HOT DEALS!

Ever swim with a manatee? Have you even watched them from a heated boat as they lazily swim in waters ranging from 72-74 degrees? Now’s your chance to see the sea cows up close and personal with River Ventures in Homosassa, FL. Multiple packages available. Use promo code E N E W S 1 0.

https://riverventures.rezdy.com

I don’t ski. Way too clumsy and going up on a mountain atop a slim set of boards is riskier than when I thought I was a roller skater extraordinaire and slid the length of an elongated hill in my neighborhood, painfully removing most of the skin on my bared legs. However, I do recognize there are many of you far more agile and coordinated than me, so maybe you’ll be excited to know that Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley (CA) has lift ticket packages ready. The company in charge says more than double the amount of snow from last year has already fallen, so the excitement has mounted (get my sly sense of pun-ish humor there?). There are multiple packages, so explore those options on your own.

www.squawalpine.com/plan-your-visit/lift-tickets?

Book an event at The Leonardo Royal Hotel Amsterdam (Holland) by Jan. 31, fulfill the booking between Mar. 1 and June 30, and receive a 10% discount on a meeting and dinner package, as well as complimentary 30-minute pre-dinner drinks. Use promo code Spring when booking. Not applicable to existing bookings. Minimum of 200 guests to include a two-day meeting with one dinner and accommodation.

events.royalamsterdam@leonardo-hotels.com; +31 20 – 612 68 76

Check out all the amenities earned for booking a group of at least 150 room nights or a minimum of three-night’s stay Sunday through Thursday at El San Juan Hotel in Carolina, Puerto Rico. One complimentary sleeping room for every 35 actualized rooms. Many more options included. Must stay by end of September. New bookings only.

www.ALHI.com

You might want to eat your way through this deal. DoubleTree Resort by Hilton, Myrtle Beach (SC) has lodging packages bundled with the state’s Restaurant Week. The resort is featuring a special menu in their signature Ocean Blue Restaurant & Lounge. The overnight accommodations are in a deluxe ocean view room, daily full hot breakfast and passes to Ocean Blue’s menu prepared by Executive Chef David Matson. The package offer is good for stays from Jan. 9 – 19. Use rate code ORW.

www.MyrtleBeachResort.DoubleTreeByHilton.com; (800) 770-6895

Is this what winter looks like where you are? If not, Caribe Royale (Orlando, FL) has a Winter Escape offer you may like. Book three nights, get the 4^th free, along with some food credits and late check out. Just book and stay through Mar. 31.

www.cariberoyale.com

Free WIFI and booking discounts of 10-15% through October 31 are being offered by Poseidon

Expeditions as an introduction of its new 2021 Arctic and 2021-22 Antarctic seasonal adventure cruises aboard the 114-passenger Sea Spirit. Now in its seventh consecutive year as Poseidon’s flagship, the Sea Spirit offers 8-14 day trips in the Southern Ocean from late October to early March, and then to the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere – Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Greenland, from May through September.

North America: SalesUSA@poseidonexpeditions.com; (347) 801-2610. Germany, Austria and Switzerland: Anfrage@poseidonexpeditions.com; +49-40-7566-8555. UK and elsewhere: Sales@poseidonexpeditions.com; +44-870-068-9142.
THIS FUNDRAISER WILL MELT IN YOUR MOUTH

Bal Harbour Shops’ over-the-top ice cream festival on Jan. 11 and 12 raises money for the Holtz Children’s Hospital at University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Medical Center. The Florida-based Bal Harbor Shops’ third annual festival is in partnership with national and local ice cream shops makers for Ice Cream We Love.

ATTRACTIONS

La Colombe, 9 janvier 1949 MPA 1981.6.28 You have until Mar. 22 to visit Louisville, KY’s KMAC

Museum’s Pablo Picasso exhibition. More than 50 of the legendary Spanish painter’s works will be displayed in the “Picasso: From Antibes to Louisville” exhibition, representing him from 1931 through 1956. Additionally, 20 photographs by Michel Sima documenting the artist’s creative process will also be featured. These works, for the first time being exhibited outside Europe, are part of the collection of the Musée Picasso in Antibes, France. KMAC is also opening another exhibition by artist Summer Wheat. Her compositions are built on aluminum mesh screens using pastry bags to push the paint through the mesh crosshairs and create a surface that’s like a deftly woven tapestry. Wheat’s allegorical still-life paintings show female figures as powerful warriors, healers, explorers and makers of their own world. This exhibit runs through Apr. 5.

www.gotolouisville.com. Free Louisville Visitors Guide and complimentary hotel booking service, (888) LOUISVILLE

FESTIVAL SCHEDULES

I learn of interesting festivals from across the globe, but generally don’t write about them. Have decided perhaps knowing about these diverse festivals might be of value for your scheduling. Starting now, I will provide brief details. The rest is up to you, but as always, if you take advantage of the info I provide, please let the host know where you found it.

Jan. 18-22: Crystal River (FL) hosts the annual Florida Manatee Festival. This 33rd annual festival includes tours, music, food etc. www.DiscoverCrystalRiver.com; info@visitcitrus.com

Jan. 30 – Feb. 3: The 23^rd Art Palm Beach presents “Museum of the Moon” by Luke Jerram, an 8,000-sf multimedia artwork honoring conservation, one of 75 diverse contemporary galleries featuring 20th & 21st-century art committed to the fair’s mission to opening dialogues between today’s creatives and global politics, sustainability, and equality as well as embracing local arts nonprofits contributions to Palm Beach (FL).

www.nextlevelfairs.com    Photo

Mar. 5 – Apr. 25: The Louisville (KY) Zoo hosts its first Wild Lights: Asian Lantern Festival, one of the largest Chinese lantern festivals in the nation, in partnership with Tianyu Arts & Culture, an international event design company. 65 larger-than-life illuminated displays made up of more than 2,000 silk-covered lantern pieces lit by more than 50,000 LED lightbulbs. Live Asian performances, handmade Chinese crafts, and Asian cuisine.

www.gotolouisville.com. Free Louisville Visitors Guide and complimentary hotel booking service: (888) LOUISVILLE.

Karen Kuzsel is a writer-editor based in the Orlando area who specializes in the hospitality, entertainment, meetings & events industries.  She is an active member of ILEA and MPI and is now serving on the 2019 – 2020 MPI Global Advisory Board for The Meeting Professional Magazine for the second consecutive year. Karen writes about food & wine, spas, destinations, venues, meetings & events. A career journalist, she has owned magazines, written for newspapers, trade publications, radio and TV. As her alter-ego, Natasha, The Psychic Lady, she is a featured entertainer for corporate and social events. karenkuzsel@earthlink.net; www.ThePsychicLady.com; @karenkuzsel; @thepsychiclady.