I can’t believe nobody quoted Animal House yet . . . “My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.”
I have had the opportunity to drink and passed on it for several reasons, and number of which have been discussed on the board before.
Eat something with any drink. I recommend something that soak up alcohol well.
Drink water beforehand. Drink any alcoholic beverage slowly.
Swiddles,
Happy early birthday. Though I haven’t read the rest of the thread here are my thoughts on your first “legal” night out.
Eat a decent meal before hand. Whatever suits your fancy – 'sides it’s your birthday, order the most expensive meal on the menu. 
Your signature drink? Depends on what you like really. Mine used to be the old rum and diet coke. Margs are good too. No fruity drinks though sugar and alcohol can have some headache effects.
Keep some extra dough for a late night breakfast if you stay out that long. Eggs, bacon and toast are great late night munchies if you’re still up at 3:00 in the morning.
Preparing for the next day:
Water, at least 40 ounces of water does the trick for me before I go to bed.
Sleep, sleep in. Skip work, classes or whatever, sleep in and if you get up, swig some more water. If you have a headache take some pain killers but sleep and water are your best bets for the next day.
A meal filled with proteins usually makes me feel better when I have a hangover, the eggs and bacon like I said or hit Taco Bell if it’s later in the day. Even though beans are technically a carb, a bean burrito usually does the trick.
Oh to be 21 again! < sigh >
Beer is good!!
Shots are bad.
Tip well! If you tip VERY well on your first few drinks you can be assured good service through the night.
Drink 'till ya puke, then drink some more.
Avoid waking up completely naked outside.
Never accept a dare involving the word “tequila”.
Do the rules apply if you’re not in a bar? My big sis is a bartender and when I was at her house for vacation she and her husband decided to Initiate Me Into The Fold (read: “get me drunk as a lord”). I had a shots contest with Bro In Law (got up to ten or twelve before we agreed to stop) and did two tequila shots on a dare from one of their friends.
Is the drinking age in Montreal still 18? I’m planning a trip with some friends (including non-drinkers and a much older and trusted cousin) for my birthday in January.
My personal favorite drink is a chocolate daquiri – it tastes like a fudgesicle. My second favorite is a buttery nipple, because it’s layered and I can make it myself (I think I ended up pouring myself at least six or seven during my Initiation). Which is odd because I HATE butterscotch.
Swiddles, have great fun. Listen to the people, they seem right. And again have great fun.
Swiddles, do they still play Bar Golf in Burlington? If so, my advise is don’t try to complete the course your first night out.
I remember my first time out at a bar, when I turned 21. My then-boyfriend told me he was going to take me, just “to prove that 24 hours does not make a difference in how well you can hold your liquor.”
Anyway, I’ll agree with the food thing. Eat first. Also, you might want to avoid mixing your drinks. I mean, try & stick with the same thing all night. Or, if you’re going to drink beer and shots, stick with the same kind of shot all night. Don’t do what I did just a few weeks ago, and drink beer, Jaegermeister, Ouzo, and Hot Damn. While I didn’t get sick, I was pretty hung over.
At some point during your drinking career, you will do tequila shots. If you do them with salt and lime, remember, it’s lick the salt, drink the shot, suck the lime. Jose Cuervo 1800 is excellent. BUT, just in case you haven’t heard this before, once you get sick on tequila, you’ll never drink it again. People used to tell me this all the time, as I hammered down shot after shot. Oh, I loved me some tequila. Then came the fateful night that I crossed the line, and ended up puking all night, and eventually falling asleep with my head resting on my arm, over the toilet bowl. That was about 10 years ago, and just reading what I’ve typed is making my stomach clutch up on me. I haven’t touched it since.
Have a good time, and be sure to post here while drunk, okay?
Does Rum and Coke count as a sugary drink to be avoided? Don’t worry about my getting into trouble, SisterRiddles will be in full older sister force that evening.
Coke is very sugary, plus added caffeine. Try a vodka & soda water with a large dash of bar lime juice. There is less calories with the soda water.
To avoid hangovers, drink at least one large glass of water before you go to bed after a night of drinking.
Much of the “hungover” feeling is from the dehydration. Water before bedtime will help your body hydrate before morning.
Always tip the bartenders if he serves you.
Cheers! raises glass
Ok, as someone who will be hitting the big 2-1 in February, why no tequila shots? I’ve had a few on separate occasions, but I’ve never had a bunch in a row. When you say no tequila, do you just mean no hell of a lot of tequila?
Seriously? I had read/heard/imagined that it was better just not to mix them too much - never heard the order mattered. Is the idea that after a dozen shots you and your stomach might not be in condition to ingest 24 or 32 ounces of liquid?
Drink milk before you go out.
Eat well.
Moderation is the key. Drink as much as you want, but not as much as you can in the first 30 minutes.
Have a great night!!
Liver pills
Water,water,water!!
A sig. drink for SwimingRiddles? Blue Whale, Sex on the beach. Anything with a Nautical theme.
Dont forget to write.MTS
Well, lots of folk appear to have experience in this sort of thing. I suggest you decide what you are going to drink, and stick with it. Don’t drink every unidentified shot someone puts in front of you. I and most people I know can handle beer and one liquor. But mixing liquors, or mixing wine with just about anything is looking for trouble IMO.
The water is good for 2 reasons, hydration and slows your pace. I often make a practice of drinking a large water in between any 2 ETOH drinks. Also, fills you up.
This is what helps for me to ease the day after effect. Before you go out, make sure you have some fruit juice, I find OJ the best, in the house. When you get home, drink a glass of juice, take a vitamin, and a couple of aspirin (NOT IBUPROFEN). Then in the morning, hit the juice again.
Tho it’s been a while for me, I always felt that if I felt like I had to throw up, I would feel better if I actually made myself throw up instead of trying to hold it. Get that poison out of your system. Also allows you to pick your time and place. Driving the porcelain bus! What fun!
Swiddles, my signature drink suggestion for you is simple and obvious - Skip and Go Naked!
I don’t mean this as a hijack - I really want to know - what’s the big deal about getting drunk? What’s the appeal of doing something that will make you possibly forget the night and get sick and suffer the next morning?
I’m not anti-alcohol - I enjoy my kahlua and cream and the occasional daquiri - but I don’t understand the point of overindulgence.
Maybe I was always an old fogey… <sigh>
Enjoy your upcoming legality!
FCM: No, no…the fun is in the bar-hopping, and the convivial companionship of her respected peers, not in getting blind drunk. Swiddles consumes a drink or two at three or four diferent taverns, nibbles something in between (I mean food! Quit sniggering!), has a good invigorating walk in the crisp Vermont winter air between stops, she’ll be just fine.
UncleBeer once stated, very wisely, somewhere around here, “Shots are for sprinters…I drink beer because I’m in it for the long haul.” Since you’re not a beer-drinker, I would recommend you drink some form of highball (a shot of liquor over ice in a tall glass mixed with 3-4 times as much nonalcoholic beverage).
Diluting the booze lessens the effect of the drug on your brain, and extends the evening’s fun. Drinking cocktails or other drinks that are almost totally liquor means you’ll be smashed before the evening really gets rolling.
I’m personally fond of bourbon and soda. There’s also Scotch and soda, brandy and soda. Gin and tonic and vodka and tonic. Rum and Coke. Don’t drink the tonic drinks between Labor Day and Memorial Day, though: seasonal faux pas.
Red wine will also peg you as a Class Act. Make sure you drink lotsa water betwen rounds, though.