"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray," is what my aunt always says, and she was right last night. All the Pow Wow plans had to be changed because of the deluge of rain. We haven't had rain for months and for those few hours we had the Pow Wow people here, all the heavens opened up. By the time they were to leave the Grove, it stopped. Terrible timing.
It started out so nice, too. We all went out to the Miami Beach Convention Center (left) and got our instructions for the buses. We were tour guides picking up the visitors from the various hotels, which brought them to the Grove. I ended up on the bus with AnnaMaria (right) because all the other buses were taken, but we had planned that anyway, so our one plan for the night worked out.
The buses let everyone off on Grand Avenue, where they were welcomed with all sorts of delicious drinks -- mimosas, rum drinks, etc. The rain held out for that first round. We tour guides stayed on the buses and went to get our second batch of people, knowing that the first batch of buses had let off their precious cargo in good hands with the local ambassadors squiring them around.
The tours were fun, we pointed things out along the way like the Burn Notice studio (the Expo Center) and Vizcaya and such.
But by the time the next round of buses arrived, it started pouring. A lot.
Most were good sports, many were not, one lady yelled at me about the rain and she got right back on the bus and asked to be taken back to her hotel.
Others followed us under the garage through a sort of tunnel, which took them from Mayfair to CocoWalk. It was an adventure. I joked with them that they are following us, total strangers, through a dark, wet garage tunnel. They laughed and said they were sheep and did as they were told. They were good sports.
The rain literally put a damper on many things and I did hear many complaints, but most people did seem to enjoy dinner all over town, I asked them where they ate and they actually made it all over the village and ate at all the restaurants.
People came from as far away as China. Most were from the U.S., many from out west, where it doesn't rain much, which I was reminded of many times.
Many came to the art gallery and painted coconuts, to keep out of the rain, others enjoyed the art and wine. Many browsed the bookstore and spent time there and sampled free coffee.
There was a poker night at Mr. Moe's and Sandbar and other places, but I don't know if people stayed. I know they enjoyed the steak at Mr. Moe's and Los Ranchos. I heard complaints about Angelo and Maxie's but I think they were complaining about the wait time. Since that was where the garage exit was, most went to Angelo and Maxie's rather than run around in the rain. Jaguar and Focaccia were other dinner favorites mentioned, when asked.
Here is Dave Collins, BID director, being interviewed by Amara Sohn from Channel 6. I told Dave he looked like a drowned rat. He was drenched. We all were. A bit later, Amara was telling me that someone made off with her Channel 6 umbrella and she was not leaving without it. But many umbrellas were given out and the visitors took them back with them.
The buses all lined up on Grand Avenue and they filled up fast after people ate. It was a shame they could not enjoy the Grove the way it was planned with the Ghost Tours and free bar at The Barnacle and things like that. Many Grove ambassadors would ask for the umbrellas back as people loaded onto the buses. But Amara could still not find hers. Finally she tracked it down, AnnaMaria had it, of all people, she was using it to escort people to various restaurants around town.
That was the common thing last night -- umbrella valets -- people walking people to various places around the village.
The odd thing was that while the visitors were not too crazy about the turn of events, the Grovites took it in stride and actually enjoyed it. While we felt bad and tried to make the best of it for the Pow Wow folks, we seemed to enjoy the whole craziness of the evening and we enjoyed each others' company. It seemed like every Grovite was out. It was just another funky Grove event to us.
That small town feel was there and going strong, only I don't think the Pow Wow people noticed it. They were too busy running from place to place in the rain, trying to get to a dry space. There was no moonlight swim at Cabana One last night. Shame, because people's eyes lit up on the bus coming over, when I explained the concept to them.
I wonder how this will affect tourism in the Grove now. This was to bring a large boost to toursits for the next few years. But what can these travel writers write about or these tour operators talk about --- their one soggy, wet night in Coconut Grove? Rain is supposed to bring good luck, so we'll see.
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