I had the opportunity the other day to interview the winners of the Mount Dora Play, Shop, Dine & Stay Summer Sweepstakes via email and wanted to share their comments and experience with everyone. The getaway sweepstakes is a promotion sponsored by the Mount Dora Village Merchant's & Business Association, Inc. in conjuction with WhatToDoInMountDora.com in an effort to create awareness of our fabulous town as a destination.
Frank & Arlene Miracola from Northport, FL were the July sweepstakes winners chosen randomly from nearly 2000 email entries at that time, there are almost twice that many entries as of today. Frank & Arlene won a lodging, dining, shopping & activity spree in Mount Dora worth $600. I will share her comments as she provided them.
A big thanks to all of the participating merchants who have made this program a big success for Mount Dora. Some of you are well thought of as you will see from Arlene's comments. Congrats on receiving such a glowing report.
Dear Brian,
We are more then happy to reply about our wonderful "weekend" in Mt. Dora as the Getaway winners. We got to Mt Dora on Saturday and were greeted by our gracious and very accommodating hosts John and Arthur proprietors of the beautifully appointed Adora Inn. To say it was a serene and calming home is an understatement.
We left our bags and proceeded to Pure Aveda. The staff immediately had us defrazzled with their attention to our needs. We each had 1 hour massages( h e a v e n) What a way to start our weekend. We definitely will be booking another round when we return in December.
We wandered around our fave shops for a while and went down to Goblin Market to inquire about their menu and late dinner reservations. The hostess Diane was just so happy to hear we were the weekend winners and made our dinner plans for us. The dinner was above and beyond what we expected and we now have a new cocktail suggested by Diane " Ruby Red Grapefruit Martini" yum yum yum!!!
We then strolled over to the Frog and Monkey to listen to a great band and had a couple of Blue Moon drafts. The evening ended with a walk in the full moonlight back to Adora. We had the Tree House room with roman bath. We both slept like very sated, pampered and spoiled babies. Breakfast was superbly prepared the next morning by our hosts who made us feel like family. John and Arthur are truly genuine and unpretentious.
Sunday was shopping day and I think we hit every place in town. Wine from Maggies Attic, Coffee, candles and caviar from Dianes Tasteful Indulgences, Jewelry and candles from Emz on 5th. Lots of trinkets and gifts from Whispering Winds. We revisited One Flight Up and the best Cuban we ever ate at Chew Chew express. Every one of these aforementioned places were just so nice and happy to hear we were the weekend winners.
Of course we always visit Timeless Keepsakes and the owner there is a very nice woman and didn't have a problem when we asked if she participated in Dora dollars. We can't say enough about what a glorious time we had. We sincerely thank everyone for all the attention and good will we felt.
We love Mt Dora and can't wait to return to our favorite escape. We would like to make one suggestion, It would be really helpful if the winners were given a list of merchants who accept Dora Dollars with the packet. A few times it was embarrassing for us as some shop keepers didn't know or had to ask someone and it was a bit tense in a few situations. Otherwise IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!!!
Thank you again,
Fondly.
Arlene + Frank Miracola
North Port Florida
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