The Weekend from Awesome (part 1)

As the story goes, I "met" Kendall about 5 months ago, via deviantART. We started chatting on AIM, and it turns out we had a lot in common. He's a graphic designer residing in Jackson, MS, which is relatively close to me (about a 3 hour drive). So, he proposes coming to visit me during Labor Day weekend, and I'm like, "Sure I met you on the internet and you could be a complete psycho, but, I'm up for an adventure, and I haven't been out of the house in a while. . . So, what the hey."

Much awesomeness ensued. You can check out Ken's point of view over at his blog, Steam.



I had my older sister tag along for back-up, and we met Ken at the hotel which he was staying, La Quinta Inn. When I first walked up, I saw him from the lobby window. He was wearing his aviator shades and I figured he saw me. I entered the Inn, and approached him, but he was still looking out the window. "Kendall?", I said, tentatively. It was then that he acknowledged my presence. He was napping, as it turns out. Real smooth, Ken.

Ken was starving, so we headed over to Panera Bread for some brunch. My sandwich wasn't good at all, and for almost seven bucks, that wasn't a good thing. I finally took the bread off it, and it tasted a whole lot better.



Having acquired sustenance for the trip ahead, we proceed to travel to what a location that I had previously referred to simply as "blahblablah", in order to surprise Ken, and keep him from Googling info about the place.





Half an hour of driving, and we arrive in the beautiful city of Fairhope, AL, situated on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. It has a reputation as an artist's haven, and it's a nice place to go just to get away.

As you can see, Ken wasted no time acquainting himself with the local wildlife.







This is my favorite shot of Ken.




Being big kids at heart, my sister and I got on the kiddie seesaw, and Ken stood in the middle.






After leaving Fairhope, we drove back to Mobile and chilled at Barnes & Noble Starbucks Cafe for a bit. Ken brought me a copy of Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1, one of his favorite comics.

We made a brief pit stop at the Ken's hotel, so he could retrieve his laptop. While waiting in the lobby I snapped this pic of the fake flowers they had on the table.





Then, I took Ken up to my school to show him around. We went to the Student Center, which has some really cool architecture for photo opps. We proceeded to slam evil, as I conquered this architectural indulgence of a structure in front of the newly constructed Student Services Center. From below, it looked to be hollow inside, but I climbed up on the pedestal and found it to be flat. So, I just had to stand on top of it. What purpose did it serve otherwise?



Next, we tackled Ground Zero Comics. This was Ken's first time in a comic shop since February. It'd probably been that long for me as well, and the stores location had recently moved, so I was curious to see what it looked like.



Ken introduced me to Onitsuka Tigers, the official shoes of cloud-walking. We both rocked them that day.




After the comics store, we headed over to Langan Park, and chilled in front of the Lake. Ken got was a feast for the mosquitos thanks to his Axe effect. Strangely, the little buggers left me alone.



To top off a wonderful evening, I got my first ever traffic ticket for not having proof of insurance in the car. The officer wasn't at all nice about it. . .the word "jerk" could come to mind, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Next up, The Weekend from Awesome (part 2).

tbc.

*Ken will have his version of the events up tomorrow morning.