Wonderland Wine Bar

In the heart of Downtown DeLand stands the Wonderland Wine Bar. The name is something of a misnomer - the Wonderland does have a full bar, including liquor. Their claim to fame, however, is their selection of craft beers and wines - most of them from fairly obscure wineries and microbreweries located around Central Florida, and all of them surprisingly excellent. It's rumored that Holly Gowan, the owner, brews a fair number of them herself either on or off-premises, though she neither confirms nor denies that rumor.

The bar itself is cheerily eclectic and cozy. The inside is colorful - artsy decorations and bookshelves line the walls, colored accent lights cast interesting shadows, and the furniture is a mixture of comfy chairs and couches. Behind the bar, a wall-mounted waterfall splashes and gurgles. There's a small makeshift stage in one corner - during the day, or on off-nights, it functions as an impromptu open mic area. There's about an even chance of finding someone up there, singing or reciting poetry or strumming a guitar, at any hour of the day - sometimes even the owner, if it's slow and she feels like the bar needs music.

Outside is a walled terrace, with an arched gateway serving as the entrance. In the daytime it is pretty and peaceful, with green trees and benches. At night, especially Friday and Saturday, it comes alive - colored lights are strung across open air, and revelers come out to drink, laugh, and listen to whichever local band is playing that night. The fire tables are lit - square raised firepits with wide edges that people can perch on.



Back inside, and off and away from the main bar, there is another area - open to the public, though most people don't go in. It looks like a cross between an antique store and someone's grandmother's attic - lots of random, old items, all jumbled up together. More bookshelves, though the books here are all at least 50 years old. Most of the items are marked with a price tag. If you ask Holly, she'll shrug and explain that they're all for sale - but she hasn't gone through them all. The second room simply came with the bar.

There are a few other doors, all marked Employees Only; at least one door into the bar and one in the back of the building lead to stairs going up to the private apartment above.

Changelings will know that Holly Gowan, aka Holly O' the Thorns, and her employee Reveka Waters are both Changelings themselves. It's also an open secret that at least some of the bottles Holly brews behind those closed doors are not made of any fruit that grows in this world, and can do things besides just make you drunk...