Great Dates Orlando

Saturday Mornings in Downtown Winter Garden

Last Saturday I was in downtown Winter Garden for a photography class. Rather than sit in a classroom and talk about taking pictures, we wandered along Plant Street and took them. Besides upping my photog skills, I also left that day with a new appreciation for downtown Winter Garden. With its independently owned cafes, ice cream parlors, one-off shops, and stellar farmer’s market, turns out Winter Garden is a fabulous place for Orlando couples to spend a Saturday morning day date. Here's a fun little pictorial of all there is to discover:

It seemed like everyone was riding bikes in Winter Garden. Don't have one? You can rent one at Wheel Works on Plant Street.

 

Besides plays and concerts, the Garden Theatre also features a fun summer movie series with lots of retro favorites.

The Winter Garden Farmer's Market runs Saturdays from 9am - 2pm.

The Chef's Table at the Edgewater Hotel is definitely an area favorite for dinner.

Scoops Old Fashioned Ice Cream Store

Seeds Natural Market and Juice Bar

There are more than a dozen little cafes, restaurants, and coffee shops along Plant Street.

Ms. Bee's Popcorn & Candy Shoppe

Win 2 VIP Tickets to Velvet Sessions + Dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel

Each month, Great Dates Orlando sends a different couple on an awesome date night. The pair becomes the "Couple at Large" and are charged with reporting back to readers the details of their night.  

You may recall that I am already sending a couple to the May 17^th Vine & Dine 5-course wine dinner at the Rosen Center, but this month there are 2 Couple at Large giveaways!

On Thursday, May 30, one lucky couple will attend Velvet Sessions, featuring The Fixx ("One Thing Leads to Another," "Saved by Zero,"), with a VIP pass for Orlando's only monthly rock 'n' roll cocktail party and lobby concert. Hosted at Velvet Bar on the last Thursday of most months, each “session” combines creative cocktails with live music from some of the hottest rock bands.

Besides the VIP tickets, the Couple at Large will also receive free specialty drinks, access to a special viewing area with private bar, complimentary valet parking and a pre-concert DINNER FOR TWO at The Kitchen restaurant, also inside the Hard Rock Hotel.

TO ENTER: First, make sure you’re actually available to attend the Thursday, May 30^th Velvet Sessions featuring The Fixx.

Second, leave a comment on this blog post that says "pick me!" You and your sweetie can each enter… double your chances.     

For extra entries, go to the Great Dates Orlando Facebook page and like the post announcing that this month's Couple at Large selection has begun. Leave another comment on this blog post letting me know you have done this. You can also share that Facebook post for added entry but you need to come back to this blog post and leave a comment telling me that you shared. Because of privacy settings, I can’t see all shares.

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, May 23^rd using the random number generator at Random.org. Watch your email that afternoon; that's how I'll be contacting the winner. I'll also be announcing the winner on Twitter.

Good luck!

Make sure you're signed up to receive the FREE weekly date night email delivered every Thursday... just in time for the weekend! Subscribe HERE. 

Happy Hour Deals + Mimosa Flights at Eola Wine Company

By Tisha Mccray

 Happy hours are a great way to try new places while watching your pennies. I love finding great happy hours, but I feel an extra sense of victory when I find a happy hour that none of my friends know about. That’s where today’s feature comes in: Eola Wine Company.

Eola Wine Company is hands down my favorite place to meet up with friends for a glass of wine during the week, or going with my sweetie on the weekend for brunch. Eola Wine Company has two locations, one on Central Avenue in downtown Orlando and another location on Park Avenue in Winter Park. While both locations are great, each location has its own awesome reasons for going.

Downtown Eola Wine Company

Located right off Central Avenue, this location is great for people watching .The happy hour here is $10 off any bottle of wine and a FREE FLATBREAD of your choice. The flatbread is more of a small pizza with about 5-6 pieces and splitting it always works out fabulously for me. The bottles of wine start at $28, so going during happy hour and getting food kicked in is a pretty sweet deal. The happy hour is Monday – Thursday from 5pm – 7pm and trust me, you'll want to go at least once to try out the Roasted Chicken pizza.

Winter Park Eola Wine Company

Located on Park Avenue, you know that this location offers a prime spot to stop, while cruising “The Avenue.” My sweetie and I head here for brunch because they have mimosa flights that are featured ONLY for brunch. You get four flavors (Orange, Raspberry/Strawberry, Banana and Peach), and once you pick your favorite, you get that one in that flavor for free (I’m in love with Banana). The mimosa flight is $10, and in my opinion, it is a great way to have a variety of mimosas without a huge price. They also feature 2-4-1 select draught craft beers, which is a great idea for beer drinkers looking to try some of the seasonal flavors.  

Although the Downtown location also offers craft beers, the folks at the Winter Park location seem to specialize in beer. The Winter Park location does brunch well with a great menu of small bites, and an incredible BBT. That’s Bacon, Basil, Tomato and cream cheese bagel sandwich. It’s pretty great and goes well with mimosas or beer.

I honestly cannot emphasize how much you need to try both locations, but for different meals, different reasons. You will get an amazing experience enjoying what each location does best and get a great deal too. 

 

Cirque du Soleil Presents Quidam at UCF Arena May 15 - 19

Cirque du Soleil, the international phenomenon, will bring its critically- acclaimed production, Quidam, to Orlando from May 15 to 19 at UCF Arena for eight unforgettable performances.

Quidam had its world premiere in Montreal under the Big Top in April 1996. Since then the production has toured on five continents and been experienced by millions of people.

The international cast features 52 world-class acrobats, musicians, singers and characters. Young Zoé is bored; her parents, distant and apathetic, ignore her. Her life has lost all meaning. Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world— the world of Quidam—where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul.

Show Schedule
Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 17 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 18 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 19 at 1 p.m and 5 p.m.

Tickets, which start at $30 each, can be purchased at www.cirquedusoleil.com/quidam, by phone at 1 800-745-3000 or in person at the UCF Box Office.

 

 

Fringe Festival = 14 Days of Date Nights

The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival returns once again May 15-28 showcasing roughly 500 uncensored and non-juried performances at various venues in and around the Loch Haven Park area, just north of downtown Orlando.

Founded on the concept of offering accessible theatre, music, dance, and art to all types and ages—with 100% of the box office ticket sales going directly back to the artists—this 14-day-festival is the longest running Fringe Festival in the United States, celebrating 22 years as “Orlando’s most unique cultural experience”. 

Besides the performances, which range from quirky to inspiring to bawdy, Fringe also features a lively outdoor stage, the infamous beer tent, Visual Fringe, Kids Fringe, and lots of food and art vendors to check out onsite.

How To Do Fringe

Start out by perusing the calendar to see which performances match your interest and schedule. Each performing group determines their own ticket price, but typically tickets range from free – $11 + a $1.25 ticket surcharge for each ticket purchased online and a $1 ticket surcharge for each ticket purchased at the Fringe Box Office regardless of payment type. Most Fringe shows are 60 minutes long. No show exceeds 90 minutes.

I’m excited about the PechaKucha Orlando performances. These 6-minute presentations using 20 slides and only 20 seconds per slide will be scheduled on four separate nights with different speakers each time. Also, 4 TRUTHS AND A LIE is always one of Fringe’s most popular shows. Best thing to do is read through all the descriptions and see which ones float your boat.

You’ll also need to buy a Fringe button, which, once purchased, is good for the entire festival. A Fringe button is required to enter any Fringe show within any venue for anyone 13 years and older. The button costs $9 (cash only) with proceeds going directly to support the Fringe. Buttons cannot be purchased online; they can only be purchased at any of the Fringe Box Offices and various Fringe Merchandise Booths located throughout the Festival.

There is lots of free parking within the Loch Haven Park facilities plus a limited amount of free street parking around Loch Haven Park and Ivanhoe Village. Check the Mills 50 area for additional free Fringe parking. You may also try one of the local parking garages (such as at the Orlando Science Center), which are just a short walk to all of the Loch Haven facilities.

For more info, read through this great list of Fringe tips created by Fringe organizers. 

 

By the way, you should follow GDO on Twitter and Facebook for even MORE great date night ideas!

 

 

deep blu seafood grille at Wyndham Bonnet Creek

There is no shortage of great restaurants within Walt Disney World Resort’s 40 square miles. Places like Victoria and Albert’s, Fulton’s Crab House, and California Grill will come to mind, but the area’s breakout favorite in the last 12 months is the lesser-known deep blu seafood grille.  

Tucked inside the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort, and just a stone’s throw from Epcot, deep blu’s success and popularity is owed, at least in part, to Chef Cory York, the epicurean mastermind that has won Best Chef in Orlando Magazine’s Dining Awards for 2 years in a row. Deep Blue also won this year for Best Hotel Restaurant and Best Seafood Restaurant.  

After a recent visit to deep blu, I’m inclined to agree with the thousands of readers that cast their vote in favor of this up-and-coming eatery, which opened just 18 months ago.  

As soon as we handed our keys to the valet and wandered into the lobby, Marc and I were immediately taken with the stately but slightly whimsical décor at Bar 1521, located at the entrance of the restaurant. Named for the year our beloved Ponce de Leon met his maker, the bar prides itself on serving local libations, including a Central Florida Cosmo made with vodka from Winter Park Distilling Company. I’m told you can get a good view of Epcot’s nightly fireworks from the Bar 1521’s outdoor patio.  

Inside deep blu’s dining room with its cathedral wood-planked ceiling and sumptuously tiled exhibition kitchen, we settled into our straight-back leather chairs and gazed at our menu.  

If you’re starting to get the picture that this restaurant is on the pricey side, you’re on the right track. Deep blu is definitely the sort of place where bills exceed the double digits, but for your $100+ check you’ll be spoiled with unbelievable service (did I mention deep blu also won in Orlando Mag’s dining awards for service?) and really, really good food. And what you DON’T get with this classy locale is a stuffy or snobby atmosphere. As the restaurants slowly filled up, I noticed that guests wore everything from suits to t-shirts.  

Pass on Chef York’s crab cake and you’ll be making a grave error. The crab to “cake” ratio is so weighted towards the giant nuggets of lump crab that it’s hardly fair to even group it in the category of “crab cakes.” It was, by far, the best crab cake I have ever tasted.  

For our entrée, we opted for the day’s featured item, which just happened to be Chilean sea bass. But the steaks came so highly recommended that we decided to also order the 6oz filet mignon. The kitchen happily split our order so Marc and I each received half the steak and half the fish artfully set on our plates. For our entrée side, we chose good ol’ grilled asparagus in favor of heavier items like blu Crab Mac N’ Cheese and Tempura Broccoli.  

The move was genius because it managed to conserve a few inches of gut space so that we could squeeze in some dessert from deep blu’s highly tempting and innovative dessert menu. I’m still talking about Chef York’s Key Lime Pie Gelle, which was made with a graham cracker short dough crust and this pear-like topping he calls “mango caviar.”  

Overall, I couldn’t find a single flaw in our inaugural deep blu experience. And even though Marc and I live a solid 30 miles away, I know we’ll be back again. Deep blu seafood grille is officially date night approved!  

P.S. One last thing I wanted to mention: deep blu offers a chef’s table experience, which invites foodies to sit at the handful of chairs overlooking the exhibition kitchen. All night long, chefs will continue to supply epicurean adventurers with small bites of everything they’re cooking, which means you’ll get to sample almost everything on the menu by the time the night is through. Price ranges from $100-200 per person depending on wine pairings and requests.

deep blu seafood grille
14651 Chelonia Parkway, Orlando
407.390.2420
deepbluorlando.com

 

Win 2 VIP Tickets to the 20th Florida International Beer Festival

WINNER: Jennifer Scott

55 different breweries will be represented at this year’s Florida International Beer Festival, Saturday, May 18, 2013 from 5pm-9pm at Heritage Square (next to the Orange County History Center in downtown Orlando).  

Besides unlimited samples of beers from all over the world, attendees will also enjoy lots of free grub from area restaurants plus live music from local musicians.  

Tickets are $25 in advance (cash only), $30 online, or $35 at the gate.  

VIP tickets, which include unlimited samples of beer and food, access to the VIP tent, catered meal, full pours of exclusive and select beer and wines, complimentary premium cigar, and private rest room, are $50 online only.  

WIN 2 VIP TICKETS HERE! To enter, simple leave a comment on this blog post with the name of your favorite beer. You and your sweetie can each enter… double your chances.  

The winner will be chosen on Wednesday, May 15 using the random number generator at Random.org. Watch your email that afternoon; that's how I'll be contacting the winner. I'll also be announcing the winners on Twitter. I am not able to announce winner's names on Facebook.

Good luck!     

 

Starlit Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides in Celebration

I’ll be the first to admit it: Celebration is quite a hike for date night. But the Pleasantville town with its charming lakefront Town Center is worth a visit, at least once, for date night.

Besides being a great place to simply stroll around and window shop, Celebration is also home to a handful of noteworthy restaurants, including Columbia and Seito Sushi, as well as a pub, wine bar, ice cream shop, and vintage movie theater. Celebration Hotel’s Sunday brunch provides another justification for making the drive.

If you’re planning a weekend visit, consider upping the romance by sharing a ride on a horse-drawn carriage. For nearly a decade, Misty Blue Acres Carriage Company has been taking couples on scenic tours through Celebration’s quintessentially American streets. Departing from the Town Center’s lakefront, the one-horse carriage slowly meanders on a 20-minute ride through the neighborhood every Friday and Saturday evenings from 6pm – 10pm as well as Sundays from 11am – 3pm. Cost is $25 per couple, cash only.  

Guys planning to pop the question should consider calling Misty Blue Acres ahead of time (321-624-6380) so the ride time can be reserved and any other secret plans can be made.   

 

Make sure you're signed up to receive the FREE weekly date night email delivered every Thursday... just in time for the weekend! Subscribe HERE. 

 

Chocolate Making and Wine Pairing Class

Chocolate and wine… it’s a match made in heaven. We’re bringing the two worlds together for a very special Chocolate Making and Wine Pairing class on Saturday, May 18 at Farris and Foster’s Chocolate Factory’s Baldwin Park location.  

Beginning at 8pm, couples will arrive at their station complete with everything they need to make four different chocolate creations using dark, milk, and white chocolate. Along the way, experts from the Rioja wine region of Spain will be pairing wines and sharing insights about which combinations work best.  

Cost is just $29 per couple.  

All evening long, couples will be nibbling chocolate and sipping wine… what could be more decadent than that?  At the end of this 90-minute affair, couples can depart with a half-pound of the chocolate treats they’ve created. 

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets. 

 

May Couple at Large Giveaway: Rosen Centre’s Vine & Dine Monthly Wine Dinner

WINNER CHOSEN. Congratulations Brad and Christina Reed!

Each month, Great Dates Orlando sends a different couple on an awesome date night. The pair becomes the "Couple at Large" and are charged with reporting back to readers the details of their night.  

May’s lucky couple will be heading to the Rosen Centre Hotel to take part in the monthly Vine & Dine wine pairing dinner series inside the renowned Everglades Restaurant.  Scheduled for Friday, May 17 at 6:30pm, this five-course feast will feature a wine pairing with each course all centered around this month’s theme: "It's All a Blend,” which will focus on fusion food and blended wines.  

Now in its seventh year, the Rosen Centre series invites foodies to bring their sense of adventure and their appetite to an epicurean affair designed to delight as well as educate. These events, which usually last three to four hours, feature a wine speaker who engages the attendees in casual conversation about the food and the wine during the five-course gourmet dinner.  

All Vine & Dine events begin with a welcome reception featuring wine or unique wine cocktail. Also expect wonderful raffle prizes including free bottles of wine and other wine gifts. The cost of each Vine & Dine dinner is $75 per person, plus tax and 20 percent gratuity. Valet parking is complimentary. With the exception of gratuity, Mays’ Couple at Large will be attending at no cost.  

TO ENTER: CONTEST CLOSED First, make sure you’re actually available to attend the Friday, May 17th Vine & Dine dinner. 

Second, leave a comment on this blog post that says "pick me!" You and your sweetie can each enter… double your chances.    

For extra entries, go to the Great Dates Orlando Facebook page and like the post announcing that this month's Couple at Large selection has begun. You can share that Facebook post for added entry but you need to come back to this blog post and leave a comment telling me that you shared. Because of privacy settings, I can’t see all shares.

The winner will be chosen on Friday, May 10th using the random number generator at Random.org. Watch your email that afternoon; that's how I'll be contacting the winner. I'll also be announcing the winner on Twitter.    

Good luck! 

 

By the way, you should follow GDO on Twitter and Facebook for even MORE great date night ideas!