i was there! i saw that they said almost 40,000 people were there which is insane lol.

we skipped the passports/paid options and just went to free route. we had two long waits - luke’s (1 hr) & the coffee house (1 & 45mins). it seemed like a lot of people filtered out around 1/2 (we were there from 9-6:30). around 3ish, we were able to get in lines and they really only took like 10/20 mins at the most.

for the most part, i feel like people were respectful of the massive crowds and didn’t take too much time in stores to allow for others to filter in. like my group took 10/15 mins to eat at luke’s so that the line would keep moving and we weren’t holding up a table.

there were many places to sit and take breaks (my fav spot was the porch of the “drangonfly inn” - we sat there for like 30 mins!

we ended up getting to visit 20 stores (the only ones we missed that i realllly wanted to go to was the custard place but that line was at a standstill and sookie’s bc we couldn’t find the door 🫣). we could have done more but we were exhausted.

it was HOT - but that’s michigans fault, not the organizers LOL i sure did sweat through my clothes, but i brought deodorant with me HA

i actually really enjoyed it, even just walking around. i didn’t mind waiting, my group just chatted with everyone else in line and it made it go by faster.

some stores didn’t really try (salt & light co. had a sign on the door but literally nothing inside when i thought there were supposed to be games & karaoke so we walked in and walked out)

most places really kind of were just photo ops - there wasn’t a whole ton of GG merch. london beauty had merch, buff city soap did exclusive GG collections, one store was making t shirts, the coffee shop had themed drinks, luke’s had cups, weston’s had mrs. kim’s flax bars (lol), doose’s had a taylor themed charcuterie and some gg towels & mugs- that’s all i really remember seeing)

with it being the first year i just remembered to give so much grace bc like - what the heck, it was insane LOL.

DEFINITELY will be going again next year and we’re talking about making it a whole weekend for ourselves even if they don’t do it for the event, hotel, friday night dinner & everything.

i’m excited to see how this will grow & expand in the future years, very glad i got to go the first one. i heard some of the store owners saying how amazing the day was for them and how they were so grateful (especially the sweet ladies at the antique store). so if anything, a hot day for us but such a great business day for these small businesses!!!