Halloween wrap-up

So the Grove was a wild place to be last night and really fun. Thousands turned out for the annual bacchanal.

We ran into so many Grove friends, many spent a lot of the night in front of Pomme and Pane Café, where Olav held court in his 1960s wig. I didn't recognize him at first.

Willie Owens had a video camera set up in center of the village and he was asking passersby who they were voting for. I only heard Obama's name called out, so that was an interesting poll. Antoinette Baldwin was all in red, in her Sarah Palin get-up, and she ran over to cause a ruckus since she announced she was voting for Obama, on camera, as Sarah Palin.

Earlier we ate at Somoto on Commodore Plaza. It was the only place we could find an empty table, every place from Main Highway to Commodore Plaza was packed. It's nice to see that.

A weird phenomena happens each Halloween on the Grove's back streets -- as you stand on Florida Avenue or Rice Street or Virginia Street, all you see are crowds of people in costume walking toward the central Grove -- zombie-like. Non-stop marchers, coming from their cars or wherever, are on their way to ground zero -- Grand, Main and McFarlane.

I know some have complained about the crowds and noise, but it is Halloween for pity's sake! You can't do it without the crowds and the noise. I've tried it. Not a good thing.