Old Friends, 5 Star Generals, Fishing, and Island Life

So... Friday night in Sarasota, FL... I was able to meet up with a couple old friends for a few drinks. Good times! Late night...
Goodman made the terrible mistake of ordering a drink called the 5 star generals... GROSS!
The next morning Goodman and I hit the Waffle House... All Star Breakfast, YUM!!!
On Sunday I made my way down to Palm Island to see my father and step-mother. Monday came and it was time to head out for a little fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
The seas were a little rough and a few people on the boat were feeling ill, so we went back in and anchored in a clam area.


We had a nice ride back to the house... not much of a sunset.
Tuesday was a quiet day around the island. Hanging out with "Shorty" (my dad) and talking about my plan of attack for the next couple months.

After a while, I made my way over to the beach for sunset... Listened to my ipod, made some calls, drank some iced tea, and soaked in the splendor.

Traveling around in my automobile...

So, it has been a while since I have updated the bloggie blog. March has been a little rough in the work department. Very little action. A few days here and there with another photographer and that is about all she wrote. I have been spending my time working on a new business plan for my portrait business that I am launching and am proud to say that I successfully negotiated the purchase of a url for said business (from a UK based company).

So, since work was slow I decided to spend time with some friends... some local and some not so local.

On March 7th, Randy and Jen came to the city from PA to celebrate Randy's birthday. Around 20 of us did dinner at Dos Caminos... Good times.
The following weekend I took a drive... I hit some unexpected traffic in VA.

I also found this really cool road side BBQ joint in VA... but wasn't hungry, so no taste test.

The Weekend of the 20th brought around my Friend Aida's birthday. She and her husband Brian Silak had a few people over to their apartment to celebrate. Below is a shot of Brian and his big ole glass of Jim Beam... ALL BEAM.

Here is Aida and her sister Alice blowing out the candles.

Fernanda (below) and Sasha were also there...

Here is Aida looking pleased as punch, with her friend Janet.

Since I was taking the time to see some friends, I felt like I needed to meet up with my friend Alan Mautino. I had not seen him since June or July. So on the 23rd, Brian, Mats, and I all met up Alan and had some dinner @ Acme.




On the 24th I started making my way down to Florida to see my family and some more friends. On the way down, I stopped off in Baltimore and took a meeting with my friend Aaron Moore of Orange-Element Design... Had some great fish-and-chips and talked about branding my new business.

That night, I met up with my high school friend Nikki in Fayetteville, NC. After a nice Mexican meal, she was good enough to allow me to crash on her sofa for the night.


Now, I am in SW Florida for the next week... Or two? More updates to come.

Rockets and back...

So, Thursday came along and it was time to check out the Houston Rockets playing the Cleveland Cavaliers. So, Kris, Ryan, Rob Nelson, and I went down to the Toyota Center and prepared for the action.

Our boy Jason hooked us up with some choice seats for the game.
Here's Jason... Hard at work even on game night.

We also got the hookup for the Lexus lounge.

The Rockets were victorious!

Kris found his dream car... an early 90's Chevy Cavalier with 20"+ Chrome rims!
Jason came out for a drink or two after the game @ BUS.

After the game, we went out for a couple more hours and the good times continued.

As usual, Kris kept me out way too late... I got about an hour of sleep and headed out for the airport. The flight was uneventful... It was good so be back in my bed!

Beautiful days, old friends, and driving to Houston...

Tuesday was a good day for me to catch my breath... I started the day by having a cup of tea while sitting on Justin's deck... Looking out over the water. After a while, I drove into town and met up with Justin for a Cajun lunch to celebrate Mardi Gras.

The food wasn't great, but a good time. After lunch, I stopped by Town Lake, parked, and walked around a bit. Between the people watching and the phone calls, time flew by. From there I decided that no trip to Austin would be complete without a trip to Waterloo Records. I picked up a couple of CD's, a tee shirt, and a hat.

From there, it was back to the lake. Justin and Janelle were due home around 6:00 for a little impromptu photo shoot (for their engagement portrait)... So, I had a little time and decided to try my hand at fishing. I had a few bites and one successful catch :)



I photographed Justin and Janelle for 20 min or so... They selected this one to run in the newspapers.
About 7:15 (or 1hr 45min late), Kris Goodman arrived at casa Demerath. After he cleaned up his act a bit, we made our way to Ranch 616 for dinner. They served a killer chicken fried fillet medallion... Simply awesome.



After the meal, Janelle took her leave... She had a big hearing on Wednesday morning. Kris, Justin, and I moved on to The Ranch for some drinks, stories, and lies. We spent a couple hours there reminiscing.

Around 1:00am, we made our way back to the lake. It was then decided that we should go out on the boat for a bit... So, we cruised around for a bit, drifted a bit, and continued the merriment until 2:30 or so.

Wednesday morning Kris and I drove over to Houston. We played a quick round of golf with Ryan Webber, Grabbed some dinner, and hit the sack early.

Clogging arteries in style...

So, Monday I got to hang out with my buddy Sarah Wilson. She had the grand idea of driving to Lockhart, TX (home of the best BBQ in Texas), for a day of artery clogging. We decided to sample 3 of the local BBQ restaurants and determine which is the best BBQ in Lockhart.

Our first stop was Kreuz BBQ. No Sauce. No Utensils.


Sarah took care of the ordering... We got a 1/2 pound of Brisket, 2 sausage links, 4 pieces of bread, and a some cheese.



Our second stop was Smitty's BBQ. Same order minus the cheese and bread. We also decided to try some ribs.






Our third and final stop was Black's BBQ. By this time we were a getting a little full. We each rocked some mac n' cheese and potato salad... Then we ordered a 1/4 pound of brisket and 1 sausage link. Black's was the only restaurant that had sauce and utensils.



The Verdict... Smitty's was by far #1. Kreuz was a solid #2. Black's was a very distant #3, although they did have a pretty solid looking peach cobbler. Too bad we were WAY too full to sample it.

We made out way back to Austin and decided to get some coffee/tea @ Jo's and sit by the pool at the San Jose Hotel. Very relaxing.


It was a beautiful day and a great adventure. I can feel my arteries hardening!