There is a new bridge in South Lakeland, built over a patch of ground that is usually wetland. It belongs to the Holloway Family Trail, a 2.5-mile, $4.5 million extension that takes the old rail-trail out of Bartow over to Lakeland Highlands Road off Glendale Avenue.
Much of the land under that bridge came from a hospital. That one fact explains a lot of what changed in South Lakeland in 2026. The same building now holds a coffee shop that people walk into from off the street. Two miles west, a marketplace opened on Cleveland Heights Boulevard and is open on the weekdays the downtown market misses. Put those together and the south side has a full morning of its own for the first time.
The trail came with the hospital
Orlando Health's March 20, 2026 announcement says Polk County, the City of Lakeland and Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital opened the extension together. It runs through property donated by the hospital and by the Holloway family. The hospital had agreed to give up its section when it bought the land, and the trail carries the name of the family that sold it.
The trail it connects to is older and longer. Orlando Health's release calls it the Fort Frasier Trail. Its main section runs nearly eight miles along an old CSX Railroad line and takes its name from an 1837 fort from the Second Seminole War. With the extension, the trail runs about 10 miles and links Bartow to Lakeland along U.S. Highway 98 South. Along the way are tree canopies, pastures, picnic shelters, rest shelters and trestle bridges.
The extension was ready months before the hospital. Orlando Health says the hospital opened its doors on July 8, 2026, with nearly 300 inpatient beds. At the March ribbon cutting, hospital president Carlos Carrasco said the trail would serve area residents and the hospital's "over 1,500 team members." Few neighborhood trails start with that many regular users built in.
The coffee is past the check-in desk
The hospital matters to the trail for a second reason. Inside 4000 Lakeland Highlands Road is a Concord Coffee, the Lakeland roaster that has been around since 2015. LkldNow reported that this shop opened July 1. It is Concord's third Polk County location, six months after the company opened in Winter Haven.
The same LkldNow story lists hours of 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Concord keeps its usual menu here, with direct-trade coffee roasted locally, house-made syrups and fresh food every day from Uncle Nick's Italian Deli and Bagels. Co-owner TJ Zimmerman told LkldNow that visitors from outside the hospital have found the shop on their own:
"Like any hospital, you have to get checked in. But we've got people coming in who say, 'I just wanted to go to the coffee shop,' and the security guards are surprised. People are literally coming in off the street to support us."
You check in at the front, the shop opens before sunrise, and in the same interview Zimmerman described a large outdoor patio and a lot of natural light inside. For anyone walking the Holloway Family Trail extension from the Lakeland Highlands Road end, it is the nearest cup of coffee with a story behind it.
A market built for the days the curb market closes
The second change came from a farm family, not a hospital. The Makers Market & Farmacy opened in June at 4604 Cleveland Heights Blvd. Phil and Cheryl Thall, who run Garden Fairies Farm, set it up as a permanent storefront where local vendors each rent their own space. LkldNow reported in August that it had more than 80 vendors two months after opening.
The timing ties it to downtown. The Lakeland Downtown Farmers Curb Market is a Saturday-only market. It closes every August, and this year it came back on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. LkldNow reported that the August break sent another wave of vendor applications to the Thalls' market.
| Downtown Farmers Curb Market | The Makers Market & Farmacy | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | N. Kentucky Ave. between Lemon and Oak streets | 4604 Cleveland Heights Blvd. |
| When | Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., September through May; 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. June and July; closed August | A storefront open through the week |
| Who sells | Market vendors on market day | More than 80 local businesses renting their own space |
The owners say the goal is to make locally produced goods available all week instead of only during market hours. They also stopped taking every qualified applicant. Now they choose for a balanced mix and limit duplicate product categories. Vendors set their own prices and handle their own displays. Fall is a good time to visit for the produce. Over the summer it came from regional farms across the Southeast, and the owners said local growers start harvesting again in the fall. Garden Fairies Farm supplies many of the plants, herbs, produce and eggs.
Lunch stays on the south side too
The kitchens nearby changed this year as well. Brothers Joel and Fernando Rodriguez closed their Lakeland Ovation Bar & Bistro this summer and reopened the space at 4715 S. Florida Ave. as Margarita's Cocina Mexicana. LkldNow reported a quiet friends-and-family opening on July 17.
It is their third Margarita's. The name honors their mother, Margarita, who grew up in China, Nuevo León, northeast of Monterrey, and who helped her sons scale up her recipes for the restaurant. "We make it all, make all the spices and rub ourselves, so it's really just home," Joel told LkldNow. "This is my mom's food."
Farther south, LkldNow reported in January that the family-owned Cafe 51 would open Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at 1023 E. County Road 540A, with a menu of burgers, salads, wraps, sandwiches and house specialties. That makes it the earliest of this year's south-side additions.
A south-side Saturday, in order
With all of that in place, a Saturday can stay south of Lake Hollingsworth until afternoon:
- Early. Concord Coffee inside Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital opens at 5:30 a.m. Like any hospital visit, it starts with a check-in.
- Midmorning. Walk or bike the Holloway Family Trail extension from the Lakeland Highlands Road side off Glendale Avenue, cross the wetland bridge and head toward the Polk Parkway.
- Late morning. Drive west to The Makers Market & Farmacy on Cleveland Heights Boulevard for produce, baked goods and spices from local vendors.
- Lunch. Margarita's Cocina Mexicana on South Florida Avenue for street tacos, or Cafe 51 on County Road 540A.
If you'd rather do the Downtown Farmers Curb Market on Kentucky Avenue, you can do it with this loop on the same Saturday, since it closes at 2 p.m. from September through May. Shop it first and swap the order.
The dates that bring the south side downtown
The next six weeks put several dates on the calendar north of the south side, downtown and at Bonnet Springs Park.
- First Friday, Nov. 6 and Dec. 4, 6 to 9 p.m. On Kentucky and Tennessee avenues between Lemon and Oak streets. November's theme is "Goin' Country" and December's is "Holiday Spectacular."
- Cars & Coffee at Bonnet Springs Park, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5, 7 to 10 a.m. The meetup is held the first Saturday of every month.
- Central Florida Food Fest, Nov. 7, 5 to 9 p.m. At Bonnet Springs Park's Harrell Family Botanical Gardens and Event Center, 600 Bonnet Springs Blvd. It is 21 and over, and the park and Florida Children's Museum close to the general public that day.
- Lakeland Christmas Parade, Thursday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m. It starts at the RP Funding Center, winds through downtown and ends with fireworks over Lake Mirror.
- Snowfest, Saturday, Dec. 5, 5 to 9 p.m. The 46th edition is at Lake Mirror Park on the Frances Langford Promenade.
Dec. 5 lines up well for the south side. You can walk the trail and stop at the Cleveland Heights market that morning, then drive north to Lake Mirror for Snowfest that evening.
At Forteza Realty LLC, we pay attention to how a neighborhood's daily routine changes, from a new trail link to a new family kitchen on South Florida Avenue. If a South Lakeland morning like this one sounds like the routine you want, call us and we'll talk about it in English or Spanish. Empieza hoy.
