On Friday – Sundays from Sept. 28 – Oct. 21, the world famous mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park dived into SEA LIFE Orlando’s aquarium’s tanks to delight guests with their underwater feats and meet and greets.

It’s the first time in the 70-year history of the Weeki Wachee mermaids that they have performed in Orlando – ever since their first show in 1947. And what better place than the family-friendly SEA LIFE?

SEA LIFE Orlando is an immersive, one-of-kind aquarium experience that allows marine life enthusiasts to experience the magical world beneath our oceans of the world with interactive touch pools, bubble aquariums, floor-to-ceiling displays, a cold water rock pool, and 360-degree and 180-degree ocean tunnels featuring thousands of sea animals. The 25,000-square foot aquarium attraction is home to colorful fish, sharks, sea horses, stingrays, jellies, a rescue green sea turtle and much more.

SEA LIFE is the world’s largest aquarium chain and SEA LIFE Orlando is the 50th location aquarium launched in the world and the 8th in the U.S. SEA LIFE Orlando is located at 8337 International Drive in Orlando, Florida, inside I-Drive 360, the entertainment and dining complex which is the home of the 400-foot Orlando Eye observation wheel and celebrity wax attraction Madame Tussauds Orlando. For more information, go to?www.visitsealife.com/orlando.

If you have children, it’s a great place to spend the afternoon learning about all the life in the sea. Scroll down below to see more:

There’s plenty of great places to eat nearby as well. If you are a fan of Chicago-style deep dish pizza, Giordano’s is a must and then head over to La Carraia Gelato in Dr Phillips down the street off of Sand Lake Road.

If you ever go to Chicago, you know there are a few places that are just known for their deep dish pizza and one of those is Giordano’s founded in 1974.

Inspired by Mama Giordano’s “Italian Easter Pie”, this double- crusted, cheese stuffed masterpiece is now famous all around the world.

Giordano’s
6203 W Sand Lake Rd · (407) 377-0022
https://giordanos.com/locations/search

La Carraia is another Italian favorite – fresh from the city of Florence and transported to Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Marketplace.

La Carraia Gelato
7600 Dr Phillips Blvd #38, Orlando, FL 32819

One of the best days celebrated is National Sangria Day, which is December 20 this year.

Stop in at Cocina 214 in Winter Park or at Daytona Beach to enjoy their 2-for-1 sangria with the purchase of an entrée (limited 1 per person) AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY!

To enjoy my sangria, I also had some tamales on the side. What’s great about Cocina 214 tamales is how they have a great meat to masa ratio. The heat from the tamales is great and the best part of the dish, besides the meat to masa ratio.

There are a number of vegetarian options, including this mushroom quesadilla. If you want to add some head, ask for jalapeños because they’ll pack a punch. Their jalapeños are fresh as can be.

Don’t forget or skip dessert. The churros are pretty great and come with a sweet dip. Finally! After a year of waiting and hearing how great they are, I finally try these myself.

They’re slightly crunchy on the outside, but doughy on the inside. Yumm!

For more information, visit Cocina 214.

Dragonfly Robata hosted an encore seating of their Tokyo Soul dinner event on December 6-7, 2018. The event and dishes were inspired by street food classics born in Tokyo, and seasoned with the flavors of the deep South Southern Kitchen, making this dinner event unique to Dr. Phillips.

The event consists of a limited number of seats at a long table where you can sit with familiar friends as well as make new friends with others next to you.

This event consisted of a 6-course meal beginning with a Japanese Inspired Souse with braised daikon, carrot, scallion, and inari. This dish starts the event by warming your soul with brilliant flavors, which is great on a chilly night.

Family-Style Tempura Corn Fritters served with Shirasu shies and Japanese horseradish. The corn fritters are crispy with each bite and sweet from the corn. There are slight distinct notes of the horseradish, which is not overwhelming to the palate.

The corn fritters is served with a Sake cucumber Masu Box, which traditionally signals the wealth and generosity of the restaurant to the person who drinks from it. The sake itself is light, refreshing and floral.

The Beer Batter Spanish mackeral is served with Tsukemono and a house-made house sauce. This dish consists of a crispy batter with fish that has a soft texture and disintegrates in the mouth.

Sapporo-hibiscus shandy is paired with the mackeral and flavors resemble grapefruit seltzer.

The next dish is a 36 hour Sous-vide brisket served with potato salad, Jus and micro wasabi. The brisket is very soft, moist and falls apart easily. Flavors are fresh and delightful. However, not each dish is consistent in texture.

The Japanese whisky-tea cocktail is paired with the brisket. It tastes like sweet tea with intense honey flavors.

Dish number 5 is the Chef Choice Seasonal Omakase, which is Cajun crusted salmon sashimi and crawfish maki-roll photographed above. The Salmon is fresh with simple seasoning to bring out natural salmon notes. The Crawfish maki-roll has a sweet honey taste along with a crispy texture of the crawfish and softness of the rice coating.

This fresh seafood dish is paired with the Shochu-pomegranate cocktail, which is sweet and tart at the same time.

The final dish is the Honey Carrot Castella, which is a Japanese sponge cake, carrot ginger mousse, persimmon, and candied bacon. The sponge cake is dense and solid, but moist at the same time; there are notes of a unique taste thanks to the ginger and cinnamon. The persimmons seemed to be soaked or infuse with sweet ginger flavor. Paired with the dessert is the Umeshu (Plum) cocktail, which is sweet in flavor.

While waiting for the event to begin or for the next dish to roll out, feel free to ask for a drink menu. Photographed here is the Green Tea’s Knees cocktail, which consists of fig infused Jim Beam, matcha honey and yuzu. It is a delicious and strong drink that is sweetened just right.

For more information on Dragonfly Robata and their future events, pease visit their website.

‘Tis the season for giving back and serving smiles as the popular, fast-growing, Central Florida-based Huey Magoo’s launches its annual “A Very Magoo’s Christmas” 2018.  For the special company-wide event, a portion of proceeds from Huey Magoo’s Chicken Tenders restaurants will be donated to the Christmas Dreams charitable organization.  Guests are also gifted with a free meal card for their next visit, with store purchase.

During the event, 15% of proceeds from each participating location will benefit Christmas Dreams, who provide Christmas experiences all year for children and families battling life threatening illness.  Diners will receive a coupon for a free 3-piece tender meal to be used on their next visit (good through January 2019).  Guests also have the opportunity to share their support and post a holiday Magoo selfie to their favorite social site.

Christmas Dreams is a Florida-based charitable organization committed to creating memorable, fun experiences and igniting hope for children battling life-threatening illnesses.  Whether through the use of Dream Boxes, decorating patients’ rooms or hospital lobbies, delivering handmade holiday pillowcases, a visit from Santa in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), or their fun-filled “Christmas is Coming” semi-trailer boasting interactive holiday experiences, Christmas Dreams brings the hope and fun of Christmas anywhere, 365 days a year.  For more information, visit www.ChristmasDreams.org.

This company-wide event will take place at all Huey Magoo’s locations (excluding UCF Student Union).  For a list, visit www.hueymagoos.com.