04 November 2009

NYC to Baltimore to St. Louis to Chicago to NYC to Charlotte to Sayulita to Charlotte to NYC

September wasn't the greatest month I have ever had. I rode the emotional roller coaster up and down (more down) for the entire month. Work was slow and I struggled with the reality that my house was not selling or leasing.

October was quite the month... Lots of traveling.

During the first week of the month, I decided a road trip was in order... In an attempt to clear my head. My first stop was Baltimore, MD. My old college friend Aaron Moore (of Orange Element Design) invited me to come down and stay with his family for a couple days, and more importantly, to play in a charity golf tournament.

While I was down there, I decided to photograph his three children for him.


As a sponsor, Orange Element had two foresomes for the event.



After Baltimore, I made my way to St. Louis. There, I met up with some old college friends... Pete Khazen, Brent King, and Mike Goellner.


The main reason for my trip to St. Louis was for my yearly tradition of going to the Missouri vs Nebraska football game. Every year for the last eleven years, Brent King and I have attended his rivalry game and enjoyed every minute of it.

This year we met up with another old college friend, Nilesh Patel.

Columbia, MO had three inches of rain before kickoff and another two inches during the game.

Nebraska was down 0-12 entering the 4th quarter and went on the win 27-12!

Our tradition states that the loser buys the post game meal... When the game is in MO, our spot is always the Waffle House!

My last night in St. Louis, Brent and I met up with my old high school friend, Larry Ellis Jr. We had not seen each other since 1995.

After meeting up with Larry, it was on to one of my favorite late night STL destinations.

From St. Louis, it was on to Chicago. I had been considering Chicago as a possible place to move and felt like I needed to take another look. While I was there, I met up with a bunch of old college friends like Phil Jennings and Mark "Goofy" Smith.

Even though I went to some pretty great places like Kumas Corner and the Violet Hour, I determined that Chicago isn't for me... At least not to live.


I made the drive back to NYC/NJ. Upon my return, I truly felt like I had reached some personal conclusions. I determined that my plan of relocating to Charlotte, NC was a good one and that I needed to see it through.

After a week of working in NYC, it was time to travel again... This time to Charlotte. During my trip to Charlotte, I helped out my friend Whitney (of Preslar Studios) by photographing some of the work she had recently completed. I was also able to find the time to meet up with a couple of other old friends.

From Charlotte, I flew to Sayulita, Mexico for Justin and Janelle's wedding. At the airport in Puerto Vallarta, our group was met by a driver who just happened to have a cooler filled with ice cold cervezas!
After checking into the hotel (Villa Amor), a few of us made our way into town and more importantly to Burrito Revolution. Amazing burrito!


After putting down my burrito, I made my way back to the hotel and sat down to enjoy the view.

The next morning, 25 or 30 of us went fishing for Dorado (aka Mahi Mahi).


Justin (the groom) reeling in the first fish of the day.

Our boat won the competition with 8 Dorado.


The happy couple... After eating a bunch of the Dorado we had just caught.

After the rehearsal dinner, a bunch of us walked back to the hotel along the beach... Someone (not me) had the idea of making a group picture. This photo pretty much sums up what the bride and groom were looking for from their destination wedding weekend.
Great times.

Mr. and Mrs. Demerath (post nuptials)

With the return to the US, and eventually NYC, came responsibility... A 4 day booking shooting for Coach.

The end of the week also brought Halloween... My birthday. I was a little under-the-weather from my travels, but still managed to go out for a little while. Brian Silak, Mats Nordman, and Paul Alves were nice enough to take me out for my day of birth. We started with some Texas BBQ (Hill Country) and moved on to adult beverages at Dusk. I can neither confirm nor deny any additional stops before making it back home to the GarbageState.


Quite the month... Quite the month indeed.

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