VELVET UNDERGROUND
Get the party started for 3-day weekend
By LESLEY ABRAVANEL
lank@aol.com
In a city where almost every weekend is memorable and partying is par for the course, we almost forgot that Memorial Day weekend starts, well, now. And for those who forgot to make plans, fret not, as there's plenty to do. Consider, for example, the Downtown Pop Festival at Tobacco Road at 7 p.m. Friday, featuring three stages and 17 bands running the gamut from rock and funk to folk and punk. Music is set to last til 2:30 a.m., and drinks are 96 cents apiece. Doors open at 6; get there before 9 and avoid the $10 cover charge. Event sponsors include the Big 105.9, the Paul and Young Ron morning show and Taco Bell, so you know it's going to be one sassy, spicy hoedown. For lineup info, check out queenofthescene.com.
If, for some reason, you don't find your soul mate this weekend, consider Wednesday night's swank Single & Fabulous Event, Rock the Boat, on the Biscayne Lady yacht docked across from the Eden Roc on Collins Avenue. Gals about town Tiffany Rosen and Erin Newberg will share Julie the Cruise Director duties while you enjoy Patron tequila, Ultimat vodka, Pyrat rum and Blue Moon beer as well as food and live music by Cleaveland Jones and DJ Johnny the Boy. For those with love lives as rocky as a three-hour tour on the high seas, don't worry. The yacht will remain docked the entire night so no need for Dramamine. Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door with a portion benefiting A Better Miami Beach Charity. Among the event's partners, the Walk of Shame Kit. So much for subtle innuendo. Party starts at 8 and ends (on the boat, anyway) at 11. For tickets, e-mail Tiffany@fabulousalways.com.
And after enduring the singles scene for a night or more, some would say a Girls' Night Out is a panacea. From June 1-Oct. 15, The Sagamore is offering a $69 per-person, per-night package for four that includes a suite, continental breakfast, morning-after round of poolside mimosas or bloody marys, a manicure at the RikRak Beauty Bungalow and VIP entrance and free drink at Aerobar. Catch is you must book by June 30 with the code Girls' Night Out. Note that the $69 rate is good midweek and rises to $99 on weekends, availability is limited and there is a two-night minimum.
Always available are deals at 660 Mediterranean Kitchen at the Angler's Hotel, whose Twilight Dining options not only offer delightful ambience -- you'd never know you were on Washington Avenue -- and a specially priced bar and tapas menu available from 8-10 nightly. On one Friday in particular it felt like midnight at the oasis, with scads of scenesters scurrying in from the street to drink in cocktails and the ambience.
If you're looking for an affordable place to imbibe on Monday, consider RA Sushi in South Miami, which is offering a special RA, White and Blue Happy Hour. All proceeds go to the St. Jude Children's Hospital. The happy hour features snacks starting at $3.25 and specialty beer, wine and cocktails from $5 a pop.
Continuing the bargain boozing on Wednesday is the Recessionista Wine Dinner at Wish, where for $65 per person -- and price includes tax and gratuity -- you can stuff your face with a three-course menu with wine pairings. Ten percent of proceeds will benefit American Institute of Wine and Food culinary scholarships. These Recessionista dinners will be monthly, most likely until the experts say the dreaded R word is over. For reservations, call 305-663-9641.
Another deal, this time at the swanky Setai, which has introduced the appropriately titled Bottleshock, a handpicked monthly collection of 65 wines all discounted 40 percent and a three-course prix fixe dinner at $45 per person offered daily from 7-11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 7 to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Valet is a deeply discounted $8. We know the economy is in a bad way, but deals like these are worth memorializing.
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