappointment of the general populace, (and regular visitors around the world) thru condemnation, and eminent domain, had the whole establishment there, torn down, (for the greater good; needed a beach park there. Regardless of the fact the surrounding areas were beach parks… made no difference.

Fasi attempted to make Spence an offer he couldn’t refuse. Spence did refuse. Result, a fabulous landmark status bar restaurant and showroom of the old Polynesian motif… is gone forever. Spanks alot, Frank.

Saturday…Inouye running, Akaka in the news, home delivery could be cut, and Queen’s Surf as it looked in 1947

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Hawaii Senator Dan Inouye has made it clear that he is running for reelection in 2010, according to a report by CQ Politics.

In a written statement, Inouye told CQ:

Make no mistake, I am a candidate for re-election in 2010. I am calling upon my friends and supporters to once again stand with me,” Inouye said in a statement provided to CQ Politics. “I am taking nothing for granted in what I expect for be an exciting and vigorous campaign. I am looking forward to it.

“…for be an exciting and vigorous campaign”? The statement has been quoted in several published accounts. A typo or a bit of pidgin creeping in? Don’t know.

CQ called Gov. Linda Lingle as the only candidate on the horizon who could pose a challenge to Inouye, but notes “she has given no indication yet of her plans for that year.”

And CQ also put Sen. Dan Akaka in the spotlight this week for challenging the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to follow a provision in a law passed in 1996. The department’s inaction resulted in the department seeking repayment of pension and disability benefits paid to a surviving spouse during the month of their spouse’s death.

Akaka became aware of the problem last month when contacted by Ruby Maile Sasaoka, a Hawaii resident whose veteran husband died in 2007.

After using her husband’s final benefit check for funeral expenses, the Treasury department took an equal amount of money directly from her bank account without her knowledge. As a result, she unwittingly bounced checks and now faces credit issues.

Will newspapers survive if home delivery of a print edition isn’t available?

Gannett’s Detroit Free Press and its joint operating agreement partner, the Detroit News, are reportedly “leaning towards” cutting home deliveries to three days a week, AP reports, citing a Wall Street Journal story.

A final decision is pending, but the WSJ reports:

But the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday calls for the Free Press, the 20th largest U.S. newspaper by weekday circulation, and the News to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days — Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the company would sell single copies of abbreviated print editions at newsstands and direct readers to the papers’ expanded digital editions.

I’m not sure whether the Journal story is restricted to subscribers only, but here’s the link to try.

The plans were first disclosed by the Gannett Blog, which beat Gannett to its own story.

Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser already offers 3-day home delivery (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) as an option for $1.60 per week, half the price of full 7-day delivery.

Queen's SurfAnd here’s a treat for this Saturday–a glimpse of the old Queen’s Surf in 1947.

It starts with a portion of a letter from my father to Mr. Otto Schatz dated September 9, 1947, which describes the Queen’s Surf.

The Queen’s Surf as I have mentioned before is the most luxuriest (sic) and enjoyable commercial location on the island of Hawaii (sic) at the present time. They have the beautiful cocktail lounge overlooking the dance pavilion and the beautiful expanse of the Pacific as well as the cocktail lounge on themain floor.

The letter also describes several photos. I was able to locate some but not all of them. It’s hard to look at these without a bit of nostalgia.

Just click on this photo for more.