According to a recent CNN report, 1.3 percent fewer Americans are expected to fly this summer than last summer. Heathrow-based AAA also projects that due to expensive gasoline and the economic downturn, Memorial Weekend auto travel will be down for the first time since 2002, when people were reluctant to travel following 9/11.
One needn’t be a rocket scientist to know that in Central and West Florida, we live in the world’s capital of tourism. While others shell out thousands of dollars and Euros to fly and stay here, we don’t have to pay ever-increasing airfare costs and extra-bag fees—there are palm trees, beaches and unexpected amusements right here in our own backyard. If you’ve got some vacation time coming and not a ton of money—or you just want your cash to go further—consider staying local. Yes, we know the word “staycation” is travel-marketing speak, but right about now, it just makes sense to save on gas and airfare, and spend money locally to boost the economy.
With a little planning and a commitment to abandon your concerns about looking like a tacky tourist, a staycation can be a blast. We’ve compiled some getaway tips for your work-frazzled mind, and because we know you’ll probably be Disneyed out once Gay Days Weekend gets here, we intentionally excluded a trip to the Maus Haus in our list of ideas.
The Human Touch
Start your home-based vacation with some relaxation. Everyone needs to be kneaded once in awhile, and there are tons of local LGBT-friendly massage therapists who are jonesing for your business in these tough times. Once you know you’ve got some time off ahead, call a spa and book an appointment for a treatment that lasts at least 45 minutes (we recommend Thai hot-stone massage and Swedish deep-tissue massage). Book an appointment with a massage therapist of your same gender if you’re most comfortable, and don’t worry about the hair on your back, your love handles, or the stubborn zit on your butt; massage therapists have seen just about everything and aren’t there to judge you. Check the ads in this issue of Watermark for a queer-friendly massage therapist, and don’t call one of those “Oriental spas” you see listed in the phone book or in the back of Creative Loafing or Orlando Weekly. Ideally, your spa treatment should be on day one of your staycation. Believe me, an hour at the spa feels like a week-long respite if you go to the right place.
Sip Trip
Napa Valley is a long way from Florida, but we don’t have to be sour grapes. Within an hour or so from both Orlando and Tampa Bay are some wonderful local wineries where you can live out your own Sideways fantasies (minus Paul Giamatti’s angst). Lakeridge Winery (1-800-768-WINE; LakeridgeWinery.com) in Clermont offers free tours and tastings seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Don’t miss the annual “Grape Stomp” in August, where visitors get to literally stomp on grapes and make wine. Keel and Curley Winery (813-752-9100; KeelAndCurleyWinery.com) in Plant City, about a half-hour from Tampa, has mastered the art of winemaking with fruits other than grapes, and the vinos aren’t all sickly sweet. Try the dry blueberry variety. The winery is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Their “Uncorked Wine Bar” features live music and tastings from 5 p.m. till midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Keep on Rockin’
Florida’s landscape is flatter than Kate Hudson’s chest, so there aren’t many natural opportunities for strenuous hikes. Who wants to hike when it’s 92 degrees in the shade anyway? Instead, head to one of Central and West Florida’s indoor rock-climbing gyms. In Sarasota, try Livingston’s Amusements (941-925-7665; LivingstonsAmusements.com). For a measly $5, you get harnessed and can attempt to climb a 25-foot wall—in the air conditioning. Livingston’s also has go-carts, billiards and a Laser Tag-paintball hybrid known as Phazer Zone to bring out the shoot-’em-up kid in you. In the Orlando area, we recommend Aiguille Rock Climbing Center (407-332-1430; ClimbOrlando.com) in Longwood. Aiguille offers 10,000 square feet of climbing wall space and an indoor “cave.” Tampa Bay climbers should head to Vertical Ventures (813-884-7625; VerticalVentures.com), but bear in mind the facility is closed on Mondays.
Sea and Do
One of Orlando’s grooviest attractions is SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove (1-877-557-7404; DiscoveryCove.com), and because the park only allows 500 visitors per day, there’s not a lot of tourist gridlock. Of course, the semi-private nature of the park means you’ve got to make reservations early if you want to get in, especially if you want to enjoy Discovery Cove’s signature dolphin swim, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of us. The good news is that through June 30, Florida residents can visit Discovery Cove and swim with the dolphins for a special rate of $199 (discounted from $249), which includes a continental breakfast, lunch, access to the park’s white-sand beaches and stellar aviary, parking, and unlimited free admission to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay or SeaWorld Orlando for 14 consecutive days, which you can save for another day (or 14) of your staycation.
Ghostess With the Mostest
Orlando Ghost Tours (407-247-0452; HauntedOrlando.com) is hosting spooky tours of the historic Belleview Biltmore Hotel in Clearwater every Saturday at 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. until May 31, when the hotel is scheduled to close for a few years for extensive renovations. On Saturday, May 16, for just $60 a person, this unique tour group is offering an overnight paranormal investigation at the hotel from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Those who take part in this tour will be granted access to parts of the hotel that are off-limits to the general public.
A Trip Abroad With No Flight Required
Longing for a European feel but don’t want to schlep across the pond or to EPCOT? Downtown Winter Park is the place to go in the Orlando area. The charming enclave surrounding Rollins College dates back to the 1880s. Be sure to visit the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (407-645-5311; MorseMuseum.org), which boasts the world’s largest collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Go shopping at the gay-owned Scott Laurent Collection (ScottLaurentCollection.com; 407-629-0278), an award-winning gallery; and BullFish (407-644-2969; BullfishParkAvenue.com), which features fab gifts for dogs and dog lovers alike, as well as discerning foodies—but hurry, as BullFish is moving to Baldwin Park sometime this summer. Get an expert Aveda coif at Gary Lambert Salon (407-628-8659; LambertSalon.com), also gay-owned. For grub, we heartily recommend the Briar Patch’s (407-628-8651) buttery, sweet, scrumptious crab omelet. No trip to Winter Park would be complete without the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour (407-644-4056; ScenicBoatTours.com), a narrated one-hour cruise through the canals and lakes of historic Winter Park.
In the Bay area, get a taste of Greek culture in Tarpon Springs, north of Clearwater. The city has the largest population of Greek Americans of any U.S. city. The quaint shops along narrow Dodecanese Avenue in the Sponge Dock District (Tarpon Springs was once the site of a thriving sponge industry) have a European flair—and of course, the food is absolutely amazing.
You’re on a staycation, so quit watching your waistline and have some authentic Greek baklava. Only attempt Ouzo if you’ve got a designated driver.
