People Spent Many Nights Dancing On The Bar At This Long Lost Portland Hotspot

If you could take a time machine back to Portland's Old Port in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there's a lot of places you wouldn't recognize today.

At that point in time, clubs like Liquid Blue and Industry nearly outnumbered the traditional bars you'll find on every corner today.

One place that people who visited the Old Port during that era fondly remember is The Iguana. The Iguana was a little mix of everything, could be your spot to pregame, a place to see live music or even dance the night away on top of their large bar.

In a photo shared on Facebook by Marshall Fonseca, you can see what a busy night at The Iguana would have typically looked like.

Popular songs blasting on the sound system, bartenders encouraging dancers on the bar and a lot of onlookers battling their way to the front of a drink. Speaking of drinks, The Iguana's signature was an "iguana bowl", a chaotic concoction reminiscent of a "volcano or scorpion bowl" you might find at Asian restaurants. Iguana bowls were often blamed for poor decisions or public humiliation during the heyday of the bar.

The Iguana also hosted live bands from time to time as well as seen in this photo shared on Facebook by A.J. Morrill.

For many frequenters of The Iguana, the bar also had a persistent issue. The "smell". Plumbing problems often wreaked havoc inside the cramped space, leaving a horrendous odor permeating the bar, especially in the winter when the doors and windows couldn't be opened.

No amount of alcohol content in iguana bowls could solve that.

Like many of the bars and clubs along Wharf Street, The Iguana found its demise in June of 2008. For many though, it still holds a special place in their heart. A night out with friends, a first date or perhaps a moment in time nobody ever speaks of again.