Thrifty Acres: Let's Go Someplace Warm!

Hello! Woke up this morning to temps hovering around zero. Thankfully we had bright sun all day instead of snow, but I'd still rather have warmer weather! 

Well, thanks to the collection of vintage matchbooks I bought last summer at a garage sale, I can at least have reminders of milder climes, such as:

the Reef Hotel on Waikiki Beach! And when you've had your fill of sun and sand, there's always:

the Don Ho show at the Polynesian Palace! Online research revealed that Mr. Ho had released a live album recorded at this venue, and that the Reef Hotel building still exists.

Back on the mainland:

Holiday Inn's Holiday Casino in Las Vegas. The other side of the matchbook states: "on the strip between Sands and Flamingo Hotels". But alas, this casino is no more: it's now known as Harrah's and has a carnival theme - so of course that riverboat had to go. 

Let's visit the "Paris of the South" - or so NOLA is described on this matchbook:

Arnaud's is still around - not bad for a restaurant founded nearly 100 years ago! Although the matchbook proclaims that the founder's daughter was running the place, it was sold to the Casbarian family in 1978, and members of that family still run it. 

And now it's on to Florida:

"Louis Pappas' famous riverside restaurant, at the Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs, Florida". The restaurant was sold by relatives of Louis Pappas in the early 2000's, and the new owners had high hopes of running a nice eatery. It doesn't appear that they succeeded, but the Louis Pappas name lives on as a small chain in the state.

But let's say you can't take a vacation to a warm-weather spot over spring break - well, hopefully there's still summer vacation to look forward to:

Twin Oaks Campground, Wellston MI. "Sherwood & Claire" - I assume they were a husband/wife team who ran the campground. 

Given the old-fashioned appearance of this matchbook, I figured  Twins Oaks Campground had long been sold off, but what do you know - it's still in business, with a website that states "Don't settle for less when you can stay with the best..." Glad they're still around. 

Sailing is very popular on the Great Lakes, of course. In Grand Marais, Michigan, Betty and Ed sold beer, wine, liquor and food, presumably to boaters (Grand Marais is on Lake Superior). The other side of the matchbook mentions that Betty and Ed's business is called Skipper's Cove and is "a good place to drop anchor". 

That might have been true once upon a time, but Skipper's Cove is no more. Either the business was renamed, or else it closed and sailors will have to drop anchor somewhere else. 

Sure, it's cold outside today, but in the summertime we'll be sweltering in the heat and saying to each other, "Remember how cold it was in January?" But of course, there's a surefire remedy for beating the heat if you don't have air conditioning in your home:

Go out to eat: "Enjoy Your Meals in Comfort  Air Conditioned". I like the illustration of the happy couple, holding hands as they sip their drinks. 

The woman is depicted wearing a sleeveless outfit, which I find ironic given that most restaurants' AC is cranked so high you need a sweater to dine in! But maybe Brownie's Restaurants of Stanton, Michigan controlled the cooling system better. 

But I guess I'll never know, since Brownie's appears to be out of business. 

And I'm now out of time for blog posting. I enjoyed the graphics of these vintage matchbooks and it was fun to see which businesses were still around versus which ones had closed. Hope you enjoyed these matchbooks too!