Things To Do In SW Florida

The city of Winter Park is preparing to buy land next to a key intersection to improve traffic and expand a popular park, but owners of two well-known local businesses are concerned they’ll be told to relocate — a costly endeavor.

The City Commission voted unanimously Nov. 13 to buy the 1-acre parcel on Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive for $4 million, pending a 75-day period for inspections before the sale is finalized.

Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said the city has eyed the land for over 25 years to help alleviate traffic congestion and accidents, allow better stormwater retention and enhance Martin Luther King, Jr., Park.

Winter Park would become landlord for the four businesses on the land. This includes the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Soseki and Austin’s Coffee shop, as well as nail salon Nail Alchemy.

DeCiccio told the Sentinel she isn’t sure if leases will be renewed once they expire and that the city is looking at “everything” to come to that determination.

The future for the businesses depends in part on how quickly the city can get permits to add the left-turn lanes on Fairbanks, which is a state road and requires approval from the Florida Department of Transportation. read more

By HALELUYA HADERO and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

Consumers in the United States are scouring the internet for online deals as they look to take advantage of the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon with Cyber Monday.

Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of many people’s regular routines and the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday — a term coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation — has become the biggest online shopping day of the year, thanks to the deals and the hype the industry has created to fuel it.

Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping, expects consumers to spend a record $13.2 billion on Monday, 6.1% more than last year. That would make it the season’s — and the year’s — biggest — shopping day for e-commerce.

Online spending is expected to peak between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Monday night, per Adobe — reaching an estimated $15.7 million spent every minute.

For several major retailers, a Cyber Monday sale is a dayslong event that began over the Thanksgiving weekend. Amazon kicked off its sales event right after midnight Pacific time on Saturday. Target’s two days of discount offers on its website and app began overnight Sunday. Walmart rolled out its Cyber Monday offers for Walmart+ members on Sunday afternoon and opened it up to all customers three hours later, at 8 p.m. Eastern time. read more

Do you have a bird or Florida nature lover on your holiday list? Check out this online Oviedo store, which offers field guide-style art prints featuring birds and wildlife from the Sunshine State. Or how about a tale of an adventurous canine visiting an ice cream shop for children who like reading (or being read to)? And don’t forget your friends who are into customized gifts such as charcuterie boards, wine stoppers and wooden Santa cookie trays.

Kate Dolamore Art

Florida native Kate Dolamore is a watercolor nature artist who is best known for her field guide-style art prints, which started with backyard birds of Florida and have since grown to include butterflies, land mammals, marine mammals, freshwater fish, wildflowers, diurnal raptors and owls. She also sells stickers, ornaments, apparel, accessories and home goods featuring the flora and fauna of the Sunshine State.

“I’m a Florida native and not only do I paint things found in nature, but I spend all my free time there studying the animals, plants, and insects that inspire my art,” she says. “Florida is one of the most biodiverse states in the U.S., so I am constantly learning and never bored.” read more

Forward/Slash Private Tasting Experience: Learning is intoxicating

Give the gift of interactive learning to your spirit-centric loved one with a private tasting experience at Winter Park’s Forward/Slash Distillery. Here, you’ll journey into the art of whiskey blending for a two-hour class that’s available for groups as small as 2 ($75 per person) and up to 10 ($60 per person). The more attendees, the less expensive the class.

Each adventure begins with a welcome cocktail at the intimate front-of-house Forward/Slash bar and includes a guided tour of the distillery and a tasting flight. Throughout the experience, you’ll learn what it takes to blend unique bottles like the ones you’ll find here (which, by the way, are also available for purchase. Cocktails and merch, too!

The classes have proven so popular, in fact, that F/S has added some spin-off varieties, including Bonsai & Bourbon (a monthly bonsai-pruning class that pairs with bourbon), Cookies & Cocktails (previously hosted by the local cookie monsters at Phat Ash Bakes — cookies are paired with cocktails) and Whiskey & Cheese (a tasting class led by the distillery pros and the experts at Simply Cheese). Coming in Spring 2025: Olive Oil & Whiskey. read more

DENVER — For years, Airbnb gave travelers access to reasonably priced, home-like stays. From staying in a Victorian home to a charming downtown loft, users of the popular short-term rental app were loyal and happy to shun corporate-owned chain hotels.

Airbnb offers a diverse range of accommodations in Denver with over 1,000 active listings. And Denver was listed as part of Airbnb’s top 10 U.S. cities with the most adventurous travelers in 2023. Tied for third among Houston and Atlanta, Airbnb guests from Denver visited nearly 80% of counties in the U.S.

But many users have begun to grapple with the shifting economics of short-term rentals. The cost of an Airbnb has increased so much that in many cases it’s no longer a cheaper option than a hotel.

Airbnb users like New York resident Jack Hahne, said the cost and experience of a stay is not what it used to be as he recently completed a solo road trip across the U.S.

“For a lot of the cases, either the price was about the same, maybe a little cheaper, but just wasn’t as convenient as like a hotel would be in terms of flexibility of like check-in times,” he said. read more