Gainesville residents and businesses are still feeling the effects of Sunday's series of car accidents that left 11 dead.
After the wrecks on Interstate 75, businesses temporarily stopped production, athletic competitions were delayed and hotels paid to accommodate those who were stuck in traffic.
"The last thing they needed after seeing that mayhem was finally coming here to see their hotel room was booked," said Tony Trusty, general manager of the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center.
The hotel extended reservations overnight for those who were stuck in traffic because of the accidents, he said.
In addition to an extra night, the hotel provided a glass of wine to each patron to "ease the stress" caused by the traffic.
He said he doesn't know if any guests were in the accidents.
The hotel covered the expense of the extra night, Trusty said.
"Technically, there was a loss of revenue, but I don't even look at it that way," he said. "We chose the moral route."
Some people weren't able to get to Gainesville to swordfight, eat fried Oreos or buy chain mail.
About 12,000 people attended the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire on Saturday.
That number dropped to 9,500 Sunday, said Linda Piper, events coordinator with the City of Gainesville Division of Cultural Affairs.
She said she expects those who couldn't make it over the weekend to be at the fair this weekend.
Some businesses have to play catch-up because of accidents.
It took some employees of Swamp Head Brewery seven and a half hours to get back from an event in Jupiter when it would normally take them four, said Luke Kemper, founder and owner of Swamp Head Brewery.
Because they were so late, they were unable to spend the three hours it takes to clean equipment, Kemper said.
With six hours of preparation time needed, the brewery couldn't get a batch ready for fermentation in time.
"It's not going to be the end of the world," he said. "We'll just double-up one day."
The traffic caused others to be late to work and tardy to meetings.
Sue Burzynski Bullard was late to a weekend of meetings when her two-hour drive from Orlando took six and a half hours.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln associate professor was coming to Gainesville to help decide whether the UF College of Journalism and Communications would be re-accredited.
Then, I-75 became a parking lot.
"As frustrated as I was, I consider myself lucky that I wasn't in the crash the night before," she said.
When people arrived in Gainesville, they still had to deal with delays.
The Jimmy Carnes Indoor Track and Field Meet brought about 900 youth athletes to the O'Connell Center on Sunday, but some athletes had to wait as others arrived late.
The event was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., but it started 35 minutes late, said Larry Holsey, director of the meet.
The meet's organizers had to pay to rent the space from the O'Connell Center for the time they didn't use because renters pay by the hour, he said.
After waiting 35 minutes, Holsey said, he and others decided to start the meet.
He said he had to scramble to find replacements for the officials who were late because of traffic.
Officials, parents and youth athletes were talking about the accidents among each other, he said.
"It was on the hearts of a lot of people," Holsey said. "Our hearts go out to the people. It was tragic."
Alligator staff writer Meredith Rutland contributed to this report.
