Out of Town Visit
By Michael Conrad
9 May 2008
During spring break '08, my mother, my friend Zack and I embarked on a 500 mile journey in our Chevy Equinox to visit my grandfather in Lake City. We drove from South Florida, an hour and a half from the Keys, all the way up to a small city off of I-95, 20 miles south of Georgia.
We spent about three of four days up there, hanging out, traveling to Walmart and checking out the historic district. Lake city is full of rolling hills and old, broken down mansions, something that a south floridian isn't so used to. So it was definitely a beautiful sight to see and even though i had been there twice before, it was still relaxing to see these hundred foot tall hills with beautiful country homes on the sides accomponied with mini-lakes.
While we were up there, Zack and I decided to go on a few journies around the woods to see if there was anything interesting back in there. So, i decided to bring along my camera for the hell of it. At one time, we found an old, empty, 40 OZ. bottle of malt liquor and Zack, being the deviant he s, he felt as though he needed to break it. He continuously threw it at these big ole' pine trees as hard as it could but, it just didn't seem to want to break. So, that gave me a little time to try and catch him tossing the bottle at the right time with my camera. Setting it on a fast shutter speed, i caught him a few times, mid-throw, at the perfect time.
A day or two later, we all traveled to Ocala, a city about an hour or so south of Lake City to visit my friend Bobby who had moved there about a year before. We got to the historic district of that town and just drove straight down that main road. We noticed how crowded the town was and how kind the people were. It was nothing compared to south florida, where people will shove you out of the way just to get around.
We then met up with Bobby and went back to his house for a few games of Super Smash Bros: Brawl and a follow up dinner at the local (10 Miles Away) pizza place near the closest Publix. We drove in the dusk down the scenic route from Belview to downtown Ocala. The sights were so beautiful, the canopy trees along with the sunset was some of the most beautiful things i had ever seen.
A day later we went to The Capitol, a venue along the main road in the historic district. When we got there, there were some kids outside of the venue, waiting for the doors to open so they could see their favorite bands. they included, Message in Red, Massacre Aid, A Well Thought Tragedy and Thick As Blood. But unfortunately, the headlining band, Liferuiner had not been able to attend the show due to van difficulties. So after the hour and a half wait, the doors were finally opened and the first band began to play, they roared right through the sets and i snapped a few pictures of the bands. Overall, it was a great experience outside of my hometown in SOFLA.
