Surviving Major Drinking Events Like Tailgate Parties, Concerts & Festivals
We know how it is, you’re at one of those all-day events where you might start drinking at, say 8 a.m. – hey kegs and eggs! – and you’ve still got about eight hours to go before the actual event.
So how to you keep your balance let alone maintain a steady pace of drinking without getting puking sick and ruining the whole thing?
Well, I’ve got the answers for you because I’m a party veteran: 60+ Jimmy Buffett concerts, countless football tailgate parties and crazy things like St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah, Ga;, and New Orleans Jazzfest followed by a night on Bourbon Street. And if that’s not enough credentials for you, then you can just suffer!
So pay attention folks; in fact, bookmark this page in your smartphone so you can follow them at the event(s).
1.) Don’t Do Shots Early
Okay, this is the most basic of party survival tactics. Save the shots for later! Start your drinking slowly. If you start out with shots then you render all the other points, well, pointless.
2.) Don’t Mix Your Alcohol
If you start with one type of liquor, stick with it. Don’t have a vodka drink, then switch to whiskey, etc. Pick your “poisin” ahead of time and stay with it the entire day. Actually, you can adjust this by observing rule #3 because beer is the way to start your long day of partying.
3.) Start With Beer And Stick With It For At Least Half The Day
You’re going to be drinking for several hours and with that volume of alcohol, you’re way better off just sticking to beer the whole time, or at the very least for half of the day. Of course, with anything, you can over-do it.
4.) Pace Yourself Early
This is the real key to surviving a long drinking day. Start slowly. Let it come to you; it’s not natural to be drinking before noon (well for most of us!) Don’t pound so ease into it. How many times have you been on a party bus or to an event where some radical dude is doing the “yeaahhhh” by pounding beers early, then is passed out or puking by the afternoon? I have seen this several times. Don’t be this fool.
5.) Drink Water With Your Alcohol
Yeah, I know it’s hard to grab some water instead of a beer or cocktail when it’s time to have another drink, but do it about every hour.
6.) Drink Juices With Alcohol, Not Sweet Sodas
Having cheap, sweet drinks sure way to get sick. So instead of mixing sodas with your alcohol, have juice, like orange juice or grapefruit juice. A bonus is that it tastes way better too!
6.) Make Sure You Eat!
Eat before you start and pause your drinking to eat again. For me, I do the latter when I feel what I refer to as the “too early drunk buzz” starting to take hold of me. That is, say, 3-5 o’clock when I feel I’m starting to go from fun buzz to drunk. I pause, have some water and get some food.
IF YOU GET A HANGOVER TRY THESE CURES
Okay, you didn’t puke but you feel like doing it the next day. Hold off and follow these hangover cures. If none of this works, then you’re beyond my professional help.
• Eat a banana. If you’re really hurting, eat two bananas.
• Don’t drink coffee (it will further dehydrate you). Iced tea, on the other hand is great; drink a gallon of it! (Unsweetened.)
• Do eat; make it something good and hearty.
• Keep hydrating by taking liquids; keep drinking water and/or iced tea or even lemonade.
• Take some aspirin or Tylenol. Or better yet, vitamins.
• Get out of bed, walk around, perhaps even do a light workout. You need to get the blood pumping
• Brush your teeth. Two or three times if you have to; the sooner you get rid of that “booze breath” the sooner you’ll start to feel better.
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