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Burin Asavesna via Flickr Creative Commons

Just don't drink so many that your skin matches the cocktail.

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How much food and beer can a crowd pack away on a day like St. Patrick's Day? Kurt Ditzler, general manager for Playwright Irish Pub at the Village at Gulfstream Park puts the estimate fairly high. "We're planning on going through a hundred pounds of corned beef and fifteen cases of potatoes," he said via email earlier this week. The Irish pub has fifteen kegs of Guinness in the cooler ready to satisfy those who won't be chugging the green beer.

Playwright is part of the Village at Gulfstream Park's "Second Floor Party" planned for Saturday. The action starts at 2 p.m., with Playwright and the Martini Bar offering food and drink specials and live Irish music 'til the wee hours of Sunday morning. Playwright will serve its biggest St. Patrick's Day sellers, Shepherd's pie and of course, corned beef and cabbage. An additional "Party at the Park" outside will have yet even more chances to listen to live music while imbibing your favorite Irish treats.
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Want your guests to return? If so, introduce them to these lovely ladies from the Wreck.

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Here in South Florida, we're pretty damned good at drinking -- particularly in bars. When someone visits from out of town, it's only right to share some of this talent with your guest. Given that our region is home to some pretty out-of-the-ordinary drinking destinations, you've got extra motivation to load up the visitors and ferry them to something a bit more unusual than your local hole in the wall or sports bar. Below are five of South Florida's best bars to take out-of-towners. As always, please let us know your picks -- and why they belong on this list -- in the comments section.

Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show

The full dinner and show experience at this ultra-kitschy restaurant and lounge can get pretty pricey, but your guest will probably be just as entertained if you forgo the main course for a round or two of showy cocktails. Try the rum-soaked happy hour at the Molokai Bar from 5 to 7 p.m. daily and get half off appetizers. Keep an eye out for young lovelies in midriff-baring island garb, and toast to the good life over behemoth tiki drinks.More >>

​While many of my food-focused friends have this Breville contraption so they can make themselves a glass of beet ginger juice in the morning, I was gifted the aluminum thing from the '50's that looks like a torture device. A family friend loved them so much that he bought one for me. I've grown to love it, especially down here in Florida.

"You've missed the red navels," said a guy shopping for his wife at Bob Roth's Groves yesterday afternoon. "These just aren't as good." We were sampling navels, and honestly, he spoke like one who'd been spoiled by what we've got. I was looking for Temples, anyway. I knew they had just become available. There was one bag left for me. 

Navels are what we're most familiar with, though the season ends in late January. Named for a resemblance to its namesake, it's easy to peel yet not as juicy as other oranges, while the red navel that's sold through December has a deeper hue and notes of berry.
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Kirti Poddar via Flickr Creative Commons

Whet your appetite for drink at "Cocktail Culture."

​As if you need an excuse to partake of a festive martini or highball this time of year, Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach is hosting an ode to all things shaken and stirred with "Cocktail Culture."

The 150-plus-piece exhibition features ads, accessories, fashion, and objets d'art that prove America's current cocktail infatuation ain't nothing new.

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