Birthday Report

To celebrate my last year in my 20s, I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends at the Cactus Club, where we drank a lot of sangria and margaritas (well, at least I did) and ate Mexican food. The servers did an excellent job managing our large and loud party, and I would definitely recommend the CC as a good place to go for a fun, inexpensive group dinner. Afterwards, several of us went to Salsa Night at An Tua Nua. We got there late and missed the part of the lesson where they teach the basic steps, so we were a little bit lost on the more complicated turns. It was really hot in the room where the lesson was held, so one by one we all ended up moving into the front room, where karaoke was going on. However, once the lessons ended, the floor in the back room opened up for dancing. Most of the couples on the dance floor knew what they were doing, whereas I dance like Elaine. Good thing I have no qualms about making a fool of myself. I had a lot of fun, and would definitely go back. The $10 cover is kind of a pain, but I understand why they charge so much, because the majority of the people there don't buy a single drink, they just spend the entire night salsaing. The only complaint I have, aside from the fact the room was about 100 degrees, is that they didn't mix up the music enough. I would have liked to hear some more meringue, bachata, cumbia, and even reggaeton, and not just the same salsa beat. In my opinion, Boston sorely lacks a fun Latin bar. The couple of places that do offer Salsa Night tend to be a too formal and structured for my tastes. In DC, Miami, and San Diego, I've gone to really fun dance bars where all of the normal people dance (not just the salsa sharks), and the music is all Spanish, but with much more variety. Here's a photo of Ern and Toshi showing off their hot new moves: