This Underground Tiki Bar in Portland, Maine, May Have Been Ahead of Its Time

As Portland, Maine, has exploded from a cozy little city to an international destination over the last decade and a half, many places have come and gone. Some of them were rich with history, and others were easily forgettable.

But there remains one bar that is still talked about by locals rather lovingly despite the fact that it had a very short run by Portland terms. The bar was called Rhum, and it may have been ahead of its time in Maine's largest city.

If you didn't get a chance to visit Rhum while it was open, it was definitely an experience. The exterior looked like a rather mundane building, but as you walked inside, you were transported to a dimly-lit, funky destination.

There were multi-colored lanterns and straw-covered bars, along with televisions that often featured offbeat sports to make you feel like you were somewhere else in the world.

Rhum has a very unique set of glassware that they would serve their traditional and flaming cocktails in. If you visited with friends, you could order a volcano bowl that was presented to you in an old gas can. Pure magic.

While all the charm was there, the customers just didn't seem to be. At the end of 2017, Rhum officially closed its doors permanently.

In truth, the bar may have just been ahead of its time. Fast-forward six years later, and there's several concept bars throughout Portland, including one operating nearby the place Rhum called home. Would Rhum have made it in today's version of Portland, we'll never know.