A few days ago we were trying to come up with the right adjective for Downtown Dunedin, the area we’re focusing on in our second Neighborhood Issue of the year.
Quirky? Too obvious.
Charming? Ditto.
Seductive? Kind of icky.
So Arts & Entertainment Editor Julie Garisto came up with, not one word, but five bullet points:
“1. You know that a place is special when the discerning editors of CL are writing about so many independent businesses concentrated in a small area — and so many events — that we had to make cuts to fit them all into our listings.
“2. The skeptical side of your brain wants to shrug off the hippy-dippy-happy-cutesy shops in Dunedin as corny, but the fact that they were brought into being with much hard work, perseverance and love is inescapable — and utterly endearing.
“3. Finding a cheerless server or shop owner in Dunedin is about as easy as finding a cheerful employee at the Dale Mabry Walmart.
“4. Where else do affluent senior citizens and stoned jam band musicians hang out in blissful harmony?
“5. Either this place is enchanting, or its citizens are having too many dreams about dogs, angels and mermaids.”
We know that neither one word nor five bullet points, however pithy, can sum up the complex and fascinating place that is Dunedin. So in this issue you’ll find a host of stories on a variety of Dunedin subjects: the town’s fraught relationship with the Toronto Blue Jays; its thriving art and music scenes; its landmark restaurants and venerable bars; the people, the places, the parties that make it unique. Plus, we list many of Dunedin’s top attractions in our Destinations Guide, accompanied by handy maps.
If you know Dunedin, I hope you’ll feel we did it justice. If you don’t know Dunedin, all we can say is… WTF? Pack up this week’s issue in your backpack or take it with you on your phone and get up there!
It’s one of the most appealing, eclectic, weird, wonderful… we have no words left. Go see for yourself.
Editor's Note: This CL Neighborhood Issue is the second installment in a continuing series of explorations into the Tampa Bay area's many great communities. We last covered Seminole Heights in April. Check out that issue online here, or for our E-DITION, which is optimized for tables and E-readers, by clicking here.
