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PLUS, 50+ ideas for ringing in the new year 
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✨ Mentally, we’re already in 2021

PLUS, 50+ ideas for ringing in the new year 

Hello and welcome to the moment we’ve all been waiting for … THE LAST DAY OF 2020. 

Hopefully, you can take some time today to pause, reflect, and really dream big about the new year ahead. It's been a long, difficult year and we're all exhausted. But y'all, the possibilities before us are endless. So dreaming big is just what your editor here will be doing today and tomorrow (while also eating a big ol' bowl of black-eyed peas because hey, we could all use some luck and prosperity, amirite?).

To get you started on your 2021 plans, we're sharing a reader-sourced must-do-in-Orlando-in-2021 list to inspire you.

So sit back and imagine, for a moment, the experiences you want to share in The City Beautiful in the coming year (assuming life gets back to normal sometime soon? 🤞). Maybe it's biking the West Orange Trail from Winter Garden to Apopka, running next year's Track Shack half marathon, or seeing the city from the top of The Wheel at Icon Park...👇

Hoping 2021 is less of a roller coaster and more like a chill Ferris wheel. (📸: @11tenmedia

Today’s how to: 2021 To-Do List

Y'all, it's true — this new year thing is really happening, and we can hardly believe it either. But thanks to you, we are all prepared. When we asked you for your hopes, dreams, and plans for 2021 earlier this month, you really delivered. Your responses were poignant and fun and immediately added to our own list.

So without further ado, here are your top tips for making the most of Orlando in the new year (plus a few from us!):

🍩 "Get donuts from @thesaltydonut" — @sophisticated.____.manipulated (Hallelujah! We’ll see you there!) 

⚙️ "(Get our) jewelry making workshops up and running again" — @autumnandro (Count us in, Sonja! For real, for real.) 

🌸 "Take a trip to Bok Tower Gardens (Orlando adjacent)" — @therealjbj (Um, roadtrip, Jeff?)

🌴 "Explore more of our Florida parks and local restaurants around the state!" — @ctoddlaw (Amen to that!)

🍽 "Every local should go to Anh Hong and order a #75 with the pig foot and blood and give it a whirl. It's unbelievably good."  — Justin Stamper (We’ll def order from Anh Hong but might have to take your word for the #75, Justin!) 

🖼 "Something I'd challenge every local to try next year is exploring the city's murals. I went exploring in downtown Orlando, Mills 50, Orange Ave, and surrounding areas finding the coolest artist murals on a solo day out. (I explored for fun and the photos wound up coming in handy for a story I later wrote about murals and menus!) A friend and I also explored some of the murals in downtown Kissimmee and the beautiful nature in Lakefront Park. You can take the trip solo, go with a friend you trust, or invite your pandemic buddy for a fun day outdoors." — Kelly Lamano (Yes, Kelly! Yes!) 

🎟 Host another Pulptown event. Man, do we miss seeing you guys IRL. — Katie at Pulptown

Getting some inspiration from this list of super-local things you'll never take for granted again like live music, movies in a theater, and happy hours. Feeling super grateful for all the ways local businesses and orgs have innovated this year and happy that we can already do most of these things outdoors. (For ex., next week's Orlando Fringe Mini Winter Fest!)Katie at Pulptown

What about you? Is there something on your to-do list in the year ahead that you want to share? Head here to tell us all about it.  

🥂 A toast to you

Thanks for being a Pulptown reader. We’re all about helping people stay informed while also hopefully keeping them entertained, and we’re especially grateful for your readership, even more so after this tough year.

Wanna take this to the next level? Become a Pulptown+ member to help us keep doing what we do in 2021.


Things to do

Submit your events to our calendar.

Today

✨ There are only a few days left to check out the Dazzling Lights display at Leu Gardens through Jan. 3 (Mills 50/Audubon Park)

🎄 Say see you next year to holiday decor by checking out the neighborhood's lights (Baldwin Park)

🥂 Boogie in the new year all 70s style and groovy at the Enzian (Maitland)

🥂 Go all out for New Year's Eve with a 1940s Paris Le Cirque Celebration at the Grand Bohemian (Downtown)

Tomorrow

🍷 Celebrate the new year with wine and lobster rolls (SoD0)

Saturday

🍿 Learn about the immortal city of Pompeii by watching this flick at the Enzian and then checking out the exhibit at the Orlando Science Center (Maitland)

🖼️ Say au revoir to Jefre's stunning Points of Connection exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art (Loch Haven Park)

Sunday

🛍 Support local BIPOC makers at this monthly pop-up market (Winter Park)

🍿 Watch "Come and See", one of "the most visceral, impossible-to-forget antiwar films ever made", over brunch at the Enzian (Maitland)

🗣 Tune in for an evening of wordplay between local writers and wordsmiths (Online)

🍾 Bring your appetites (and your masks) for this outdoor drag show/brunch at Island Time (Thornton Park)

Monday

🎶 End your holidays on a high note with this outdoor concert by the Orlando Philharmonic at The Plaza Live (Milk District)

🍿 Check out the traveling tour of the best shorts from this year's Sundance Festival (Maitland)

Tuesday

🎲 Play bingo, win prizes, and drink beer with our friends at Bungalower and Persimmon Hollow (Thornton Park)

Thursday, January 7

🎟 Celebrate Orlando Fringe at its mini winter fest through Sunday (Loch Haven Park)

☝️One more thing … 

We did it, folks. We made it to the end of a historic, exhausting, mentally straining year for our city. 

And here at Pulptown, we couldn’t have pushed through without all of you. 

From the bottom of my heart as your editor, thank you so much for waking up with us each morning, for asking questions, playing I Spy with us, sharing your lives and experiences, and, as always, living like you live here. 

Cheers to you. We’ll see you here in 2021. (No really, we'll be back to regularly scheduled programming in your inbox on Tuesday, Jan. 5!)

— Katie at Pulptown

P.S. There’s still time to ring in the new year with delicious takeout from your favorite restaurant. This list is a good place to start, and if you’re looking for a bigger celebration of sorts, Orlando Date Night Guide has you covered including this at-home NYE bubbly tasting for two.  

P.P.S.  If you know a friend who should know about Pulptown, why not do us (and them) a solid and forward this email? 😉