He sees dead people; maybe

The other night, we were having a condo meeting back by the pool, one of my neighbors called from the other side of the building telling us to come over. He was in his car, paralyzed by fear. Now picture this, my neighbor always reminds me of John Goodman, the father on the Rosanne show. He sort of looks like him to me, he's big and burly. There have been times when he yelled at me so loudly and forcefully, that he can be really overbearing, I would be looking up at him like a little mouse, two inches from his chest and he would be shouting at me like a lion, picture the wind blowing from his being with all that force, into my face, like you see in a cartoon, so seeing him paralyzed by fear is really weird.

So this big guy, calls us over and he has his car headlights shining on the easement next door to our condo, it's a path to the bay and it's basically full of mangroves and is very jungle-y. He says he sees 11 people in the easement staring at us. We all started looking as people go in to fish at night, but they usually throw things on the boats or cause damage, so we try to keep them out. But we didn't see anything. Then he says to me, "Don't you see that woman there holding a bag staring at us?" He had the headlights shining right on the spot where he saw the woman. But I didn't see anything. Next he saw two people in one of the cars, but there was nothing there. I thought maybe he was seeing the top of the headrests.

Now the other neighbors were thinking he was crazy, but I'm wondering if he was seeing apparitions of old Tequesta Indians or something. He has told me in the past more than once of seeing this very tall guy there late at night, standing and staring at him, dripping wet, as if he just came up from the bay. Other times he told me of people being smuggled in through the easement, but no one has ever seen any proof of this.

Of course, I like to think it was Indian apparitions. After it all settled down, we all went back to our condo meeting, but right after, I went upstairs and watched Ghost Adventures and The Dead Files, smiling, thinking that we may have something like that going on right downstairs.

At 3 am, I was awakened by a phone call. It was my neighbor. I ignored the call and tried to get back to sleep. I am assuming he butt dialed me by mistake, but maybe he was seeing the Tequestas again and wanted to warn me. 

Overpriced restaurants

I'm really feeling ripped off at Grove restaurants these days. Just last week, two places really took me. One place charged $12 for a health drink and $14 for a dry salad, 90% bean sprouts, no meat, hardly anything else (no, it wasn't The Last Carrot), I go to The Last Carrot almost daily and get a great lunch at a great price, but this other place lost my business forever. And to top it off, they are across the street from a former toxic dump!

The other day my friend and I went to another place, their $13.99 lunch special ended up being $40 per person with the tip, we didn't have appetizers and we drank iced tea. No dessert either.

Another place I frequent always charges about $5 to $7 more than they should for common items and we were shocked one time to pay $6 for a glass of grapefruit juice, they casually asked if I wanted a refill and that ended up being another $6! Because they feel the need to add that extra $5 to $7, I no longer go there. The nickle and diming really bothers me.

Stop it guys. It's not right.

I can see why Subway has lines around the block every day. Maybe if some of these local restaurants would be reasonable they would make it up in volume.

This past weekend I was on Lincoln Road in South Beach. Almost every restaurant, on a Sunday, had $9.95 lunch specials. They had a large variety to choose from and there was a lot of food on the plate. I ordered spaghetti with meat sauce at once place, which I think came with a side. I couldn't eat it all, it was enough for maybe three meals. One of my friends got a steak sandwich with a side and another got a burger with a side. All for $9.95 each.

It's sad when $9.95 is considered cheap for a burger. But it sure beats some of these prices I see around the Grove.

Epicure Gourmet Market, a welcome addition

We checked out the new Epicure Gourmet Market Sunday and it was just as great as the South Beach store. There are still a lot of items to be added but the place is bright, clean and full of goodies.

The store is located at LeJeune and Ponce de Leon Blvd, right across US1, in the lobby of the new apartment complex; very convenient to Coconut Grove. And there is plenty of free parking, inside the garage and out in a surface lot.

They have all the items you've seen at the South Beach location; lots of prepared food and produce; an olive bar, lots of pastries and lots of items like jellies and sauces and things.

It really is a pleasure to have the addition to our neighborhood. Now all we need is a Trader Joe's that's close by.

Epicure has their own brands as well as all the major brands. They have lots of special chocolates, meant for holiday gifts, and even something like this chili or the soups that come in jars like this would make great gifts. Just put a bow on the top. My friend bought matzo ball soup, right in the jar with all the matzo balls in there floating around.

There's a huge wine selection with something for everyone.

My favorite spot may be the cafe area. You can bring the food you purchase from the deli and eat there or they have a large menu for breakfast and lunch, where you can be waited on at the counter or at tables. There are lots of tables, inside and outside. I love the counter,  even though it's modern, with lots of chrome and glass, it reminds me of those old fashioned lunch counters in Woolworth's. Remember them?

Maybe it was because it was was Sunday morning and it had that type of relaxed group of people, but it just has a nice, homey feel to it. And get this, we ate free! We were comped.

They are so attentive there, that Jason, the owner told the waiter not to charge us. Why? Because he thought I didn't like the coffee. He said he saw me make a face when it arrived. But I don't remember doing that, for all I know, I was holding in a sneeze or something, it wasn't intentional. And this was just as the coffee arrived, we had not even received our food yet and he already decided that we would be comped! But we were not unhappy; we were thrilled to be there. And thrilled that they are here.

The food was great, and the service, too, there is plenty of staff; all nice and friendly.

Epicure Gourmet Market is open daily from 8 am to 11 pm.

Christmas Fun Day at Armbrister Park

One Grove Foundation, JAM Productions, Inc, The Gore Family and Got it All Here are hosting a community-wide Christmas Fun Day on Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25 from noon to 7:30 pm.

The event, at Armbrister Park (236 Grand Avenue) is a family-friendly event, to provide Christmas fun in a safe and friendly environment.

"It's a chance for all of us to come together for the day and celebrate what unites us as a community," says Octavius Veargis, president of One Grove Foundation. It's a time for the community to come together and celebrate. Octavius likes the idea of people coming together as a community force and giving back. It helps reiterate the African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child."

The goal of One Grove Foundation is to bring structure, unity and peace to the community.

Residents will be able to be proactive at the event by volunteering to take part in the activities that are scheduled throughout the day. All children will be provided with food and drink. In addition, there will be a live DJ, arts and crafts, raffles, a fashion show, along with popcorn and snow cones.

Everyone is welcome, the event is free.

Festivus for the rest of us

This would have been a good event for the Grove each year. It's a Festivus celebration, the Sobe Local Festivus.

Join in for food, drink, art, architecture and live music delivered in a uniquely unpretentious way at the inaugural SoBe Local Festivus. The event is December 18th at 7 pm in the Jackie Gleason Room at The Fillmore Miami Beach (1700 Washington Avenue), with food provided by local pig roasters La Caja China, a complimentary bar, a live art exhibition by acclaimed artists KRAVE (aka Daniel Fila) and Ruben Ubiera, a video contribution from the students at FIU's Miami Beach Urban Studio, and live music provided by local Latin funk artists Suenalo.

Cost is $15 per person. There is limited availability so please buy your tickets early. And don't forget your pole (just kidding, they should have a Festivus pole there). You can purchase tix here.

The "real" Festivus is December 23, so you can enjoy this one a week before and then enjoy the real one.

SoBe Local is about bringing locals together to enjoy and appreciate all that South Beach has to offer. Every SoBe Local experience is purposefully designed to be fun, artful and educational, and the SoBe Local Festivus is no exception. It's their way of throwing a holiday party - a completely relaxed, come-as-you-are celebration of life in our uniquely special corner of the world. 

New Police Substation approved for Grove

A new Police sub-station has been approved for Village West. Starting in January,  at 3727 Grand Avenue, will be the new police outpost. The station has been funded for two years, hopefully to be renewed after that.

Champagne and cupcakes at The Blonde Bistro

The Blonde Bistro coffee shop celebrated their grand opening with a party on Thursday night. Pearl Meyer and her staff welcomed Grovites from all over. Blonde Bistro is inside The Blond Tulip flower shop at the Mayfair Atrium, right off Florida Avenue.

The new coffee bar offers an array of extraordinary micro crop coffees and espressos from around the world. In a special arrangement with the Blonde Bistro, Java Exotic Imports supplies their finest micro crop coffees,  from the exceptional and smooth El Salvador Los Planes to the “citrus note” Ethiopia Sidamo African coffee.  

Lots of pastries and cupcakes are available too, as well as smoothies and other great items. The party offered champagne, too, as well as all the coffees on hand which could be tried.

The Blonde Tulip looks very Christmas-y these days, too. They did the decorating at Mayfair including those 6 foot wreaths and Christmas tree, and the flower shop is like a winter wonderland.

Guests enjoyed the famous Misha's Cupcakes  along with some of the best French Pastries in Miami...from delicious Macarones, Chocolate croissants, Brioche and other French classics from renowned French Pastry Chef Franck Monnier.

The Blond Bistro is open daily from 10 to 5, stop in for a cuppa, some sweets and some flowers. All in one location! By the way, The Blond Tulip was voted "Best Weddings" by The Know for four years in a row.