A five-hour, $1 succulent plant sale at Hidden Creek Farm, thirty minutes north of here. Starting at 10:00am. Sounded like a fun little trip for a Saturday. They would have a large variety and 4,000 plants for sale. And fresh-cut tulips for Easter. Then I saw a Facebook post… 300 people “coming”, 2,500 likes, just for that post.
I asked it they would be able to handle the crowd? “We have had large events before,” I was told. Then they upped the succulents to 8,000.
“Ok, if we are doing this, let’s get there before they open,” was the plan I told my wife. Arriving at 9:45, pulling up their farmhouse lane, the little parking area was already full. We parked on the narrow lane, half in the ditch, pointed out for a quick exit. Crawling out the top of my car, was difficult. Wondered a little if my car was in danger of sinking and rolling over, with right wheels in the soft earth of the gully side..
Beautiful plants, beautiful morning, but the farm was already looking overwhelmed. We hustled, picked out 20 succulents and a bouquet of flowers. Back to the car and onto the one lane road, people streaming in, cars lining both sides of the ditch, all the way to the entrance.
Escaping. Relief. I hate crowds. At the end of the lane, we looked in surprise. Cars lining the outer road. In both directions. Another hundred cars, easy. And more coming. It was just after 10:00am. And they were set up with only two people taking money. Slowly. A brewing logistical nightmare. Thankfully, not mine. Oh the humanity. In my rear view mirror.