The duo behind Orlando's Le Petite Fete — Caitie Phillips and Courtney Gibson — know how to throw a damn fine dance party, that's for sure. Their Taylor Swift dance nights went down such a storm in the City Beautiful that they decided to take their show on the road, and they've since been selling out clubs in major cities. It's been quite the whirlwind year for these two friends. But how Gibson and Phillips spend their downtime locally can be very instructive to those new to the 407. They're busy people, so Phillips and Gibson are not going to fritter an off-day away. We asked them to describe their "Perfect Orlando Day" and they happily obliged.
What they said:
"Being home on the weekend is such a luxury for us since we're usually traveling throwing Taylor Swift dance parties around the country, so when we are in town we try to make the most of our weekends!
"An ideal Orlando day for us starts with grabbing breakfast from Craft and Common and then heading to the Orlando Farmers Market at Lake Eola with our dogs, Archer and Magnolia.
"Next up, it's brunch time and we head over to Park Avenue in downtown Winter Park to eat at Briarpatch. (Pro-tip: Always bring a friend so y'all can take turns waiting in line!)
"After brunch and pancakes, we hop from shop to shop on Park Avenue while avoiding the rain. A few shops we always make sure to not miss are Dear Jane, Gatorlilly and Writer's Block Bookstore.
"In prep for afternoon happy hour, we go over to Baldwin Park and kill some time in Paper Goat Post and grab some beers at Tactical Brewing.
"We're both obsessed with oysters so no perfect Saturday is complete without them, and ABO Winter Park has the best oyster happy hour in Orlando.
"Dinner is at Santiago's Bodega where we meet up with a large group of our friends, and we order no less than three orders of the goat cheese-filled, prosciutto-wrapped dates and plenty of sangria.
"Caitie and one of her old roommates developed an Ivanhoe crawl that is just so quintessential Orlando and that's exactly how we'd end the night.
"Start at GB's Bottle Shop, hit the Thirsty Topher, catch some live music at Grape & the Grain, stop at the back patio at the Guesthouse for a drink from the RV, grab a tiki-themed cocktail from Lil Indie's and end the night at King Bao, who arguably serve the best tater tots in all of Orlando."
Where they went:
ABO Winter Park
358 N. Park Ave., Winter Park
atlanticbeerandoyster.com
Briarpatch
252 N. Park Ave., Winter Park
thebriarpatchrestaurant.com
Craft & Common
47 E. Robinson St.
craftandcommon.com
Dear Jane
329 N. Park Ave., Winter Park
dearjanewinterpark.com
Gatorlillys
535 N. Park Ave., Winter Park
gatorlillys.com
GB's Bottle Shop & Tasting Bar
531 Virginia Drive
gbbottleshop.com
Grape & the Grain
1110 Virginia Drive
grapeandthegrain.com
The Guesthouse
1321 N/ Mills Ave.
instagram.com/the_guesthouse
King Bao
710 N. Mills Ave.
king-bao.com
Lil Indie's
1036 N. Mills Ave.
willspub.org
Orlando Farmers Market
Lake Eola Park, East Central Boulevard and North Eola Drive
orlandofarmersmarket.com
Paper Goat Post
4875 New Broad St.
papergoatpost.com
Santiago's Bodega
802 Virginia Drive
santiagosbodega.com
The Thirsty Topher
601 Virginia Drive
thirstytopher.fun
Writer's Block Bookstore
316 N. Park Ave., Winter Park
writersblockbookstore.com
