Late June. Eight in the evening and still eighty-nine degrees. The air thick enough to spread on toast. My brother-in-law Ray and I had reached the twelfth hole at PopStroke Daytona Beach in a state of mild, sweaty despair.
Then Ray said the bravest thing I have ever heard a man say: "Let's order something ridiculous."
We did it right there from the course. Two Tequila Creamsicles. And when they arrived, carried across the green like trophies, the whole evening changed temperature.
Patron Silver Tequila, clean and bright, a grown-up wink. Blended with Dreamsicle Swirl Ice Cream, orange and vanilla, the exact flavor of an ice cream truck song echoing down a cul-de-sac in 1987. Milk, cold and creamy. And whipped cream piled on top, a fluffy white cloud parked over the glass.
An orange creamsicle cocktail, the perfect summer adult beverage. They say so on the menu. They are not wrong.
Ray took a sip and went quiet. Then he stepped up to a downhill putt off the back tier, forty feet if it was an inch, and gave it the gentlest little tap.
It rolled forever. It found the cup. We stood there in the heat, whipped cream on our upper lips, a grown man and his sister-in-law shouting like kids on the last day of school.
More from the bar
Play through
the menu
Coconut Espresso Martini
1800 Coconut tequila, coconut syrup, freshly brewed espresso, garnished with espresso beans and toasted coconut
$8
Birdie Juice
New Amsterdam gin, cucumber, basil, strawberry monin, simple syrup, lime juice, sprite
$6.75
The Island Chick
Bacardi Rum, Gosling's Dark Rum, Disaronno Amaretto, grenadine, mango monin, orange juice, pineapple juice
$7.50