Tiki Resort: Hula Girls, Fire-Eaters, Easter Island Head

Lake George, New York

Tiki Resort opened in July 1964 as the Tiki Motor Inn and has remained remarkably unchanged since then. It was the brainstorm of Charley Wood, a Lake George attraction powerhouse. In 1954 he had opened Storytown USA (for kids); in 1957 Ghost Town (a Wild West attraction); in 1959 Gaslight Village (an 1890s attraction with street pie fights instead of gunfights); and in 1961 Jungleland (which featured animatronic animals and a witch doctor). Charley would sometimes drive to work in a Dusenburg formerly owned by Greta Garbo.

Tiki Resort claims to be one of only two "themed full service resorts with Polynesian dinner show still operational in the continental United States." Those who miss the fire-eaters and hula dancers can still enjoy the Polynesian art inside and out, including an Easter Island head on the front lawn. These artworks were not made by Polynesians, but by Lewis Vandercar of Miami, who preferred to call himself "Van Dercar." He later built a fire-breathing dragon in his home state of Florida, and claimed to have the power to levitate.