The Place: The Florida Room, 435 N. Killingsworth, 287-5658
What Prompted the Visit: Tequila and surf rock fueled my attempt to out-dance everyone at the Clinton Street dance party on Saturday. This was not very difficult to do. To begin with, the band, Satan's Pilgrims, was absolutely amazing. Also, I was good and drunk. Additionally, it ain't hard to out-dance most rockers in Portland, considering their concert behavior is a lot like those drugged-up Germans listening to Nick Cave in Wim Wender's, Der Himmel über Berlin. It's a shame really, for a street dance there was surprisingly little dancing going on—though I will give props to a duo of dance fairies who sparked off erratic pockets of activity. Still, it was awesome to drink margaritas openly in the middle of my favorite street, while celebrating the 16th birthday of Dot's, one of my most favorite bars.
The Room: A good, mid-century themed drunk needs a good, mid-century themed cure. The Florida Room was a perfect destination for my day after. The room is dim enough, with big picture windows to take-in the outside world. It's an architecturally dynamic and sprawling building, with a quiet, back-room pool table, and two decks. Considerably chic, but not so loud as to be painful for the hung-over head. When I was there, Otis Redding was the perfect soundtrack for some serious smoking and bloody mary action.
The Bloody: To sweeten the deal, every Sunday at the Florida Room brings the Church of the Bloody Mary. The mary list is extensive and includes the hair of just about every dog that could have bitten you the night before. Because I'd been laid low by tequila I went for the Sangria Marie. This heroic bloody combines tequila, the Florida Room's perfectly tangy home made mix and a garnish of jalapeno, lemon wedge and pickled bean. I was impressed how the agave twang worked with savory mary mix. the whole thing went down very easily.
Effect: Mental time travel to a time when drinking like I do was considered normal. Thus, I was buoyed up by rare feeling of normalcy.
