Things To Do In SW Florida

As a local, Jim Greene is very excited about Disney Springs’ newest sip, SunShine Stroll Orange Pilsner — because it’s local, too. The beer’s July 1 release pairs neatly with the return of Flavors of Florida, which offers visitors to the Springs a taste of the Sunshine State.

Greene, general manager operations for Disney Springs, hails from Satellite Beach. SunShine Stroll Orange Pilsner, a light and citrusy offering, is custom crafted by Playalinda Brewing Co. from Titusville, an old rival city of Greene’s.

“We used to play them in football!” he notes with enthusiasm, but he reserves the bulk of his excitement for the beer itself — the refreshing result of years’ worth of visitor queries.

“Both domestic and international travelers ask about local beer all the time and ask, ‘What do you have that I can’t get anywhere else?’ We never had an answer.”

Now, they do — the Pilsner is a Disney Springs exclusive — and it joins the fourth annual Flavors of Florida lineup of more than 80 items, found at more than 40 locations from kiosks and fast-casual offerings, to storefront stop-ins, to fast-casual and full-service restaurants. read more

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion, a move that it says will improve plane quality and safety amid increasing scrutiny by Congress, airlines and the Department of Justice.

Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners, including 737s and 787s.

“We believe this deal is in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our shareholders and the country more broadly,” Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement late Sunday.

Concerns about safety came to a head after the Jan. 5 blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) over Oregon. The Federal Aviation Administration soon after announced increased oversight of Boeing and Spirit, which supplied the fuselage for the plane. read more

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I bought two business class tickets through Chatdeal to fly from Dallas to Auckland on American Airlines. The airline downgraded us to economy plus and told us at the gate that we would automatically receive a refund from the airline for the price difference within seven days. We also received a $600 voucher from American for our inconvenience.

When we returned to the United States, I called American several times to inquire about our refund. Initially, a representative told us that we had to wait seven days after the completion of the whole flight. Then a representative said that they could not find our flight information because it was a codeshare flight with Qantas.

Finally, an American agent said that the airline wasn’t responsible for the refund because our tickets were on Qantas, and American was just the operating carrier from Dallas to Auckland.

I have contacted Qantas several times. I also contacted Chatdeal because I bought the tickets through them, but they have not been able to resolve the issue. So far, no one is willing to take responsibility for our refund. It is obvious that they are passing the buck. It’s been almost three months since our flight. Can you help? read more

DAYTONA BEACH — Galaxies to the left, galaxies to the right. Galaxies overhead. There’s no shortage of celestial highlights culled from some of the best images ever taken in space as visitors make their way to upgraded planetarium at Daytona’s Museum of Arts and Science.

“We want the experience to begin even before you make your way into the theater, to really be immersed in space,” said MOAS’ Curator of Science Seth Mayo, who is also director of its Lohman Planetarium.

The lobby outside the planetarium’s entrance is filled with massive shots taken from the Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope and even the International Space Station with a shot of Earth that includes Florida.

“Almost every moment you look around, there’s something to learn,” he says pointing out images and rattling off names like the Sombrero Galaxy, Cosmic Reef Nebula and the popular Pillars of Creation, which were repurposed from a popular 2023 exhibit tied to James Webb. “As you walk in, people can sit down and enjoy the space, enjoy all the visuals around them before they even make their way into a show.” read more

Jim Buchta | Star Tribune (TNS)

Last year, after Deb Jerikovsky’s husband died, she decided to swap the lake home where they planned to spend retirement for a house in the metro that’s closer to family.

She put that plan on hold, however, once she realized 7% mortgage rates would force her to dip too deeply into her savings. Instead, she moved in with her daughter, hoping she’d eventually score a lower rate.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Mortgage rates were still hovering near 7% last October when she ran across a listing for a townhouse in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, that touted a KitchenAid fridge, electronic blinds and an unexpected extravagance: a low-interest assumable mortgage.

“It was like winning the lottery,” said Jerikovsky, who assumed the seller’s 2.25% mortgage rate.

The deal saved her about $700 a month compared with today’s rates and gave her enough room in her budget to buy a new car and spend part of the winter with her aunt in Florida. Her $349,900 townhouse is one of hundreds of listings in the Twin Cities with an assumable mortgage eligible sellers can transfer to qualifying buyers, teleporting them back to a time of record-low rates. read more