Flying American Airlines on one of those much-maligned MD-80s? You might need to get drunk at the airport to deal with the delays--and the fear of flying on a plane that might have some bogus wiring.
Luckily, Gridskipper has put together a great guide on where to booze at the airports aside from those token airport bars.
Some tips we didn't know? Inside those clubs usually reserved for members and first/business passengers, staffers wield free drink tickets which are usually a one ticket per person kind of deal. But Gskip says you can get around that.
If they like you, they'll slip you more than one. If you can't schmooze a drinks ticket, zero in on those blessed people who did and strategically position yourself next to them, so when they're running to catch their flight, they'll (hopefully) leave them on their table.
Another tip is the food court where salesmen tend to sit and drink their faces off. And you can always sit in the parking lot with a flask. if you have to resort to that, maybe the other AA might be a better stop.
The biggest event in the world of classy drinking is about to drop in on New Orleans: Tales of the Cocktail starts July 18. Not that the Crescent City needs an excuse to party: it's the home of the Hurricane, the Sazerac, the Ramos Gin Fizz and probably a bunch of other drinks. (Not to mention brunch, which goes with cocktails like peanut butter loves jelly.)
Spread over what's sure to be a very long five days, TotC will invade some of the city's most notable restaurants and gin joints, places like The Library Lounge (at The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans), Arnaud's and The Swizzle Stick Bar (inside the Loews New Orleans Hotel). In addition to all the mixing, shaking and stirring, bartenders, writers and industry insiders will host panel discussions and seminars on the always popular topic of boozing. Tickets are necessary for most events, so we'd recommend buying them ahead of time if you really want to see Sasha Petraske discuss ice.
Hotel Monteleone is ground zero for the festival, so even if you're not formally attending, stopping in at the bar will sure to put in you in touch with some serious bartenders and barflies. (We'll see you there.)
Embedded Travel Guides: We are searching the world for folks who can take you on a field trip of their "backyard." When we find these folks, we then stealthy embed them into their local travel scene and ask them to be our eyes and ears out in the field.
We are expecting the same sort of grainy video, choppy sentences, and snapshot photos that you are use to seeing from embeds. The rub is, at the end of the day we should be left with a backyard travel guidebook like no other.
Expect his guide to be dead on. Way back when, he told us that La Cabaña is not the best steakhouse in Argentina, and rather, a national embarrassment, the kind of place that in previous epochs of "our" history would have been firebombed--reserved for Steakhouse Suckers, his words, not ours. This is exactly the kind of unadulterated sentiment you can expect to find from this embed.
Porteños are heavy drinkers. Not alcohol, mind, they tread quite lightly on the hard stuff. No milk and cookies either, you're in South America now. But everything in between slides down the hatch, by the gallon, on a daily basis. Coffee, hot chocolate, licuados (smoothies), mate (see below), Diet Coke (gotta watch the figure), energy drinks (gotta still be dancing at 6am), more coffee, and -- if television advertising is anything to go by - a greater volume of indigestion draughts per capita per annum than any nation outside Poland. Tea is gaining some traction; cocktails too -- though if you, like me, are the kind of person who demands careful preparation of a Martini before knocking it back in the manner of marathon runner at a drinks station, you might as well have gringo branded on your forehead.
We kind of think ice bars should be reserved for those really, really cold nether regions of the earth, but the Absolut Ice Bar chain think otherwise. That's why they've just transported 45 tons of ice from Sweden to Shanghai to create Asia's first ever ice bar. Starting June 22, you'll be able to find it on Central Huaihai Road at Infiniti Plaza.
The only problem we have with the ice bar is that their attitude to customers is (necessarily) not the usual "stay as long as you like":
Customers will be given an Eskimo-style poncho to keep them warm, but they will be advised to stay for no more than 45 minutes at any one time.
But we figure if we drink plenty we'll feel warm enough to stay a bit longer.
How's this for a beer-a-thon? The East Atlanta Beer Festival, now in its fourth year, gives you access to over 100 beers and puts its profits towards local charities. Tickets are $25 and definitely worth buying in advance, as this video of last year's ticket line demonstrates. This year's festival takes place on Saturday, May 12, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
But that's not all. You have but a month to recover before checking out the rival Creative Loafing Brews & Booze Beer Fest in downtown Atlanta. Brews & Booze provides a 50% ticket price discount for designated drivers.
Are you an art lover and a cocktail lover? Why not head somewhere to satisfy both cravings - somewhere like Gallery Bar, on NYC's Lower East Side. Newly opened, it's both bar (by night) and art gallery (by day) and somehow it actually works. Consisting of two levels, you can grab (pricey) drinks upstairs and check out the work of up-and-coming downtown types on the walls (careful with your drinks!) or head downstairs to the "den"-like area to dance or mingle.
We'll admit we were a touch claustrophobic on the lower level, that's what low lighting and low ceilings will do, but the crowd was refreshingly fun and the DJ provided great ambiance. Get there early on the weekends. This is a place that is mindful of overcrowding, so you'll wait if it's full, but it's worth it once inside. Don't miss the old school-style photo booth in the rear of the first floor, a clever touch that most patrons overlook.
Delta has emerged from its cocoon of bankruptcy as a beautiful, intoxicated butterfly! All that partying and this is what we're left with. Behold Delta's new "Midnight Sky Signature Cocktail" menu:
· “The Big Apple” – Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Stirrings Apple Martini mix and Cran-Apple Juice; · “Summer Sizzle” – Disaronno Amaretto and Stirrings Apple Martini mix; · “Mile High Passion Fruit Mojito” – Bacardi Rum and Stirrings Passion Fruit Mojito mix topped with a splash of club soda; · “Citrus Splash” – Finlandia Mango Infused Vodka stirred with Fresca
Consumerist aptly compared this installment of the rebranding effort to a cheap motel, as Delta will also be shilling HBO at $5 per movie and $2 per TV show in coach.
We're waiting for Delta to install Oregon Trail on the AVOD so we can play it drunk. The Airlines need to get their priorities straight.
If you're of the variety that like to drink & bowl, then be sure to hit the lanes at Milky Way Lounge & Lanes in Jamaica Plain, Mass. They've got the 1950s-style bowling, candlepin, where the ball's a lot smaller and it's a lot harder to hit the pins. But the kitsch factor keeps it fun. Seven lanes are available for the taking, as is a full bar, to better improve your score.
The interior's a bit dim, and walls are even plastered with dusty magazine cut-outs, a la your seventh grade locker door, but the crowd's young and fun, and it's just $25 per lane to bowl for an hour, shoes included. If you're hungry, you get to order snacks from Bella Luna next door, where you can try the surprising dried cranberry and goat cheese white pizza and fresh salads.
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by juliana
