Every once in a while, a bar comes along that you know is going to be an instant hit.
Though it's only been open less than a month, I'm willing to bet the new Tiki Barge is going to go down as one of the best things to happen to Baltimore's nightlife scene this summer.
The Tiki Barge is just that: a barge with a swimming pool, palm trees and two bars, floating at the end of a pier in Harborview Marine Center, just off Key Highway in South Baltimore. It sounds random, but once you see it, you get it. Every waterside neighborhood could use a Tiki Barge.
Tiki Barge is the new project of Bud Craven, who designed the tiki bar at Bo Brooks and, about 20 years ago, was one of the original owners of the Bay Cafe in Canton. Craven knows how to build an oasis in the middle of the city, which is just what he did with Tiki Barge.
Before it was Tiki Barge, it was just a barge with a swimming pool and an upper sundeck, where marina patrons could go for a dip or work on their tans. When new owners took over the marina several months ago, they let Craven revamp the pool barge. He planted a half-dozen palm trees and built a wood tiki hut with a rectangular bar upstairs and a second bar down by the pool. After nearly two months of work, Tiki Barge officially opened Memorial Day weekend.
To get to Tiki Barge, you enter the marina and walk down a long pier, past rows of docked boats. From a distance, it looks like a ship — complete with a Jolly Roger pirate flag (and, for the record, an American flag).
Drop by Tiki Barge and you have two options: Pay $10 for a pool pass, which includes a free drink of your choice, or hang out at the upper tiki bar, which doesn't have a cover charge. Since I forgot my bathing suit (and my six-pack abs), I opted for the latter when I went last Saturday afternoon. It was hot and sweaty outside, and both levels of Tiki Barge were loaded with people, mostly aged 25-35. I climbed the wood stairs to the second level, which has a sweeping view of the Inner Harbor. TIki Barge is almost directly across the water from the new Legg Mason high-rise in Harbor East.
The upstairs bar stocks beers and mixed drinks, as well as your standard array of frozen drinks, such as pina coladas and daiquiris. Beers cost about $3.50 and rail mixed drinks are about $4. I went with a strawberry daiquiri, which cost $7 and was made with Bacardi, daiquiri mixer and ice. The bartender used a mixer with strawberry seeds and pulp, which, combined with chopped ice and liquor, was one sweet summer sipper. I took it slow, so I wouldn't get brain freeze. If you stand perfectly still, you can feel the barge gently swaying beneath your feet. After a few of those daiquiris, you start to sway along with it.
Standing there under the palm leaf roof, daiquiri in hand, listening to a Bob Marley song play overhead, I closed my eyes and it wasn't hard to picture the islands. Unfortunately, when I opened them, I was in Baltimore, not the Bahamas. But I'll take what I can get.
The pool isn't deep enough to dive in, but it's fine for cooling off, or floating around in an inflatable chair. Last weekend, a vendor was selling burgers and hot dogs at the end of the pool.
Baltimore doesn't have nearly enough options for poolside drinking — let alone full-fledged tiki bars right on the harbor. I'll bet Tiki Barge is making a mint, as well it should be. With the first week of summer upon us, I couldn't think of a better Baltimore bar in which to spend weekend afternoons.
If you go
Tiki Barge is at the end of a pier in the Harborview Marine Center, 500 Harborview Drive. Hours are 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 10 a.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays. The pool closes at 8 p.m. daily.