I had no idea of what I was getting myself into.
I didn't even know that this was going to take place. This was entirely a spare-of-the moment decision, but it was probably one of the greatest decisions I've ever made, which lead to an even great experience.
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
A friend and I were planning a trip to Panama City, FL. I found out later today that she wouldn't be able to go (no hard feelings, it wasn't your fault!). I had alternatives just in case, but my heart was still set on Florida. I didn't have a clue as to what I would do. Go home? Stay in Carrollton? Or even as crazy as it seemed..rent a car and go to Panama City by myself. By MYSELF! At the time, I felt like I needed someone to go with me, so I began to ask person after person. Of course, since it was so last minute, people either already had plans, or they just couldn't go. This posed a problem because I've never been on a road trip alone before, and I didn't know how to go about managing, surviving, and even planning this trip. I didn't know if I had enough money. I didn't even have a clue as to where I was going to stay, thankfully Aubrey Young had messaged me in regards to my trip, that the Sam Koon Band would be performing in Panama City the entire week. I had to start planning out the trip because I eventually got to the point where realized that I WILL be going, even IF I had to go by myself. Since they would be performing in Panama City, I figured that I could drive down there, shoot their show, then drive to Mobile, AL to stay with my grandparents. After a day with my grandparents, I'd go to Pensacola Beach, since they live roughly half an hour away. Then I would return home. The trip would only be two or three days. I started looking at places I could rent a car, and I was nervous because I've heard over and over again that you have to be 25 or older to rent a car. Wrong. I stumbled upon Enterprise.com and was relieved to see that I could rent a car, being 21. There's a $75 fee that people under 21 have to pay in order to rent a car, which isn't bad at all. At this point, I was still searching for people that would want to go with me.
Friday, March 19th, 2010
I could barely sleep the night before because I was anxious, excited, and filled with the anticipation of what may or may not happen within the next two days. The first thing I did when I got up in the morning was calling my father. I had some questions that HAD to be answer regarding renting a car, and of course, to let him know what Spring Break plans may be. [On this day, he called me a grown man! Ha!] Afterwards, I called the rental place and got a quote for the car. I went to class, asked some people if they wanted to go, and of course, no one could. After class I finally realized that I may be doing this thing by myself. Looking back on the whole trip, I'm kind of glad no one came with me, but I'll get to that part later. After class, I went to work and made the reservation to pick up the car the next morning at 9:30am. The rest of the day went by soooo slow. The anticipation was growing, the anxiety was growing, and the anxiousness was growing. Later in the night my friend Justin, a photographer that I've worked with before, messaged me. He lives in Nashville, TN and does a lot of work with models, bands, and several other clients. "Dude you are coming up here and you are taking some photos with me. I'm going to get a model and we're going to shoot her all day at several locations." I wasn't about to pass that up. I added another destination, and another day to my trip.
Here WAS my itinerary that I came up with on Friday night:
Spring Break 2010 Schedule
March 20th
• 9:00am-10am: Call Enterprise to get car
• 10:00am: Walmart-buy GPS, leave for Fusion Church
• 12:00pm: Leave for Panama City, FL; Contact Sam and Justin
• 5:00pm-6:00pm: Arrive in Panama City, contact Sam
• 9:00pm-Sam Koon Band
March 21st
• 12:00pm-Leave for Mobile, AL; call Gramma
• 2:00pm-3:30pm: Arrive in Mobile, AL
• 4:00pm-Leave for Pensacola, FL
• 4:30pm-6:00pm-Chill at the Beach
• 6:00pm-Return to Mobile
March 22nd
• 3:00am-4:00am: Leave for Nashville, TN
• 9:00am-10:00am: Arrive in Nashville, TN
March 23rd
• 2:00pm-Leave for Marietta, GA
• 5:00pm-Arrive in Marietta, GA; Visit both parents
March 24th
• 2:00pm-Leave for Carrollton, GA
• 3:00pm-4:00pm: Arrive in Carrollton, GA; return car
I packed up everything I needed, and got some rest for the next day.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
I woke up this morning and was SO ready for the day to begin. I hygiened myself, got dressed, called Enterprise, and waited for them to pick me up. I expected to get the hatchback that I reserved online, which I didn't mind at all because it was better than not having a car and going nowhere. But oh....oooooooooooooooohhh that's not what I got. I got a black 2009 Pontiac G6! Ayee!!!! I got into the office, signed the paper, and got out. The car was MINE for four whole days. This played a major role in my scheduling though. Instead of having to return the car on Wednesday at 4:00pm, I agreed to return at at 10:00am, for a lesser charge. I didn't stop by Walmart to buy a GPS, because my dad helped me find an app on my iPhone called AT&T Nav. The app itself is a free download, but you pay AT&T a monthly fee of $10, which is a lot better than spending $100+ on a fancy TomTom or Garmin. This also played a MAJOR role in my trip as well, which I will talk about later.I drove back to my room, loaded everything up, and headed to Atlanta to stop by Fusion Church. (By the way, Happy 1st Birthday Fusion!) After I left the church, my adventure began. At 1:30pm I was on my way to Panama City, FL.
I put my destination into my iPhone and followed where ever it told me to go. It didn't register with me that when I chose "fastest route", it would lead me to a bunch of back roads all the way to Panama. This lead to several mishaps and urks on the way. I really can't bring myself to realize how DUMB it was of me to wonder, "hey....why am I not on the interstate? hm...maybe this is how it's supposed to be?" After about 3 hours of driving on these back several bad, bad things began to happen. First off, I was in nowhere, Alabama. Apparently AT&T has little or no coverage in this area. Without coverage, my GPS will not work and my phone will not work. I have no way of knowing where I am or where to go; I have no way of calling anyone if something were to happen, and no one had any way of getting in touch with me. You have to realize that when you are driving on these roads, gas stations are few and far between, and being an African-American male, you have to be careful of where you stop at because.....well, yeah. I was riding on faith going in and out of these coverage areas and then another thing happened. My phone DIED, while on the car charger. At this point, I didn't care WHAT gas station I had pulled in, I had to find somewhere to stop and get my situation, situated. I stopped at BP Gas station in Dothan, AL and tried turning my phone on several times. It wouldn't come on. I unplugged it from the charge, plugged it back in, and it still did not come on. THEN, I took out my laptop, plugged my phone into it, and thankfully the white apple popped up. After that, I went into the station, got an orange soda, and got back onto the road with my laptop on, charging my phone, and continued to use the GPS. Half an hour later, guess what happens? The phone dies AGAIN! Now I start to really panic. Again, I pulled over at the first gas station I saw. I didn't know what to do. The laptop charger didn't work, nor did the car charger. I sat in the car dumbfounded. I thought that was it. I'm just going to turn around and backtrack all the way back to Carrollton. Something eerily happened. After sitting in the car for nearly 10 minutes doing nothing, a group of people in a white minivan pulled into the gas station. When I say that these people were straight HOOD, you couldn't get anymore "hooder" than these guys. This minivan had 22 inch platinum spinners on it, a good 7 people dancing and listening to terrible southern hip hop gibberish, smoke coming out from all windows...the works. All of them had there oversized T's on, gold teeth, dreads, and shades. Honestly, no offense to ANYONE, I was initially scared. Then I realized...hey, these guys aren't here for no reason; I mean, where else could they be going? I completely forgot about how frightened I was, got out of the car, went up to their van, and "did mah thang".
"Hey fellas, where are you all headed?"
"AYYYYEEE MAN WE HEADED DOWN TO DET PANAMA CITAY!! WHERE YOU FROM NIGGA!?"
"I'm from Atlanta. Listen, my phone just died on the car charger and I was using it as a GPS. I'm headed to Panama City myself. Would ya'll mind if I followed?"
"NAWWWW MANE AIN'T NO THANG! WE FOLLOWIN DET BLACK ESCALADE BEHIND YO AHH, SO JUST FOLLOW DA WHITE VAN MAH BAH! AYE AND LOOK, DIS MAH CD!!! LISTEN DO DIS AND BURN DET THANG! GIVE IT OUT TO YO PATNAHS ONCE YOU GIT BACK TO DA A! DEM BAMA BOIZ IS DOIN BIG THANGS NAH!"
"Alright man, I'll do that [of course I didn't]. 'Ppreciate you lettin' me follow you."
I got back in my car, waited for them to leave, got behind them, and followed them. As I was driving, I tried plugging my phone up to the car charger one more time, before completely giving up on it. I had Sam's number, so I could find a phone and call him when I got to Panama, just in case I couldn't get my phone to work. But it did! It started charging! I didn't want to run the GPS app right away, because it sucks up battery life like it's nothing. I let charge 3/4 of the way and turned it on. It took about 45 minutes for it to get there, and for 45 minutes, I was going 50mph in a 65mph road. You already know, as soon as that GPS came on, I blew right pass these guys, giving them a thumbs up. Other than STILL going in and out of AT&T Coverage areas, everything was fine. My phone was working, and I still had street signs, even though I had no clue where they lead to.
At around 5:30pm, I finally arrived in Panama City, FL. Once I got there, I planned on meeting up with Sam and his band at their condominium, The Dunes of Panama. But of course, things aren't supposed to go according to plan. Now don't me wrong, I did expect to hit SOME traffic when I got there, but this? This was ridiculous. I was exactly 2 miles away from the hotel when I hit the most devilish traffic I have ever seen. At the time, I was telling myself, "oh, well I'll just turn off of this street, my GPS will redirect me, and I'll get to the condo quicker. Apparently everyone else in the City of Panama City were thinking the same way. The main roads were clogged, the back roads were clogged, and the back roads OF the back roads were clogged. There was no way I could win. I sat in this traffic from 5:30 to around 7:30 when Sam called and told me that the band was headed up the to the Hofbrau to set up. Since I was kind of, sort of, not really close to the hotel, I had to reset my route. I was hoping that it'd take me somewhere where the traffic was much less, but of course, it was much worse. It added another 2 hours of waiting in traffic. I was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, so of course I had to get myself together. I pulled into a gas station, filled up my tank, and made myself presentable.
During this time, I witnessed the most outrageous, belligerent, crazy, people on the planet. Granted, it is Spring Break, people are going to act a fool, but what I saw was ridiculous. Besides the terrible loud rap music, the people hanging out of the windows and sunroofs, the yelling, and the souped up candy painted Cadillacs, people where taking off their clothes, cussing out each other, fighting in the streets, pouring alcohol on the ground AND on themselves, etc. etc. It all just added to how much I was already pissed off at being in this horrible, horrible traffic. My windows were up and my doors were locked. There was no way in hell I was going to get involved in any of this.
Two hours later, I finally got onto a road that wasn't congested at all, and I made my way to the Hofbrau in Pier Park. Thankfully I made it right on time. The Sam Koon Band had just finished setting up, I went up and let them know I was their and that I was ready to photograph they're show. They were AWESOME and I got some awesome photos. After two hours, I caught the itis and I barely could keep myself awake because of the long drive there, and because of all the stress from being in traffic. I made it through the night though. Sam graciously offered to let me stay at their condominium for the night. We drove there after the show was over, and once we got there, I saw a bed. That was all she wrote!
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
After a GREAT nights sleep, we all woke up at around 10:30am. I walked out of the room and went to the patio. What I saw was probably the most disheartening thing ever. Horrible overcast skies, two read flags, six foot waves, and a tide that almost covered the entire beach. There was no way that I, or any of us could go out and enjoy the beach. I planned on only being there for a day, and for that day, I planned on hanging out with the guys, helping them promote on the beach, and just enjoying my time outside for the day. I was going to leave for my grandparents house at around 4:00pm. Due to the weather, I had to make some changes. First, I was going to skip out on going to my grandparents, staying in PC for another day, because apparently Monday would be perfect, and going up to Nashville on Tuesday. There was one thing wrong with that-Justin only had off on Monday. For a split-second, I just thought about skipping out on him as well, but we haven't shot in over two years, and there's no telling on when we'll be able to work together again. Nashville was back in the picture, by my grandparents were still out. They understood though. I stayed in PC for the rest of the day, went and had McDonald's breakfast with the band, and went to a packed Walmart. Eventually the overcast went away and the sun came out. The winds were still extremely high, making it very dangerous to go out on the beach. I did anyways, because I was set on getting at least one decent picture on the beach. After I got my picture, I went to a t-shirt store and got myself a NEAT little hoodie for 10 bucks, went back to Pier Point to take some photos there, and off of the pier, then I went back to the condo and chilled for a bit until the Sam Koon Band's acoustic show. I decided to stay one more night and leave early the next morning for Nashville. I shot the acoustic show for about two hours, had some weird tasting German fries at the Hofbrau where they performed, then headed back to the condo and called it a night at around 11:00pm.
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
I woke up at around 3:30am, got myself packed and hygienified, and left for Nashville at around 4:00am. Before I got too far, I stopped at a Shell Gas Station, got two Red Bulls, and filled up the tank. Once that was over, I was on the road again. Again, I was taking back roads. After about 3hours, it finally hit me harder than it did before. "Why the HECK am I not on the interstate?" There's an option on the AT&T TelNav Application. You can either choose "Fastest Route", which won't always be the interstate, and will most likely be back roads, or you can choose "Preferred Highway"....."OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SNAP!! I'M STOOPID!!!" I chose "Preferred Highway", and it took me directly off whatever back road I was on, and onto I-65N. Much Better. While driving on I-65, the itis set in once again. I always hear about people falling asleep at the wheel, and I always thought it was ridiculous to do such a thing. But I stand corrected. I never realized that it was so EASY. I pounded those two Red Bulls until I reached the nearest exit, and got something to eat. I was in Decatur, AL. I went to a McDonalds, got out of the car to stretch and wake myself up. While doing so, I saw the most AMAZING sunrise. I took a picture of it, got something to eat, and got back on the interstate. As I was getting closer and closer to Nashville, the sky grew more and more overcast, and eventually snow started to fall! This wasn't your regular everyday snow though, these flakes were HUGE!!! (I have a video of it too haha!) I drove through the snow and as I was driving, I saw signs that stated that I-65N was closed. That meant I would be forced to get back on those awful back roads AGAIN. All cars had to get off on Exit 325 and take the detour via US 31. Boring, boring boring. Once again, this back road me had me in and out of coverage, meaning my GPS couldn't be picked up. I just followed all the big rigs because a group of trucks that big wouldn't be on a back road for no reason. After about 45 mins, we were finally back on 65N again, and it was smooth sailing all they way to Nashville from there....except for the part where I REALLY had to pee badly and there weren't any exits for days. It was way too cold for me to pull over and get out of the car and pee in the trees. I got to a rest stop, did my business, and bought myself some fruit snacks to stay awake because the Red Bulls didn't work as well as I wanted them to.
FINALLY I made it to Nashville, and met Justin at his house. We had a quick breakfast and headed right back out to pick up Marissa, our awesome model for the day. We shot at three different locations around Nashville, spending about an hour+ at each. First we started at Percy Warner. It's a huge upscale neighborhood with mansions for DAYS. We shot Marissa on this gigantic stone [and muddy] staircase. Next we went to the Parthenon, which was built 9/10 scaled to the original one. Last, we shot at the muddy Mt. Olive Cemetery. Along with driving through downtown and doing some brief sight-seeing, this was probably the most fun day out of the entire trip. There's something about actually seeing things for the first time that you've only heard about your entire life. After shooting all day, we dropped Marissa back off at her apartment, and headed over to Justin's mom's place. Apparently Justin told her all about me, and she was elated to finally meet me. She cooked these AWESOME sandwich type things for us; it hit the spot. I also met Justin's gigantic cat. She's the most chill cat I've ever met. For the rest of the night, we went through our photos, comparing shots, editing shots, AND Justin showed me a software that will watermark all my images at once! No longer will I have to sit on Photoshop for hours watermarking my photos manually. Thank the Lawd!!
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
I woke up at 9:30am, hollered at Justin for a bit, then peaced out. It was a sad day-the final leg of my trip. Again, I got myself together, got in the G6, and made my way back to Atlanta. Along the way I stopped several times. First I stopped to get gas, next I stopped at a Walmart to get lotion, because I was extremely ashy and extremely out of lotion, then I stopped at Burger King! As I made my way through Tennessee, I experience the most scenic drive ever. I drove through the mountains, the valley's, over the rivers and through the woods (not even kidding haha) and even shot a couple of pictures while driving. It was great. As I-24S eventually lead me to I-75S, it hit me. Only 110 miles left on my trip. It was bitter sweet. I got to Marietta and stopped by Dunlieth Elementary school, where I went for 5th grade, to see my P.E. teacher, Mrs. Gehweiler. Unfortunately she wasn't there, but I left her a cool note on her desk letting her know that I stopped by and how my spring break went. Afterwards, I met my mom at the library and hung out with her for a bit. She digs the car. I picked up my brother from his bus stop and got the "OOOOOH SNAP!! IS THAT YOUR CAR!?". "No...it's :(". We both cried....not really. We went over to my father's place and watched as he pieced together the LCD to my brother's iPhone. It's not quite fixed yet, by my dad always wins. I left for a bit to pick my ballin' friend up so we could go the Town Center Mall for awhile. Good times!
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
...and well, that's it. I'm back in Carrollton, I returned the car, and I'm so not ready to get back to the old grind. But I have to. The break was fun while it lasted.
La Fin.
This road trip was the most liberating, exhilarating, overwhelming, greatly needed, proudest, exciting, and fulfilling experience I have ever had in my entire life. The fact that I was by myself for most of it allowed me to learn a lot more about myself. It was my first self-sufficient trip I have been on by myself, and I hope there will be many more to follow. I did a lot, I saw a lot, I learned a lot, and most of all, I accomplished a lot. One thing that I keep repeating in my head is that in the span of two days, I saw a beach, mountains, 80 degree weather, snow, a wind advisory, a big city other than Atlanta, AND the coolest of them all-I did two shows in Panama City, FL, and a professional shoot in Nashville, TN. Oh yeah, I'm branching out.
P.S. The ONLY thing I regret about going is this trip is that it's a MEAN set back in my attempt to buy a car.....*Kanye shrug*, oh well!!
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
A friend and I were planning a trip to Panama City, FL. I found out later today that she wouldn't be able to go (no hard feelings, it wasn't your fault!). I had alternatives just in case, but my heart was still set on Florida. I didn't have a clue as to what I would do. Go home? Stay in Carrollton? Or even as crazy as it seemed..rent a car and go to Panama City by myself. By MYSELF! At the time, I felt like I needed someone to go with me, so I began to ask person after person. Of course, since it was so last minute, people either already had plans, or they just couldn't go. This posed a problem because I've never been on a road trip alone before, and I didn't know how to go about managing, surviving, and even planning this trip. I didn't know if I had enough money. I didn't even have a clue as to where I was going to stay, thankfully Aubrey Young had messaged me in regards to my trip, that the Sam Koon Band would be performing in Panama City the entire week. I had to start planning out the trip because I eventually got to the point where realized that I WILL be going, even IF I had to go by myself. Since they would be performing in Panama City, I figured that I could drive down there, shoot their show, then drive to Mobile, AL to stay with my grandparents. After a day with my grandparents, I'd go to Pensacola Beach, since they live roughly half an hour away. Then I would return home. The trip would only be two or three days. I started looking at places I could rent a car, and I was nervous because I've heard over and over again that you have to be 25 or older to rent a car. Wrong. I stumbled upon Enterprise.com and was relieved to see that I could rent a car, being 21. There's a $75 fee that people under 21 have to pay in order to rent a car, which isn't bad at all. At this point, I was still searching for people that would want to go with me.
Friday, March 19th, 2010
I could barely sleep the night before because I was anxious, excited, and filled with the anticipation of what may or may not happen within the next two days. The first thing I did when I got up in the morning was calling my father. I had some questions that HAD to be answer regarding renting a car, and of course, to let him know what Spring Break plans may be. [On this day, he called me a grown man! Ha!] Afterwards, I called the rental place and got a quote for the car. I went to class, asked some people if they wanted to go, and of course, no one could. After class I finally realized that I may be doing this thing by myself. Looking back on the whole trip, I'm kind of glad no one came with me, but I'll get to that part later. After class, I went to work and made the reservation to pick up the car the next morning at 9:30am. The rest of the day went by soooo slow. The anticipation was growing, the anxiety was growing, and the anxiousness was growing. Later in the night my friend Justin, a photographer that I've worked with before, messaged me. He lives in Nashville, TN and does a lot of work with models, bands, and several other clients. "Dude you are coming up here and you are taking some photos with me. I'm going to get a model and we're going to shoot her all day at several locations." I wasn't about to pass that up. I added another destination, and another day to my trip.
Here WAS my itinerary that I came up with on Friday night:
Spring Break 2010 Schedule
March 20th
• 9:00am-10am: Call Enterprise to get car
• 10:00am: Walmart-buy GPS, leave for Fusion Church
• 12:00pm: Leave for Panama City, FL; Contact Sam and Justin
• 5:00pm-6:00pm: Arrive in Panama City, contact Sam
• 9:00pm-Sam Koon Band
March 21st
• 12:00pm-Leave for Mobile, AL; call Gramma
• 2:00pm-3:30pm: Arrive in Mobile, AL
• 4:00pm-Leave for Pensacola, FL
• 4:30pm-6:00pm-Chill at the Beach
• 6:00pm-Return to Mobile
March 22nd
• 3:00am-4:00am: Leave for Nashville, TN
• 9:00am-10:00am: Arrive in Nashville, TN
March 23rd
• 2:00pm-Leave for Marietta, GA
• 5:00pm-Arrive in Marietta, GA; Visit both parents
March 24th
• 2:00pm-Leave for Carrollton, GA
• 3:00pm-4:00pm: Arrive in Carrollton, GA; return car
I packed up everything I needed, and got some rest for the next day.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
I woke up this morning and was SO ready for the day to begin. I hygiened myself, got dressed, called Enterprise, and waited for them to pick me up. I expected to get the hatchback that I reserved online, which I didn't mind at all because it was better than not having a car and going nowhere. But oh....oooooooooooooooohhh that's not what I got. I got a black 2009 Pontiac G6! Ayee!!!! I got into the office, signed the paper, and got out. The car was MINE for four whole days. This played a major role in my scheduling though. Instead of having to return the car on Wednesday at 4:00pm, I agreed to return at at 10:00am, for a lesser charge. I didn't stop by Walmart to buy a GPS, because my dad helped me find an app on my iPhone called AT&T Nav. The app itself is a free download, but you pay AT&T a monthly fee of $10, which is a lot better than spending $100+ on a fancy TomTom or Garmin. This also played a MAJOR role in my trip as well, which I will talk about later.I drove back to my room, loaded everything up, and headed to Atlanta to stop by Fusion Church. (By the way, Happy 1st Birthday Fusion!) After I left the church, my adventure began. At 1:30pm I was on my way to Panama City, FL.
I put my destination into my iPhone and followed where ever it told me to go. It didn't register with me that when I chose "fastest route", it would lead me to a bunch of back roads all the way to Panama. This lead to several mishaps and urks on the way. I really can't bring myself to realize how DUMB it was of me to wonder, "hey....why am I not on the interstate? hm...maybe this is how it's supposed to be?" After about 3 hours of driving on these back several bad, bad things began to happen. First off, I was in nowhere, Alabama. Apparently AT&T has little or no coverage in this area. Without coverage, my GPS will not work and my phone will not work. I have no way of knowing where I am or where to go; I have no way of calling anyone if something were to happen, and no one had any way of getting in touch with me. You have to realize that when you are driving on these roads, gas stations are few and far between, and being an African-American male, you have to be careful of where you stop at because.....well, yeah. I was riding on faith going in and out of these coverage areas and then another thing happened. My phone DIED, while on the car charger. At this point, I didn't care WHAT gas station I had pulled in, I had to find somewhere to stop and get my situation, situated. I stopped at BP Gas station in Dothan, AL and tried turning my phone on several times. It wouldn't come on. I unplugged it from the charge, plugged it back in, and it still did not come on. THEN, I took out my laptop, plugged my phone into it, and thankfully the white apple popped up. After that, I went into the station, got an orange soda, and got back onto the road with my laptop on, charging my phone, and continued to use the GPS. Half an hour later, guess what happens? The phone dies AGAIN! Now I start to really panic. Again, I pulled over at the first gas station I saw. I didn't know what to do. The laptop charger didn't work, nor did the car charger. I sat in the car dumbfounded. I thought that was it. I'm just going to turn around and backtrack all the way back to Carrollton. Something eerily happened. After sitting in the car for nearly 10 minutes doing nothing, a group of people in a white minivan pulled into the gas station. When I say that these people were straight HOOD, you couldn't get anymore "hooder" than these guys. This minivan had 22 inch platinum spinners on it, a good 7 people dancing and listening to terrible southern hip hop gibberish, smoke coming out from all windows...the works. All of them had there oversized T's on, gold teeth, dreads, and shades. Honestly, no offense to ANYONE, I was initially scared. Then I realized...hey, these guys aren't here for no reason; I mean, where else could they be going? I completely forgot about how frightened I was, got out of the car, went up to their van, and "did mah thang".
"Hey fellas, where are you all headed?"
"AYYYYEEE MAN WE HEADED DOWN TO DET PANAMA CITAY!! WHERE YOU FROM NIGGA!?"
"I'm from Atlanta. Listen, my phone just died on the car charger and I was using it as a GPS. I'm headed to Panama City myself. Would ya'll mind if I followed?"
"NAWWWW MANE AIN'T NO THANG! WE FOLLOWIN DET BLACK ESCALADE BEHIND YO AHH, SO JUST FOLLOW DA WHITE VAN MAH BAH! AYE AND LOOK, DIS MAH CD!!! LISTEN DO DIS AND BURN DET THANG! GIVE IT OUT TO YO PATNAHS ONCE YOU GIT BACK TO DA A! DEM BAMA BOIZ IS DOIN BIG THANGS NAH!"
"Alright man, I'll do that [of course I didn't]. 'Ppreciate you lettin' me follow you."
I got back in my car, waited for them to leave, got behind them, and followed them. As I was driving, I tried plugging my phone up to the car charger one more time, before completely giving up on it. I had Sam's number, so I could find a phone and call him when I got to Panama, just in case I couldn't get my phone to work. But it did! It started charging! I didn't want to run the GPS app right away, because it sucks up battery life like it's nothing. I let charge 3/4 of the way and turned it on. It took about 45 minutes for it to get there, and for 45 minutes, I was going 50mph in a 65mph road. You already know, as soon as that GPS came on, I blew right pass these guys, giving them a thumbs up. Other than STILL going in and out of AT&T Coverage areas, everything was fine. My phone was working, and I still had street signs, even though I had no clue where they lead to.
At around 5:30pm, I finally arrived in Panama City, FL. Once I got there, I planned on meeting up with Sam and his band at their condominium, The Dunes of Panama. But of course, things aren't supposed to go according to plan. Now don't me wrong, I did expect to hit SOME traffic when I got there, but this? This was ridiculous. I was exactly 2 miles away from the hotel when I hit the most devilish traffic I have ever seen. At the time, I was telling myself, "oh, well I'll just turn off of this street, my GPS will redirect me, and I'll get to the condo quicker. Apparently everyone else in the City of Panama City were thinking the same way. The main roads were clogged, the back roads were clogged, and the back roads OF the back roads were clogged. There was no way I could win. I sat in this traffic from 5:30 to around 7:30 when Sam called and told me that the band was headed up the to the Hofbrau to set up. Since I was kind of, sort of, not really close to the hotel, I had to reset my route. I was hoping that it'd take me somewhere where the traffic was much less, but of course, it was much worse. It added another 2 hours of waiting in traffic. I was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, so of course I had to get myself together. I pulled into a gas station, filled up my tank, and made myself presentable.
During this time, I witnessed the most outrageous, belligerent, crazy, people on the planet. Granted, it is Spring Break, people are going to act a fool, but what I saw was ridiculous. Besides the terrible loud rap music, the people hanging out of the windows and sunroofs, the yelling, and the souped up candy painted Cadillacs, people where taking off their clothes, cussing out each other, fighting in the streets, pouring alcohol on the ground AND on themselves, etc. etc. It all just added to how much I was already pissed off at being in this horrible, horrible traffic. My windows were up and my doors were locked. There was no way in hell I was going to get involved in any of this.
Two hours later, I finally got onto a road that wasn't congested at all, and I made my way to the Hofbrau in Pier Park. Thankfully I made it right on time. The Sam Koon Band had just finished setting up, I went up and let them know I was their and that I was ready to photograph they're show. They were AWESOME and I got some awesome photos. After two hours, I caught the itis and I barely could keep myself awake because of the long drive there, and because of all the stress from being in traffic. I made it through the night though. Sam graciously offered to let me stay at their condominium for the night. We drove there after the show was over, and once we got there, I saw a bed. That was all she wrote!
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
After a GREAT nights sleep, we all woke up at around 10:30am. I walked out of the room and went to the patio. What I saw was probably the most disheartening thing ever. Horrible overcast skies, two read flags, six foot waves, and a tide that almost covered the entire beach. There was no way that I, or any of us could go out and enjoy the beach. I planned on only being there for a day, and for that day, I planned on hanging out with the guys, helping them promote on the beach, and just enjoying my time outside for the day. I was going to leave for my grandparents house at around 4:00pm. Due to the weather, I had to make some changes. First, I was going to skip out on going to my grandparents, staying in PC for another day, because apparently Monday would be perfect, and going up to Nashville on Tuesday. There was one thing wrong with that-Justin only had off on Monday. For a split-second, I just thought about skipping out on him as well, but we haven't shot in over two years, and there's no telling on when we'll be able to work together again. Nashville was back in the picture, by my grandparents were still out. They understood though. I stayed in PC for the rest of the day, went and had McDonald's breakfast with the band, and went to a packed Walmart. Eventually the overcast went away and the sun came out. The winds were still extremely high, making it very dangerous to go out on the beach. I did anyways, because I was set on getting at least one decent picture on the beach. After I got my picture, I went to a t-shirt store and got myself a NEAT little hoodie for 10 bucks, went back to Pier Point to take some photos there, and off of the pier, then I went back to the condo and chilled for a bit until the Sam Koon Band's acoustic show. I decided to stay one more night and leave early the next morning for Nashville. I shot the acoustic show for about two hours, had some weird tasting German fries at the Hofbrau where they performed, then headed back to the condo and called it a night at around 11:00pm.
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
I woke up at around 3:30am, got myself packed and hygienified, and left for Nashville at around 4:00am. Before I got too far, I stopped at a Shell Gas Station, got two Red Bulls, and filled up the tank. Once that was over, I was on the road again. Again, I was taking back roads. After about 3hours, it finally hit me harder than it did before. "Why the HECK am I not on the interstate?" There's an option on the AT&T TelNav Application. You can either choose "Fastest Route", which won't always be the interstate, and will most likely be back roads, or you can choose "Preferred Highway"....."OOOOOOOOOOOO
FINALLY I made it to Nashville, and met Justin at his house. We had a quick breakfast and headed right back out to pick up Marissa, our awesome model for the day. We shot at three different locations around Nashville, spending about an hour+ at each. First we started at Percy Warner. It's a huge upscale neighborhood with mansions for DAYS. We shot Marissa on this gigantic stone [and muddy] staircase. Next we went to the Parthenon, which was built 9/10 scaled to the original one. Last, we shot at the muddy Mt. Olive Cemetery. Along with driving through downtown and doing some brief sight-seeing, this was probably the most fun day out of the entire trip. There's something about actually seeing things for the first time that you've only heard about your entire life. After shooting all day, we dropped Marissa back off at her apartment, and headed over to Justin's mom's place. Apparently Justin told her all about me, and she was elated to finally meet me. She cooked these AWESOME sandwich type things for us; it hit the spot. I also met Justin's gigantic cat. She's the most chill cat I've ever met. For the rest of the night, we went through our photos, comparing shots, editing shots, AND Justin showed me a software that will watermark all my images at once! No longer will I have to sit on Photoshop for hours watermarking my photos manually. Thank the Lawd!!
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
I woke up at 9:30am, hollered at Justin for a bit, then peaced out. It was a sad day-the final leg of my trip. Again, I got myself together, got in the G6, and made my way back to Atlanta. Along the way I stopped several times. First I stopped to get gas, next I stopped at a Walmart to get lotion, because I was extremely ashy and extremely out of lotion, then I stopped at Burger King! As I made my way through Tennessee, I experience the most scenic drive ever. I drove through the mountains, the valley's, over the rivers and through the woods (not even kidding haha) and even shot a couple of pictures while driving. It was great. As I-24S eventually lead me to I-75S, it hit me. Only 110 miles left on my trip. It was bitter sweet. I got to Marietta and stopped by Dunlieth Elementary school, where I went for 5th grade, to see my P.E. teacher, Mrs. Gehweiler. Unfortunately she wasn't there, but I left her a cool note on her desk letting her know that I stopped by and how my spring break went. Afterwards, I met my mom at the library and hung out with her for a bit. She digs the car. I picked up my brother from his bus stop and got the "OOOOOH SNAP!! IS THAT YOUR CAR!?". "No...it's :(". We both cried....not really. We went over to my father's place and watched as he pieced together the LCD to my brother's iPhone. It's not quite fixed yet, by my dad always wins. I left for a bit to pick my ballin' friend up so we could go the Town Center Mall for awhile. Good times!
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
...and well, that's it. I'm back in Carrollton, I returned the car, and I'm so not ready to get back to the old grind. But I have to. The break was fun while it lasted.
La Fin.
This road trip was the most liberating, exhilarating, overwhelming, greatly needed, proudest, exciting, and fulfilling experience I have ever had in my entire life. The fact that I was by myself for most of it allowed me to learn a lot more about myself. It was my first self-sufficient trip I have been on by myself, and I hope there will be many more to follow. I did a lot, I saw a lot, I learned a lot, and most of all, I accomplished a lot. One thing that I keep repeating in my head is that in the span of two days, I saw a beach, mountains, 80 degree weather, snow, a wind advisory, a big city other than Atlanta, AND the coolest of them all-I did two shows in Panama City, FL, and a professional shoot in Nashville, TN. Oh yeah, I'm branching out.
P.S. The ONLY thing I regret about going is this trip is that it's a MEAN set back in my attempt to buy a car.....*Kanye shrug*, oh well!!
The majority of my trip was spent in a Pontiac G6 :D
Band I'm shooting the first night, that's my photo on their shirts :D
The one day I'm here, it does this....
Off the Pier near Pier Park
Sunset
Been driving since 4 this morning. It was great seeing the sunrise. I still have about 5 hrs to go.
P.S. Alabama backroads are NOT "the move".
P.S. Alabama backroads are NOT "the move".
Justin and I shot Marissa at several locations around Nashville today. She did an awesome job!
Best photo from our shoot.
First location we shot at, Percy Warner
Second location, The Parthenon
Leaving Nashville
