So sorry I missed your post. I was there ‘69 & ‘70.
The coup was in September 1969. Prior to that, Tripoli was a wanna-be cosmopolitan watering-hole on the Mediterranean. The Italians were still there, as were expatriats from all over the world to service the oil industry and provide medical care to the local population. The Wheelus AFB hospital had an entire wing kept for King Idris's family in case they needed care. My Armed Forces High School on base was a veritable United Nations, with a wide variety of students, both military, oil-industry, and foreign teenagers from every continent. We had a contingent of Yugoslavians, at that time still Communist, attending our US Military school. The Wa'adaan Casino operated on the shores of the Med, and provided night-life for the local errant Muslim Libyans and all the expats.
All brought to an end when the Revolutionary Council overthrew the King while he was in Egypt. After an subsequent gunbattle among the council members, Gadhaffi emerged the leader, although he was wounded (according to the Taiwanese doctor, who I tutored in English, that was the anesthesialogist during the surgery).
You probably know all this, but it was fun to recollect.