As Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and the fear of Covid still looming, many people are struggling to come up with plans for the special day. There are a couple of great local businesses that are offering services to help you celebrate the holiday.

If you are opting for an at-home date night this year, you might want to try out a local cocktail delivery service. Boozy Barre is a specialty cocktail service with the slogan “Ready to pour, delivered to your door!”. This unique business was founded by Carly Caviglia just this last fall and she has been crafting batches of specialty cocktails a few times a month ever since.“Boozy Barre is perfect for at-home celebrating because you never have to step outside your door! We deliver right to your house, with a safe, non-contact drop-off.”

Caviglia says. Caviglia’s Valentine’s Day menu includes three custom cocktails. The first is her ChocolatePeanut Butter Martini, the second is her Cranberry Gin Fizz, and the third is her Oreo WhiteRussian. She generally sells her drinks in batches of two servings, but for Valentine’s Day, she is offering a couple of different package deals. In her “Better Together” package she has partnered with another local business, Flour Child Confectionary, which makes and sells cookies and other baked goods. The package includes two chocolate peanut butter martinis, two martini glasses, four peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and an assortment of candy and decorations.

This Package is $45, perfect for an at-home date night. Her “Three for Me ” special is two servings of each cocktail and costs $60. This package gives you the opportunity to try all of her cocktails and maybe share them with your galentines too. In addition to her packages, Caviglia works closely with her customers to create the best experience for them and will customize any order. Caviglia delivers to residents in Visalia and Tulare, and she also offers pick-up. Her pre-mixed drinks are delivered in mason jars so they can be poured straight into a glass or taken with you.

If you are looking to spend the night out, you might want to go the staycation route and look into a room at the new boutique hotel, The Darling, that opened in July of last year. Grant Gordon, the Director of Sales and Marketing at The Darling, is a large contributor to the success of this romantic evening. The hotel has partnered with the rooftop restaurant, Elderwood, to offer an all-inclusive date night special. You are treated to a “newly restored Art Deco guest room, sprinkled loose leaf rose petals, and a four-course meal at Elderwood” Gordon says.

When asked about the safety of this experience for guests, Gordon replied, “What better way to celebrate the special day than distanced in a personal boutique hotel room? The best part of the excursion is our rooftop, outdoor restaurant. Between a freshly cleaned and sanitized guestroom to solely outdoor restaurant seating, guests are sure to have a romantic experience while remaining COVID safe.”This option takes away the stress of planning a romantic evening and allows you to relax without even going out of town.

The Valentine’s Day special is going on from Friday night through Sunday night so there are plenty of opportunities for guests to take advantage of this deal. Gordon hopes that this weekend will further the exposure for the hotel as well as creating a special experience.

If you want a more intimate experience to share with your significant other, a custom painting lesson with a local artist might be the option for you. Cady Green is a painter in Visalia and has created a service for custom painting lessons. For Valentine’s Day, she is offering a few private couples lessons at a local park. The lesson is about two hours long and costs $100, Green Supplies the paint and canvases, as well as a picnic-style charcuterie board. Before the session, couples are given the option to choose between a few different sceneries that Green has painted with acrylic paint on canvas. Green says that “although I can’t offer this service to a lot of people, I can offer to a few and potentially make someone’s Valentine’s Day a little more special this year.”To give her customers the safest experience, Green has opted for outdoor lessons and mostly verbal instruction. Her goal is to create a unique experience where couples can learn a new skill together.

Although all of these options are a fun and new experience, the best part about them is that they support local businesses. Many businesses have suffered over the last year, yet many people were able to start businesses of their own to cater to new needs that covid and quartining brought. The home delivery service that Carly Caviglia offers is something you might not have even bothered trying if you were able to go out to a bar. You might have opted for a vacation away from home if you were able to travel or dined at an indoor restaurant instead of one outside on the roof. Our circumstances are forcing us to look local first rather than turning to the stereotypical better option for a romantic holiday.