Regatta crews had lots of fun with clues

You may have seen little huddles all around the Grove last night, like the one above. That's because it was Amazing Race Night in Coconut Grove.

As one of the Sail the Grove events put on by Daisy Lewis for the Merchants Group, BID and Chamber, The Amazing Race spoof was played by the Orange Bowl Youth Regatta crews who are in town this week.

After a hard week of sailing, they had a hard night of solving clues to get to the final finish line. The kids from the regatta and their families enjoyed a nice cool night running around solving the puzzles.

Here, Seth Rosenthal and Uma Paloma, from Crystal Beach, Florida, try to figure out one of the clues.


Above left, Meredith Bass explains the premise of the whole evening to some of the sailors. At right are Wills Johnson, Christophe Killian and Porter Killian, all in town from Newport Beach, California.


Above, Seth Rosenthal ties a knot, the first one, at the first clue stop of the evening -- The Bookstore. That's Gianfranco Trifoglietti, one of the Sail the Grove volunteers with Seth.

Clues were handed out on small cards and when solved, they told the teams where to go for the next clues and so on. Various history questions about Florida and the Grove also had to be answered.

The clue for the bookstore was:
I am a house of knowledge, loaded with facts
Fiction, historicals, hard covers, paper backs.
If you're searching for info, or a comfy place to sit
Stop by for some latte and get your brain fit!

The clue for Sparkle Plenty was:
I have a huge collection of funny stuff in this place.
It's a great spot to buy things that bring a smile to your face
From crazy magnets to funny cards, my gifts are a hoot.
Head over to my "shiny" store and check out the loot!

The clue for the Windisch-Hunt Gallery was:
One the hunt for some fine art?
Here's a place you can go.
And if you are a sailor, part of my name you should know.
One of our products is a flip and a flop
Head to this gallery for your next stop.

The crews had a list of Grove locations, so it made it a bit easier to figure out the clues by knowing who the businesses actually where who were participating. Other locations involved included the Sonesta Hotel, Calamari and Greenstreets. Greenstreets also offered complimentary rum drinks to the parents involved. The rum was donated by Flanagan's Liquore store on Bird Avenue.

On one side of CocoWalk, slides of the Regatta were shown and everyone enjoyed seeing themselves out on the water up close, in photos.

One very exciting event for the kids was the arrival of Shaun, the ricksaw guy, in the form of Spider-man. They couldn't wait to go for a ride.

It was a nice, full, happy and busy night in the Grove. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the kids enjoyed all the prizes they received, including Grove Bucks.

The winners were Bill and Mark, from New Orleans, who were smart enough to bring their skate boards and completed the course in 29 minutes with one wrong trivia question adding a five minute penalty for a final time of 34 minutes.