One foot in the Grave?

Fearghal O'Reilly, "an Irish chap now living in Miami" according to his Twitter profile, tweeted me his blog post from his "One foot in the Grove" blog which sort of should be called, "One foot in the Grave."

With the closing of so many places in town, it's getting worrisome -- Hooters, The Burgundy Room, the Sushi place, the Beer Garden, AC Fine Arts, American Apparel, Anne Taylor's The Loft. Does anyone care? Is anyone out there selling the Grove? I know that from various events I attend around the City of Miami, I don't see anyone out there selling the Grove. Coconut Grove is usually not represented at many events -- not at Chamber events outside the Grove, not at art walks outside the Grove, not at various social events outside the Grove. Shouldn't someone be out there talking us up and selling us? Hmm, maybe they should hire my PR firm to promote the Grove outside the Grove.

Fearghal talks about the sorry state of affairs around here. He's only been coming to the Grove since 2009, imagine if he had been here during the heydays (probably anything before 2000).

He says in is blog, "What is Coconut Grove’s brand now? What is it known for? In my opinion, Coconut Grove needs to get back to basics. Covent Garden Market is a small sub district of London, yet everyday, tens of thousands of people converge on that area to visit the stalls and enjoy street theatre. Throughout London there are designated places for buskers and street theatre. In Dublin’s Temple Bar district, there are buskers and street theatre. Activities are the reason people visit an area. At present there are none."

Please read what he has to say in his blog here, it is eye opening.