Week One is NOW OVER!
Subsequent auctions will also last a week only: Nov. 21-28; Nov. 28-Dec. 5; and Dec. 5-12.
Click on the name of any item to go to the auction page and see how it all turned out …
Copter ride with Santa
Who needs reindeer when you can hitch a ride with Santa on his Sikorsky S-76Z? This is the perfect parent-child gift: a trip for two with Santa on a sleek helicopter as he flies from the Tampa International Jet Center to The Children’s Home, where your child (and you, too, if you like) can act as Santa’s helpers as he hands out gifts. It’s a gift with double rewards: the thrill of flight and the joy of giving, all in one. Value: $500.
Bourbon & Brew Festival VIP Experience, Nov. 23
Do you scream for Jim Beam? Then this item’s for you: four (4) VIP tickets to the Jim Beam Bourbon & Brew Festival on Sat., Nov. 23, 3-11 p.m., at The Heights Waterfront in Downtown Tampa. Your VIP status grants you and your three guests unlimited samples of over 40 brands of whiskey and bourbon, unlimited bourbon drinks at the VIP bar, and a Bourbon & Brew souvenir glass. The festival also features specialty craft beers, BBQ, live country and Southern rock music, fireworks, and lots of good ol’ countrified fun. Value: $340.
Cigar box guitar from Cotton Pickin’ Blues
A gorgeous instrument hand-crafted by Sarasota-area cigar box guitar luthier Steve Cinnamon of Cotton Pickin’ Blues. The electric model is made of an empty wooden cigar box (the hollow body acts as a resonator), three strings, and a carved and shaped oak neck. Value: $250.
Your signature sandwich and cocktail once a month for a year at Lucky Dill
What better place to design your own sandwich than the Valhalla of sandwiches, Lucky Dill in Palm Harbor? Add your signature sandwich to the menu alongside such New York-centric items as the Woody Allen (beef tongue, of course) and the Rocky Graziano (salami that packs a punch). Best of all — get your sandwich once a month for a whole year. Prefer a liquid lunch à la Don Draper? Design your own cocktail, to join Lucky Dill’s cocktail list along with such classics as A Sidecar Named Desire, and have that once a month for year, too. Value: Priceless.
Go Greek in Tarpon Springs
Feel like an escape to a Greek island? The unique ambience of Tarpon Springs’ sponge docks will take you there, especially if you enhance your Tarpon experience with a $50 gift certificate to Hellas — the most popular eatery in the sponge docks district. To complete the mini-vacation feeling, use your $20 voucher to buy clothing and distinctive souvenirs at Best of the Bay-winning Sponge Diver Supply Company. Value: $70
A dozen doughnuts per week for a year from Dough
Dough, the new bakery from South Tampa favorite Datz, is out-dunkin’ all other doughnuts with this item. Each week, pick a dozen of your favorites from Dough’s cornucopia of flavors — Maple Bacon, Red Velvet, Pumpkin, M&M, even Worms and Dirt, plus classics like Sour Cream and Boston Cream — up to a value of $25 a box. Total value: $1,300.
Two ticket four-packs to Jobsite Theater plus dinners at Mad Dogs & Englishmen and The Refinery
Jobsite is offering not just a pair but four tickets to two of its upcoming shows — making for a great night out with friends or a supercool double date. First, see The Hound of the Baskervilles, the classic Sherlock Holmes mystery, directed by Katrina Stevenson. Runs Jan. 8-Feb. 2. Then see All New People by Zach Braff, the actor/director famous for Garden State and the hit sitcom Scrubs. Directed by Paul Potenza, it runs May 7-June 1. Make those nights out really special events with gift certificates from two wonderful restaurants — a $100 certificate from South Tampa’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen (possibly the perfect place to eat before a play with Hound in the title, no?) and a $125 certificate for Seminole Heights hot spot The Refinery. Winning bidder is asked to make reservations at both Jobsite and the participating restaurants as soon as possible after the close of the auction on Nov. 21. Total value: $450.
Painting with a Twist plus a Taco Bus feast
St. Pete’s Painting with a Twist offers a two-hour session with instruction by a professional artist, and provides the paint, canvas, smocks, brushes, and in some cases, stencils to help out the more creatively challenged; you choose the image you want to replicate from the website offerings, and bring yourself, a bottle of your favorite wine, and your painting companion of choice. Then invite four friends to join you and your painting partner for dinner at Taco Bus, where you can show off your finished work and pretend you captured the likeness of Michael Jackson all by yourself. (You don’t have to tell them about the stencil.) Value: $70 for Painting with a Twist; Gift certificate for dinner for 6 at Taco Bus, $90. Total value: $160.
