Sweaty masks, delighted golfers, watchful guards: Parks reopen in Miami-Dade

Jonathan Eisenman, 28, hasn’t played basketball at Tropical Park since high school, but Wednesday morning he left his home in Miami Beach with a mask and a ball to the set of county courts finally open after six weeks of closure during the coronavirus emergency.

“I was that desperate for a court,” Eisenman said during a break from dribble drills and practice shots, his yellow surgical mask soaked in sweat.

His was one of many park visits that became welcome and legal again at 6 a.m. when Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez lifted his March 18 emergency order closing recreational facilities countywide.

Wednesday’s reopening brought a patchwork of new rules and enduring bans. The county’s three largest cities — Hialeah, Miami and Miami Gardens — said it’s too early to reopen their parks and executed orders to keep them closed. Other cities imposed stricter rules than the county, including closing the municipal basketball courts that Gimenez said could be open but games are banned.

Miami Beach opted to keep its basketball courts closed. But the sea wall at South Pointe Park remained open, giving a welcome return to the waterfront for Dianne McLea and her 18-year-old dog, Lucky Lou. McLea wore a mask, and said her approach to COVID-19 is to follow safety precautions.

“I think the people we have to be afraid of are the people who don’t believe in it,” the recent cancer survivor said. “Those people are scarier than the virus.”

Helga Teran and her two daughters arrived at the Doral Central Park around noon, a rare escape from a “complete” quarantine to protect Teran’s elderly mother at home.

“My daughters got out of the car, lifted their arms and said, ‘Mom, finally! Fresh air!’ ” Teran said. “We’ll sweat a little and go back home into quarantine.”

While Miami issued an order this week closing its parks and marinas to extend the closures imposed by Miami-Dade last month, the city’s lone golf course was allowed to reopen. Mia Patch headed out on the greens at the city-owned Melreese Country Club with three friends, their first time back for their regular game since last month.

“It was amazing,” Patch said from behind her cloth mask off the 18th hole. Posing for a photo with friend Eileen Moss, Patch took a moment to measure out a six-foot gap near a clubhouse with cordoned-off walkways to prevent players from passing each other face-to-face. The two reported a good game, considering. “I think it was amazing I played as well as I did, since it’s been six weeks,” Patch said.

Gary Butts was pushing his heavy-looking black golf bag up a slight slope near the first green on the first hole at the Miami Shores Country Club golf course Wednesday morning.

And the 69-year-old couldn’t have had a much bigger grin on his face. It was the first time in 44 days, Butts said, that he and his wife had left their home.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” he said. “This is like Christmas.”

Signs of the virus containment measures were everywhere: The clubhouse and bathroom were off limits to players, who had to bring their own equipment and call ahead to make a tee time and pay greens fees.

Golfers, many accustomed to being a bit spoiled by facilities around South Florida, were denied simple pleasures like water, or even having their bags carried and placed on their carts before the start of the round.

Most golfers wore masks, but some did not. All the employees at the course were wearing protective equipment.

Many people at Miami Shores chose to walk, with the new county rule permitting only one person per cart. There were a couple of people on the driving range hitting balls and fewer on the putting green practicing.

An employee who had been furloughed and recently called back said the first few days would be like an experiment.

“But, we’re just happy to be back to work,” he said.

Decades ago, Willie “Slim” Jackson, 76, taught his two sons tennis at the Arcola Lakes county park just north of Miami. They went to college on tennis scholarships.

Before the coronavirus crisis, the retired Army veteran came to Arcola Lakes every day to practice his serve. After being locked out for six weeks, he was back Wednesday morning with 24 tennis balls, his Prince racquet and two cones to mark off his target on the other side of the net.

“I feel like I’ve been let out of a cage,” he said. “I can’t even explain it. My body feels so good.”

At Blackpoint Marina in South Dade, people trailing boats arrived at a steady pace Wednesday morning to launch their vessels from one of the marina’s four ramps.

Nelson Anzardo said he could not wait to go out for a day of fishing on his center console. Saying the sun and the water are the best remedy for not being able to work or recreate in public, he’s not sure why marinas had to close to begin with.

“I just want to be out on the water,” Anzardo said. “I can’t find a reason why it was closed. I don’t think it makes sense. This is the best way to spend this time.”

Two ramps over, Pierre Berthier, who lives in South Dade, was preparing to make way in his Corsair F-28 triple hull sailboat with friends Daniel, Anne and Vincent Roustit.

Berthier normally leaves his boat at the marina, but had it home before the pandemic for some repairs. He was eager to get back out on the water.

“It’s a thrill,” he said. “I’ve been itching for it.”

The Gimenez order reopening recreational areas stopped short of beaches, which remain closed. The order contained pages of new regulations, including bans on doubles tennis and directives to require single-direction travel on walking paths.

To enforce the rules on county property, Miami-Dade hired 400 temporary security guards to patrol parks.

They were visible Wednesday, wearing masks and yellow shirts as visitors exercised around them.

One Gimenez rule requires park visitors to wear face coverings, but allows them to be removed during strenuous exercise.

Shooting baskets in the hot sun wearing gym shorts and his soggy mask at Tropical Park, Eisenman said he knew Miami-Dade didn’t require him to wear a mask at the moment.

“I’m aware of that,” said Eisenman, who owns hoopmia.com, a showcase website for young basketball players. Then he pointed to a park guard at the edge of the court. “According to that woman over there, I’m required to wear a mask at all times,” he said. “I don’t want to cause any problems.”

As the first day of park reopenings came to a close, activity was light at the Matheson Hammock boat ramps.

“More cops than boats,” said Luis Hernandez, who was returning with his family from a day of fishing near Stiltsville on his 29-foot Cobia. “Everything was very well coordinated by the county. It was windy so that may have affected the number of boaters who came out.”

Hernandez, wearing a mask, said it’s been two months since he was last on the water.

“It was awesome, a little bit of normal,” he said. “Although we didn’t catch anything.”

Miami Herald staff writers Joey Flechas and Linda Robertson contributed to this report.

This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 12:36 PM.