Here’s one with a particularly odd and sexist leed: Coral Gables - The Hidden Gem of Miami

South Beach might be the party girl that you stay out with until the sun comes up, but its neighbor Coral Gables is much more like the girl-next-door. A bit more quiet and reserved, yet classy and upscale with substance and style, while showing off its classic beauty.

How should one anthropomorphize Coral Gables? Some kind of (sub)urban professional who likes a good time, but in moderation?

[Comments re-opened]

I got that Cobb Salad feeling today, and I took myself off to South Miami, just on the other side of US 1 from my neighborhood, but when I got to the Beverly Hills Cafe, so long a feature of Sunset Ave, there was a sign on the door that they’re closed due to the recession. I don’t know if it’s the whole seven-location chain, or just the one near me, but either way, it was a surprise.

Then again, maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Most times over the years when I went there for lunch on a weekday, the place seemed full of local business types — especially real estate and banking folks. I guess they don’t eat out so much these days.

(The parking lot behind the restaurant that used to have a guard and charge by the hour seems to have been taken over by the City of South Miami, and turned into city metered parking, which I suppose is the only tiny silver lining in the story. But they meter even on Sundays.)

Next best Cobb Salad that I know of in the area is at the Coral Gables Diner, in downtown Coral Gables, but it’s further away and harder to park, the salad is smaller, not as nice, significantly more expensive ($15!?!), and their honey mustard dressing is lame.

Not to mention a lot of people must have lost their jobs, as the Beverly Hills was pretty big.

The King Mango Strut is a local tradition — a wacky parade for no discernible reason, about not too much, with lots of silly floats and marchers satirizing local politicians and current events. It’s good pointless fun.

Dec. 28 at 2pm if you want to catch what might be the last, historic, Strut:

The strut route begins at the corner of Commodore Plaza and Main Highway. It turns left onto Main Highway and then turns left onto Grand Avenue at Cocowalk and turn left again at Commodore Plaza. If we are having too much fun we will go around again until we all fall down. Right after the strut, there will be parties all around the Grove.

UM should market itself as the ‘Law School in Paradise’….

All the questions were about relations with Cuba — should we allow relatives to travel, everyone to travel, relatives to send remittances, foster cultural exchanges etc. The only two somewhat surprising questions were at the end: Would support for relaxing the embargo make me more likely to vote for a Congressional candidate? And, which is more important, the Cuba issue or health care, education and the economy?

They never tell you who sponsored the poll, so I don’t know if this was for a news organization, or — it seems much less likely it being so early — for someone thinking of running for Congress in 2010.

Nashville for Thanksgiving, anyone? Miami for Christmas?

Yes, Miami for Christmas. That’s the ticket for me.

A run-in between a singing Hannah Montana balloon and a flock of birds knocked out power to a Miami neighborhood Monday.

The incident unfolded about 7:30 a.m. outside Jose De Diego Middle School, 3100 NW Fifth Ave..

Fire officials said the balloon may have scared about 300 birds that roost on power lines near the school, knocking a line loose when the birds fled.

It caused a power outage in a five-block radius for a few hours, and forced the rescheduling of an event at the school with Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

All the birds survived.

The small pink-and-silver Hannah Montana balloon was the only thing that did not emerge unscathed — though it did greet Miami Fire Rescue personnel with the teen singer’s hit The Best of Both Worlds.

Rube Goldberg would be proud.

Power was out in my neighborhood for most of Saturday afternoon. I wonder if we had a balloon too?

One thing slowing the count is that many student voters are being rejected for social security mis-matches. It’s a suspiciously large fraction of them. Originally the clerks were failing to give proper instructions about how the provisional ballots worked, and but for the presence of the voting rights attorney organized through the Obama campaign, those students would not have cast valid ballots. Fortunately, he was there, and the he explained to them what they had to do. Then he straightened out the clerks, and by the time I left the trickle of rejected voters had not lessened but it seemed they were being treated better.

Another issue is that all the students in two large dorms seem to have been sent erroneous voting cards which show their voting location to be my precinct when in fact they vote on campus. (I think I heard it was Eaton and Hecht, but I’m not sure.) If you are a UM student, look for signs by the entrance to your dorm giving you instructions where to vote, or call the elections department.

I hope this is simple error and not malice…

[ Find Your Polling Place | Voting Info For Your State | Know Your Voting Rights | Report Voting Problems ]

(Thanks to MM for the pointer.)

Meanwhile, I’m working through my sample ballot, and (in response to actual popular demand) plan to post a personal voting guide Real Soon Now™.

To help students, faculty, and staff take advantage of early voting, the University will be providing free shuttle service to the Coral Gables library election site starting today. Shuttles from Stanford Circle on the Coral Gables campus will be running today, Thursday, October 23 and tomorrow, Friday, October 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; next Monday, October 27 through Friday, October 31 from 12 to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, November 1 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.