By Nanette Wiser
CULINARY CHARMS
One of Florida’s top 10 food and wine festivals is St. Augustine’s Food + Wine Festival May 3-7 where you can hobnob with celebrity chefs, local culinary artisans and sample hundreds of wines, beer and spirits. Enjoy cooking demos and live music with your all-inclusive food and drink tickets. The World Golf Hall of Fame and the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort and the historic district of St. Augustine are the host location sites for the 2023 festival. World Golf Village is located 20 minutes north of historic downtown St. Augustine and the beaches. Florida’s largest city Jacksonville is located only 30 minutes away. On 5/6 from 2-5pm, be sure to get tickets for the Food & Wine Grand Tasting where your all-inclusive ticket gets you a souvenir glass, 300 sips, oodles of tastings plus Edible Northeast Magazine‘s People’s Choice Harvest Awards and Demonstration Stages featuring chef and beverage demos, with limited tasting sampling available as well as live music. At 4pm, gather in front of the Jacksonville Magazine Music Stage for the “Kentucky Derby Hat Contest” open to women and men.
Winner receives 4 Grand Tasting Tickets for the 2024 St. Augustine Food + Wine Festival and a Dozen Red Roses! staugustinefoodandwinefestival.com
FAMILY ATTRACTIONS
Take your visitors for a whirlwind tour. Adventure Island re-opened in March with a new splash zone for kids, Shak-Laka Shores, joining Wahoo Remix, Rapids Racer, eight waterslides, the Endless Surf Wave Pool, the Splash Attack water play area, lazy river and more. Closer to home, Tradewinds Island Resorts’ waterslide and floating water park keep little sharks occupied. Through April 15, visit the Dino Rescue at Clearwater Marine Aquarium where animatronic dinosaurs will rock their world. The new Serengeti Flyer debuted at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for the brave while also hosting the Food & Wine Festival with live music and delish dishes through May 21. At LEGOLAND Florida, LEGO City Space highlights NASA’s Artemis Mission to the moon, a water park, and a new ride – Pirate River Quest – as well as Peppa Pig Theme Park.
HISTORIC CHARLESTON
The 2023 Festival of Houses & Gardens through April 16 gives you intimate glimpses into some of the most beautiful homes and gardens in this lovely Southern city. Charleston is officially blooming and it’s easy to see why the Holy City has been named number one by Southern Living. Each spring, Historic Charleston Foundation celebrates all that makes Charleston special: House & Garden Tours, Food For Thought lectures and numerous events to Live Like a Local (craft events, wine tastings, container gardens, history harbor tours). I’m signing up for classes with Charleston’s beloved The Cocktail Bandits, Johnny Caldwell and Taneka Reaves, for their tequila and rum based cocktail workshop. At the historic Circular Congregational Church, the Festival Music Series welcomes music with roots in the Lowcountry including The Plantation Singers, Jonathan Kammer Jazz and Southern Flavor Bluegress Band. HistoricCharleston.org/festival
