On a few occasions, I tend to write hokey poems. As I said at her memorial, I get older but my poems stay the same age. This poem is dedicated to my bubbly, always happy grandmother, Momma Lew.

My Grandmother

My grandmother was famous for her cooking
She was famous for her charm
She’d bake you up some brownies
And she let you run into her arms

My grandmother could play the piano
And she could run a tight ship
On holiday’s she’d have us all sing carols
And read scripture from the Bible, all without any lip.

My grandmother loved fishing
She loved to be outside
She taught me how to hook a worm
And she taught me to appreciate the sunshine

My grandmother could tell a story
All real and good ones too
She’d tell you about treasures and ghosts
And talk about pirates who’d appear out of the blue

My grandmother lived the life
A wife, a mother, and grand kids
She loved her family with all her heart
But her true feelings she never hid.

I’ve always loved my grandmother
It seemed like she was always there
Birthdays, proms, and graduations
One person, with a smile, who seemed to be everywhere

If there’s one thing I’d want you to know about my grandmother
It’s that she was always the happiest person in the room
Her giggly spirit, her loving laughs, and honest wit
Would always brighten the darkest room

Now my grandmother’s in heaven
Dancing with family all that she can
She loved life, she loved her family
But mostly, she loved her man!

Wes, Kari, Grace, and Abby came to visit this weekend. It was so much fun. They arrived on Friday and we were able to see some small parts of the town. We ate and listened to music on the green at the Promenade, visited Charlotte’s children’s library, ImagineOn, at at Pikes, went to Elevation Church, ate at the Penguin, the Roasting Company, and enjoyed our last meal together this morning at Krispy Kreme.

The girls are so wonderful to be around. They are always so happy, cheerful, and incredibly endearing. Grace loves to play, loves having attention, and really enjoys going outside and pushing her baby stroller. And Abby has to be the most pleasant baby ever. She hardly ever complains, loves being held, and when in your arms will just rest her head on your shoulder and look around the room so calmly. Wesley and Kari are amazing parents, and they make me hope I can someday be half the parents they have become.

They have only been gone for two hours, and I miss them already.

Cast your vote below and help me decide.

Red Toned

Black Toned (slightly different swirls)

As the band Live put it…

I don’t need no one to tell me about Heaven. I look at my daughter and I believe!

Congrats, Wes and Kari!

Press play to listen to the song: Live – Heaven

When he arrived at 7:30 on Friday night, the fun began. I planned a fun filled, but no-stress weekend. That evening we ran up to Creation for dinner. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it. Then we rolled over to the Gallery Crawl in NODA. There, we first hit The Rat’s Nest where the Loose Lugnuts were playing. We hung there for a little bit, then checked out Dolce Vita for a bit, then rolled home to prepare for a big day on Saturday.

Saturday morning Wesley’s good friend, Brian, drove into town and joined us for the rest of the weekend. When he showed up we jumped into the car and headed over to the US National Whitewater Center, conveniently located here in Charlotte. This is a brand new facility, and it was quite impressive. We had a blast. After a short instructional, we were on the water and rafting class 2, 3, and 4 rapids. We were on the water for about 2 hours, of which Wesley and Brian spent a few minutes each outside of the boat being rescued. Ha!

After a long afternoon rafting, we bolted over to the Pengiun to refuel. Pitchers of beer, fried pickels, and one of the best burgers you’ve ever put in your mouth was just what the doctor ordered! After going home and watching a movie, we went out to Cabo Fish Taco for some dinner, then called it a night.

Sunday, we slept in then rolled over to Kenilworth Park to play disc golf – 36 holes! The first 18 were great. The last half was a bit taxing. (Thanks for Jared joining us to keep us honest on the scoring.)

Here are the photos from the weekend.
Great times, even better company! Happy birthday, Wes! Hope you had a great time.

I loved Yerg’s paintings, but couldn’t see myself paying a guy $500 for something I could do myself… or almost myself. I got pretty close. I played around a few times with Photoshop’s image adjuster, then I read a few online tutorials. Today, I think I figured it out.

It still takes a bit of work in Photoshop. And, I imagine that the painter still has to do some sort of photo transfer or tracing from an overhead projector to get this on canvas. But, I’m pretty excited at getting this far.

I think I have my new family project. The photo above is of my parents. My goal is to add each one of my brothers. This should make for some incredible wall art.

Click here to see the full photo stream.

As I said in my previous post, my father, my brothers and I just returned from the Grand Canyon. It was a blast – truly a trip for the ages. The trip was meaningful for two separate reasons. One, it was my father’s dream vacation. He’s always wanted to visit, and he’s always wanted to take a trip with his sons. To add to his delight, we took the back roads, ate in small dives along the way, and drank beers with the locals in bars most people would be scared to walk into to. It was right up his alley.

The second benefit of the trip is that it was a chance for all the brothers to get together outside of our hometown. (This is a goal of ours – to get together at least once a year outside the presence of our parents or our hometown.) We’re on year number two, and counting. These get togethers have been great at reaffirming our friendship, and making our bond of brotherhood even tighter. We are our own best allies. It’s important to nurture that.

So, as the trip began, we all flew into Las Vegas. We all arrived with a few hours of each other, and it didn’t take too long for us to check in at our first hotel – The Stratosphere, on the Las Vegas strip. This was as good of a place to start out as any. The rooms were only $25/night (thanks to Travelocity) and it had all the amenities you needed to have a good time in Vegas. We settled in. We hit the blackjack tables. Then took off for our first event – a helicopter ride down the Vegas Strip at night. I highly recommend this. You can find tickets online for about $60/person. And, the ride – athough short – was very fun and you get a view of Vegas that is priceless.

The next day was off to the West rim of the Grand Canyon. We setoff by 9:30am, and stopped off at the Hoover Dam to take the tour. Why not, right!?! This was totally cool, although the guided tour was about 20 minutes too long. From the Dam we headed toward Meadview, AZ. Along the way we stopped in Dolan Springs for some food and drink. This was an event. The food was failry good, but we had to walk across the street to the local biker bar for some suds. Althoug we didn’t fit in. The locals seemed to like us. Noah stepped right up to the bar, ordered drinks, then played a few songs on the jukebox which seemed to liven things up a bit.

After the drinks we were off to Grand Canyon West. This is the place which is building the Skywalk over the Canyon. The Skywalk is a U-shaped glass bridge which is cantilevered over the Canyon rim. This allows visitors to look straight down 4000 feet to the Canyon floor. Truly amazing! After a treachorous 14 mile drive down a dirt, rocky, unpaved, windy, bumby road, we made to the Hualippai Indian reservation ready for our tour. But, when we arrived we were informed we had missed the last tour of the day by 10 minutes. UUGGH!!! Before heading to our hotel we were able to get a few photos of the Canyon in the distance, but the sun was setting fast so off we went.

We checked into the Meadview Lake Motel. It was absolutely in the middle of nowhere! It was pitch dark when we arrived and it appeared as if nothing was around for miles. That night I had dreams that we were surrounded by the Sand People from Star Wars. But, when we woke we were preasantly surprised. It was a small town. But, this small town had a geogeous view of the Canyon. It was so beautiful. This is where we spent the next two days. We had dinner with the locals. Took a helicopter ride through the canyon from a nearby dude ranch. Played horseshoes. Had a cowboy sing a song for us. We caught both the sunrise and the sunset. And ontop of all this… we were the only tourists in the town. You can tell from our photos that no one else was anywhere in site.

Here’s a video my brother, Matthew, put together of the trip.

First, I flew on JetBlue. They just opened up in Charlotte, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. This was my first time on a JetBlue flight and I was overly impressed. Free Wifi in the terminals. All seats are made of plush leather. (I said ALL seats). Each seat has their own personal TV monitor and headphones are provided for free. Each TV comes equipped with 36 stations of DirecTV and XM Radio. And when it came time for snacks, the attendents didn’t roll out the drink cart, they personally went to each seat and took your order. I thought this was a nice touch to eliminate the drink cart, but it did lengthen the time to receive your order (my only complaint).

Second, and the downside of the trip, is that I flew into JFK. OMG! What a small, outdated airport. It’s located way outside the city, and by car it took 90 minutes to get from the airport to Manhattan. The flight from Charlotte was only 75 minutes. So, this was a bit unexpected. Ontop of rush hour traffic and being crammed in the back of a shared shuttle, this transit into Manhattan left much to be desired.

Then the good stuff. On the way into town, we passed all the goodies. Grand Central Terminal, Park Avenue, NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, and I swear I saw Mayor Bloomberg walking on the sidewalk. I wish I had access to my camera then.

We arrived at the hotel at 10:00. Walking into the Hilton NY, Adtech was booming with activity. People were everywhere. Ontop of all that, the NY Marathon runners were all checking out, so it made for a hectic time. You couldn’t help to feed off of the energy of the room. You could tell everyone was amped. After a few brief meetings and lunch, I was back on my way to JFK to catch my 5:30 flight.

Is it me, or does any photo snapped from a moving taxi cab just look awesome. Out of focus? Who cares! Subject not fully in frame? I meant to do that! Fuzzy images through the back window? It makes the image authentic! I wish I had snapped some images going into the city, but these photos still do the job. Having NY, NY as the backdrop is only a plus!

The cab ride back to JFK sucked. But, after arriving back in Charlotte by 7:15, I realized I still had time to make it to my weekly card game. So, waking up at 3:30, flying to Manhattan for the day, flying back and being able to play a few hours of poker are days when you know you are blessed. Ok…back to work.

This year the kids didn’t start coming to the door until about 6:00. And by 7:30 we had over 300 kids come to our door. We ran out of candy and were forced to turn many kids away who were still circling the block. Even after we turned out the porch lights many kids were still knocking on the doors in hopes that we may have a few pieces left.

To chronicle the event, I took photos of EVERY kid who came to our door. Take a peak, and give it the page a few seconds to load. It’s well worth the look.

Update: My brother took these photos and did a short video. Check it out.

Ken, a christian, has an uncanny ability to expose all of God’s splendor in each of his photos. Take a peak of his work via his website, or via this little image gallery I put together.

From his site…

As a landscape photographer, I am constantly reminded how wonderful God is, as evidenced by the beauty in His creation. So, if you’re feeling stressed out and disconnected, or you just need a reminder of God’s awesome love for us, then hopefully this multi-media presentation will encourage you. It’s certainly a lot easier for us to bring these stunning locations to you, rather than you trying to travel to them! … Enter the Sanctuary.

Noah and I played a quick game of cards at my buddy’s house. Played some ping pong at my crib. Wesley showed up at 11am after driving from DC starting at 4:30. And we were on the road to Clemson by 12:30. We snapped this photo right before we took off.

A 2-hour car ride later and we arrived in ESPN-crazed Clemson, SC. Before settling in to tailgate, I had to take Wes and Noah on a quick trip to the ever famous rollercoaster road. It was certainly steep, but somehow it wasn’t as fun as I remembered it being. I was driving my low-riding magnum and I was a bit too scared of bottoming out at the bottom of the hill. So, I ended up taking the hills a little too slow for excitement. But, still good fun nonetheless.

After a few hours of tailgating and being harassed by real life yellowjackets (actual bees, not the crazed GT fans), Wesley went and grabbed a ticket with his buddies, and Noah and I went off to scalp tickets of our own. I couldn’t believe it. Tickets were going for $150/seat on the street. There was no way that I was going to pay more than $50 for a ticket. (face value was $48). After battling the fans in downtown Clemson, Noah and I ventured up near the stadium and the ticket prices were still the same. I was getting a bit discouraged because Noah came all the way up from Beaufort to visit and to come to the game. And I was hoping to show him a good time in classic Clemson football fashion.

We were in the middle of all the ticket scalpers and still no economical options were available. Then, a miracle happened. A cadillac pulled up, parked, and I guess the driver saw me holding up my fingers gestering that I needed 2 tickets. He popped out of his car holding 2 tickets. Long story short – I scored two tickets on the 45 yard line for $60/each. I couldn’t believe it. Even though I paid a bit more than I expected, it was so well worth it. These were some of the best seats in the house, and Noah and I were up close and in the middle of Clemson fans for one of the best games we’ve seen in a long while.

Wes & Noah – I can’t tell you how great it was to hang out with the both of you this weekend. I can’t wait for our trip to the Grand Canyon!

Click on any photo above to see all the photos. All the game day videos can be seen at this link.

Who are you listening to?

See mine here.

“You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life
You’ll be with me next time I go outside
just no more 3×5′s”

I always liked this song. But, this weekend, I decided to jump in the car and venture off to capture some memories of my own. Not a care in the world. No laptops. No cell phones. Just the car, a camera, and the road. I can’t tell you how relaxing this getaway was.

I originally had planned to stop thru Greenville, SC to check out some possible investment properties…which I did. But, as the weekend grew rainier and rainier, I decided to take the backroads up through the mountains, near Asheville then back home to Charlotte.

I went to a gas station, bought a NC state map, located some small, lesser known landmarks, highlighted some backroads, and plotted out my adventure.

While in Greenville, I stopped at Reedy Falls Park. It’s smack in the middle of the newly revitilized downtown area. So beautiful. Tons of river rocks, a gentle rain, green grass, well maintained gardens, and kids playing in the river. What else can you ask for?

After grabbing a hot dog for lunch (this area of the country must love hot dogs, because I passed over 10 hot dog joints in the Greenville area alone), I headed just north to Landrum, SC. Landrum (just outside of Tigerville) has the only covered bridge in South Carolina – Campbell’s Bridge. It’s a state landmark.

Campbell’s Bridge. Although I never saw the movie, this had to be like one of those bridges in Madison County. It was nestled over a quite little brooke. Nothing around for miles. Along side the bridge was the ruins of a grist mill. It was pretty cool. Kudzu had overgrown the entire ruins. But, you could still see the well, much of the foundation, and a small mill roof.

After this, I heard of another bridge close by, Poinsett Bridge. Poinsette Bridge is the oldest standing bridge in South Carolina. This place was absolutely amazing. Purely covered with trees, the bridge looks as if it were untouched and unharmed since the day it was built. One of the prettiest babbling brooks and bridges you’ll ever see. I just hope my photos do it justice.

After these two great finds, I jumped in the car looking for more adventure. I was very close to the NC border, so I ventured on up to Hendersonville, NC to visit one of the regionally famous Mast General Stores. Apparently they are a must-stop for any backroads North Carolina trip. I stopped, and picked up a few goodies. Upon checkout I asked the guy behind the counter “what’s there to do in Hendersonville?” He quickly replied with Jump Off Rock.

Apparently, from downtown Hendersonville you just take 5th street west for 7 miles, and you arrive at a dead end which is the highest point in the area. It’s a cool birds eye view of the entire town. Pretty cool stuff. I swear that from atop these peaks I heard eagles scream repetitively. By this time it was 6:00pm and the local band was just tuning their instruments in the visitor Center parking lot. After sitting there for a while, I realized I was dead tired. So, I was off to find a hotel for the evening. I eventually found one in Asheville.

That night I contemplated what I wanted to do the next day. On the list was whitewater rafting, tubing, caveing, venturing off to Boone, or just staying there in Asheville. My body decided for me. For some reason, I was physically drained. So, I decided to just tool around downtown Asheville on Saturday. Asheville was cool. It was a very cool day (in the 60′s all day). The cool weather, the cloudy skies, and the hilly terrain made me realize why people liken this town to San Francisco. Very cool.

So, I was tired. I looked at my watch and realized I could make it home in time for the Carolina Panther preseason game. So, I jumped in the car and headed home (back roads of course). Through the mountains toward Lake Lure, through Chimney Rock (which looked ominous darting through the thick clouds), and then racing through the foothills toward Gastonia. Finally, on Saturday evening I made it home.

Once I home I realized I took over 200 photos. Wow! And I didn’t take many photos of Hendersonville, and none in Asheville and the drive home. Imagine the damage I could have done.

I’ll have to plan another trip soon. Who’s up for canoeing on the Nantahala or French Broad?

Here’s my favorite photo of all the photos I took on the trip. Click any of the photos on this post to see the rest of the photos I took. (All 200+ of them!)