Terrible vacation drama: did I get roofied?
My family is vacationing in Palm Springs right now, with two other families. So far, it’s been a great trip, filled with lots of pool time, hikes, pedicures for the moms, games with the kids, and delicious meals.
Last night, we decided to go out for Mexican food. We found a place not too far from our hotel that was very highly-rated and reviewed on Yelp. When we got there, we had to wait for almost an hour to get a table because of the size of our group (there are twelve of us). While we waited, we munched on chips and salsa and enjoyed their signature margaritas as we read through the menu. Everything looked delicious, we were having great conversations, our kids were happy…life was good.
We finally got a perfect table in a back corner of the restaurant and settled in. We ordered another round of drinks and some appetizers. This time, my friend and I decided to try a different kind of margarita from the menu. Our server recommended it, and it sounded yummy: El Jimador Tequila, their “own special citrus mix” and a float of Grand Marnier.
When the drinks arrived, we clinked glasses and took sips. The new batch tasted great as well. The evening flowed on as we ordered food, continued our conversations, and enjoyed the experience. Everything was fine until about halfway through the meal, when I suddenly felt totally drunk. This was odd, because I had only had one and a half drinks over a period of almost two hours. Quickly, the rest of the night became a blur. I don’t remember much of anything: finishing the meal, getting in the car (of course we had a designated driver), walking back to the hotel room…I seriously can’t remember any of that.
When we got back to the room, I collapsed onto the bed. The walls were spinning. My kids were really freaked out and kept asking Josh what was going on. Luckily, Josh is a very calm and reassuring person, so he was able to set them at ease after awhile. Then he got me a lot of water and some aspirin.
Meanwhile, the same thing was going on with my friend, the one who had also ordered the recommended margarita. I tried to text her but didn’t get very far because I couldn’t really see my phone screen.
Turns out she had had the exact same experience. She was completely passed out by the time I texted her. And we had the exact same thought: did someone put roofies in our drinks? Because they were WAY too strong to just be regular margaritas. Other people in our group had the same kind of margarita, but got them after we placed the initial order: their drinks were normal and they were fine. There was definitely something bad going on with ours, but we have no idea what it was. It could have been that they were just SUPER strong, but they didn’t taste it.
Luckily, the story just kind of ends there. We were really fortunate that we were in a big group who could take care of us and get us safely back to the hotel, because if it had been just the two of us out by ourselves, the story might have had a very different ending.
Has anything like this ever happened to you while on vacation? I hope not.
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VERY SCARY!
maybe the El Jimador Tequila was the 100 proof one?
Normally happens to me after my 6th rita.
Hi,
You need to go and see a doctor immediately and take drug tests to see if you where drugged. If you were drugged, then you need to report it to the police ASAP.
If you don’t do it, these degenerates will continue their practice and the next person might not be as lucky as you!
One of our local Mexican food places has been busted by the state twice for Serving moonshine in there margaritas. One of those drinks will get you totally wasted. I don’t drink alcoholic beverages but I have fun being the designated driver.
I had something similar happen close to home. Had one beer with a friend, hung out for at least an hour then we moved to a bar close to my house. Ordered one mixed drink at the bar and was completely drunk soon after. Fortunately I had walked because I was spinning by the time I got home. I think is was a combination of a have less alcohol tolerance as I get older (akkk) and I wouldn’t be surprised if my young bartender thinks it is “nice” to be heavy handed when pouring. If I had been driving that could have been dangerous. I stick to beer now when I know I have to drive because it is the only way to know for sure how long it takes for that to be out of my system. You never know with the cocktails. I think it is very unlikely that a perv would target someone who was with a party of 12, so getting a drug test might be on the over-reactive side.
Seems out that it would happen to the two of you and that it’s just more alcohol than you could handle. If you were drugged and don’t get tested and then it happens to some other women who isn’t safely with a group she can trust, how would you feel? I’d rather feel a little sheepish for overreacting.
Got totally wasted on ONE margarita at a Mexican restaurant a couple of years ago.
I honestly think it was probably heavy handed pouring for me and for you.
Everyone – Thank you for all of your concern and suggestions. I ended up calling the restaurant and speaking with the manager. He told me that when the bar is slammed, often the bartenders “get sloppy” and don’t measure out the alcohol – they just pour in a “really good amount.” So it seems that indeed my drink was just VERY STRONG. Our two drinks were in the same, too-strong round; the other drinks were served afterward in a normally-strong round. The manager apologized and offered to buy us dinner another night. All in all, a bad experience, but luckily not a nefarious one.
A very popular Mexican restaurant in Bethesda has a special margarita which actually uses 190 proof Everclear as it’s “secret” ingredient….might’ve been what happened. They should have told you though, if that was the case, when you ordered.
Robert – Agree. I wonder if this is what happened, because I swear the drink was very unusual.
I’ve had this once before, just from getting a STRONG drink instead of the usual watered-down drinks. Seems unlikely anyone would roofie random women in a large group.
Vicente – Yes, it does seems unlikely, which is why I didn’t immediately go to the doctor to get checked out. The drink was just REALLY strong or had some “secret” alcohol ingredient.