Working on our swings

Tyrone here – thanks for joining us. When the idea of a trip to Florida was brought to my attention, I’ll admit my mind immediately went to golf. We would be in a distant land where palm trees shaded the greens and the courses were open 12 months a year. However, my train of thought came quickly to a halt as I remembered Jeremy & Calvin weren’t golfers. Or so I thought.

They agreed to bring down some clubs with the intention of maybe hitting a driving range on a free afternoon, but while searching local courses one night we stumbled upon a true diamond in the rough. Myerlee Country Club proudly describes itself as “the 3^rd most affordable course in South West Florida”. This translates into 9 holes, a cart and your choice of draft beer – for $15.

The decision was made and not four hours later, both Calvin & Jer were wondering why they had missed out on the glory for so many years. They enjoyed their time on the links so much, that a few mornings later they were the ones getting me up at the crack of dawn to ensure we weren’t late for our sunrise tee time. I am happy to report these two have fallen victim to the allure of golf – and it shows no signs for letting up any time soon.

The 20 yard chip that robbed Jer of a birdie...

Cart club

Short game

Living the high life 

Thanks to our sponsor, Nike

Now golf hasn’t been the only method in which we way have been working on our swings this past week, thanks to pristine tennis courts just next to our humble abode. Armed with a few rackets and fresh canisters of balls still holding that coveted new tennis ball smell, we began to refine our game.

After a few extremely competitive (read sweaty) warm up sessions, it was time for the Sanibel Cup to begin. As onlookers admired the sheer beauty of our back and forth rallies, each of us was able to claim a coveted Cup title. Wisely, we decided to retire on top and will be leaving the island as the undisputed champions.

It has been nice to be able to mix in these activities and more amongst the relaxation, and I’m sure the girls would happily tell you that their relaxation has also benefited from our periodic absence.

Fore,

Tyrone and friends

Get to know the locals

Here at the Open Road Project we are all about dispelling the myth that young people are sluggards, lazy, and sleep in till noon. So on Monday morning, we got up at the crack of dawn and went to the beach for some sunrise shelling.

Sanibel Island is the shell capital of the universe, and offers so many varieties of shells that no person could ever hope to collect them all. It was a beautiful sunrise, and we got the best selection of the shells deposited by the cool Florida night tide.

After a quick breakfast, we waited for our 10:00 am pickup from a friend who has been coming to the island since before Lily even hit the production line.

When someone gives you the "Sanibel Insiders List of Things To Do," and then also offers to take you on a tour of the island - you just say yes.

Driving around in the bed of a pickup truck is fun any day of the week, but cruising around the island this way was especially satisfying. Sanibel has a fascinating history, and I would encourage you to do a 5 minute Google search to learn more if you are into good stories.

Cruisin' Florida style

Back in the late 60's Sanibel was set to become the next "Miami beach," with plans for over 90,000 hotel/condo/high rise units. The locals, wanting to preserve the natural beauty and diverse wildlife on the island, ended up voting to secede from Lee County so that they could govern themselves, and take control back from the developers. Today the island is built as much as it will ever be, and no buildings are higher than 3 storeys. Also, two-thirds of the island is comprised of wildlife refuges. For a group of six who believe in a Creator, this island has been an amazing place to marvel at the beauty that surrounds us.

On our tour, we also learned about an inspiring man named Jay "Ding" Darling when we visited the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. He was a cartoonist with a passion for raising awareness of conservation issues. He was good friends with Franklin Roosevelt during the time the National Wildlife Foundation was created. His political cartoons won him a number of awards during a time when there many American animal species were rapidly disappearing. Our tour of the refuge compelled us to think about the complex conservation and environmental issues of the present.

This rifle held over three pounds of ammo, and would decimate 80-100 birds per shot

Getting educated

After our tour, we went out for an amazing lunch at a popular local spot called Doc Ford's. Doc Ford is a character in a book series based on a guy who lives on the island of Sanibel. Calvin has been captivated by one Doc Ford page-turner this week.

Whenever we travel on the open road, we find the best stories come from time spent with locals. Our tour was a perfect example of this!

Thanks for reading,

Jeremy and friends

Sunday Funday

When we woke up and realized we had a whole Sunday ahead of us, we were again excited that we decided to drive straight through.

After a modest sleep-in, we hopped in the RV to go out for breakfast and run some errands. We ended up at a hilarious little place called the Sunflower Cafe. When we walked in, the large restaurant was absolutely PACKED with the "over 65 Sunday church crowd." Every snowbird or Florida retiree stereotype you can think of applied. It was a pretty fun experience, and we estimated the average age of any given patron was 77. The coffee was hot and the food was greasy - just as we expected and hoped.

Now it was time to head to SuperTarget to get our groceries for the week. The ladies laid out a nice meal plan so shopping was pretty turnkey. Stick to the list.

Next on the to-do list was renting some bikes from our friends at Billy's Bikes. The island is quite small, and many people bike to get around. We quickly became friends with our service representative, who was originally from Montreal. All the bike shop employees thought the RV was VERY cool. I wasn't surprised.

Gotta love a well-maintained bike path

Now that the errands were complete, it was finally time to hit the beach. The water was warm, the waves were fun and the wind made for perfect conditions for Calvin's awesome snowy owl kite.

After beach time, we busted out the George Forman for dinner, followed by a late night bike ride for ice cream and the local hotspot.

The lovely ladies

Great weather to fly an ironic kite

Moments before Calvin smashed ice cream into his face - he'll do anything for the camera

Also, for those reading, please note that these posts are really about a vacation. Hopefully it's a little more interesting than the slides from your aunt's trip to the Grand Canyon, but no guarantees.

Cheers,

Jeremy and friends

We made it!

After 30 straight hours in the RV - our longest direct ride to date - we made it to Sanibel Island in Florida.

When the workday ended on Friday, we gathered in Burlington and packed the RV. The was a definite buzz in the air. While Lily is, yes, an ancient RV, the girls were pleasantly surprised with her spacious and versatile configurations. The new upgrades and fresh scent went a long way.

Crossing the border and driving through the night was no problem, and for this we were very thankful. The Rockstar energy drinks were flowing, and the RV loved the cool air and open interstate. We cruised through Pennsylvania and all of West Virginia before sun up.

Calvin and Tyrone did most of the driving in the night, and I was back at the wheel as the sun was rising. Wow was it beautiful. At this point we were coming out of Virginia into North Carolina, and the fresh green and purple tree buds were beginning to appear. It was exciting to watch the forests turn more and more lush as we drove south.

When driving through the States, I am always reminded of the differences between our country and America. The dirt cheap gas is always welcome - we were typically filling up for about $60. Even with the poor exchange rate, that makes for a significant savings. There are also many things that make us scratch our heads, such as boiled peanuts, liquid nicotine at gas stations, and the omnipresent fast food.

The ride was mostly uneventful, though at times we could tell that Lily was a bit tired. The frequent stops for gas also allowed some time for the engine to rest.

Calvin pulled the last leg of the trip, driving from north of Tampa all the way to Sanibel - we arrived at 2:00 am on the nose.

After dumping everything into our place, we parked the RV and went straight to bed. Did it ever feel good to put our heads down on our pillows.

Now the fun begins!

Calvin got good bang for his buck at Starbucks. Leave room for dairy? No thanks.

RV life

Do not try to get between Katie E and her crosswords

Thanks for reading,

Jeremy and friends

Announcement: To the Sunshine State!

That's right, Lily is heading to Florida.

This announcement is historic for a few reasons. Namely, there will women on this trip. Also, it's the first time travelling with a gorgeous new golden speedboat hood ornament reminiscent of a true Florida Poker Run boat. Ok, so a hood ornament is not that big of a deal, but taking girls on a trip is!

Open Road veterans Calvin Berry, Tyrone Maguire and I are going with our ladies - Katie, Danielle and Katie - on a trip to Sanibel Island. Though this will be more of a vacation than an adventure style trip, there are bound to be some good stories, so I have decided to write about what we get up to.

So, to the beginning of the story. A few months ago, Katie and Calvin invited Katie, myself, Dani and Ty to go to Florida with them for a vacation. While Tyrone and I were searching for cheap flights, a lightbulb went off simultaneously in our heads. The RV. Surely gas split 6 ways would be cheaper than a flight! Now if only we could convince the ladies...

Much to our surprise, they were excited about the idea! Obviously there were a number of conversations about reliability, but no way of travel is without its pros and cons... The new engine in Lily is built to last, and we haven't had (much) trouble on our last mini adventures. So after we crunched the numbers and assured the ladies Lily would undergo a thorough cleaning, they were in.

Over the past few weekends, I have been getting her ready with Tyrone and another Open Road veteran, Josh Willms. We put some more caulking on the roof (no leaks now!), fixed the right brake light and turn signal (important), got the electrical working inside (which I am VERY pumped about), got rid of some old (very old) rations from trips past, and installed some new windshield wipers (swish swish).  Thanks to my gracious father Rudy for lending some labour from his shop to do the electrical. Oh, and of course I enlisted the help of our favourite mechanic friend, Craig, to help us install some new speakers and the hood ornament. We also let him loose with his drill and some screws, which was helpful considering the state of some of our gorgeous wall hangings and the step into the RV.

With the major upgrades completed, I drove Lily back to my abode in Burlington. It was now time to let Katie loose with the cleaning products for the final polish. I wish that I could say I helped, but I was generally just in the way. Katie went to town with the Pinesol, Windex, and rubbing alcohol (for that pesky duct tape residue). She showed every speck of dust and dirt who was the boss with the Dyson. It was a truly sight to behold! I have never seen that RV so clean, so cared for and so ready to go on a journey.

Tomorrow, our adventure begins. We will be gone for a week, and are excited for warmer weather, and some great time together as friends. Naturally, we will be keeping our eyes open for people to meet and help.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned. Adventure awaits!

Clean and clear and under control

Home is where you park it,

Jeremy and the boys (and gals!)

The Open Road Project: Saturday Edition

As we have all grown older, graduated university, and started working full time, naturally it has been more difficult to find time for long, elaborate road trips.

But since the RV is running so well these days, we have been keeping our eyes peeled for mini-adventures. Such an adventure occurred in November, and we called the trip #TORPsaturday, or The Open Road Project: Saturday Edition. Waking up at 6:00am on a Saturday, six of us hopped into Lily and headed north (Anthony and James joined for their inaugural adventure).

Our first stop - Bellwood Lake - was an absolute bust. As we lurked around the lake looking for a spot to camp, we quickly realized that there was no suitable place to set up camp. While driving down a cottage road, we were stopped by a local who told us about a string of cottage robberies in the area. Clearly we were top suspects, as not 10 minutes later we were swarmed by the fuzz. After kindly letting us know that we wouldn't find a spot to camp anywhere in the area, we decided to move on. For some reason the police didn't take us up on our RV tour offer...

The dam

Our new friends, with the Bellwood Lake dam in the background

After we ate our lunch of pizza buns, we decided to head another 45 minutes north to Anthony's friend Mikaela's place. I was a bit hesitant to spend more time driving (gas ain't cheap), but Anthony assured us that this place would provide the adventure we were looking for. Boy was he right.

As we drove, our excitement began to increase exponentially. The rolling hills were covered with a beautiful layer of snow, and we could feel that our trip was beginning to take shape. When we arrived at his friends house, we were warmly greeted and asked if we wanted to hike a loop of the Bruce trail. This hike had it all - scenic lookouts, abandoned buildings, and the crisp, country air for our lungs. It was amazing.

When we got back from our hike, we realized that we had an opportunity to do something helpful for our new friends. Their house is heated with a wood stove, so we asked if we could process some logs. There wasn't really a need, and instead we were given a good stash of logs for our own fire that night.

A neat small world moment occurred when James realized that he had worked with Mikaela's brother Zach at camp the previous summer. This kind of stuff often happens on the road.

After saying goodbye to our new friends, we found an incredible place to spend the night beside a beautiful flowing stream. For the rest of the night, we cast our lines, hit some golf balls, enjoyed a fire and cooked a magical dinner of Canadian bacon on a bun.

Happy to be in nature 

The gang plus Mikaela "Tour Guide" Alexander

Tim getting his Canada on

The morning would bring our 24 hour adventure to a close, but we went to bed totally satisfied. I tend to say that anytime Lily gets out on the road, magic happens. This was the case once again. The day started off slow, but slowly built into an incredible adventure.

While in the end we didn't really help anyone on this quick trip, I always appreciate the conversation and relationship building that occurs when you get some guys together and break the routine of daily life.

As I went down to the river to play

Anthony with the only catch of the day

The Bruce Trail

Huge thanks to our sponsor, Pretty Cheap Beanies

Embrace the weather

This pics sums up Open Road first timers Anthony and James

Cheers,

The Boys

Jeremy's Bachelor Party

One of the best things about being engaged is the fact that you get to have a bachelor party (don't take it personally, Katie).

Needless to say, the boys planned an unbelievable weekend for me. We started downtown Toronto with a Steam Whistle brewery tour and then had an amazing meal at Mill Street brewery. The German in me was jumping for job during each delectable bite of schnitzel.

From there we headed to an old warehouse that was home to an underground axe throwing league. Yes, you read that correctly - axe throwing. Many of my best friends were able to join us for the safe, calm, and tranquil hatchet-hucking tournament.  That night the whole posse camped out in Lily and a bunch of tents.

The next day, my wedding party stuck around and we went to Bronte Provincial Park for another day of camping and hanging out. It was the perfect blend of activities and adventure.

Huge thanks to Tyrone for planning, and to the boys for taking excellent care of me.

Now it's time to go get married. Wish me luck.

Deeply contemplating marriage in the last known photograph of me as a single man

Thankful for these men

Cheers,

Jeremy and The Boys

Calvin's Bachelor Party

Well it is been a long time since this blog has been updated, but Lily is still alive and well, and though we haven't been writing a whole lot, there have been some dandy adventures.

Simply put, having an RV is a blessing.

When one of your best friends is having a bachelor party and everyone needs transport to Ottawa for white water rafting, you have the answer.

When eight people need a place to sleep during the trip, you have the answer.

When you want to make some memories together, you have the answer.

The weekend was a great success.

Calvin deeply contemplating marriage in the last known photograph of him as a single man.

I spy with my little eye, a lot things that are fun. 

Elliot Moose is on the loose.

Blessings to you, brother Calvin, as you embark on your marriage journey with your Katie!


Cheers,

The Boys

Summer Adventures: Join us!

It has been a good summer, but my how quickly it flies by!

If you have been wondering what The Open Road boys are up to, wonder no more.

Tim: Working at a marketing firm in the Toronto area
Tyrone: In a summer semester at Laurier working on his business degree
Jeremy: Working as the Assistant Boys Camp Director at Camp Mini-Yo-We
Zach: In school at the University of Guelph

We are all going to be reunited in late August for PRiME, Camp Mini-Yo-We's teens camp. This is going to be an awesome week where over 200 teens will have an awesome time, learn more about God and make life long friends. The four of us guys met at camp a few years ago and started friendships that would carry us through university and some of the best adventures of our lives. It's cool to look back and see how friendships evolve as lives are shared together.

We are looking forward to catching up after a summer apart.

If you are between the ages of 14-18 and are free between August 25-31, join us for PRiME! It's guaranteed to be a great time (I don't usually promote this type of thing on this blog, but seriously, it's going to be the best week of your summer if you come).

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Life-sized Mario Kart at PRiME 2012

Mitchell & Ness: Where dreams come true

Expect the unexpected when you are on the road. This theme was once again solidified as our road trip through the Northeastern States brought us to an apparel store in the heart of Philadelphia. Tim had heard of said specialty sports store, Mitchell & Ness, from somewhere in cyberspace. The first time we were there, we noticed a film crew in the store. I struck up a conversation and quickly found out what was going on. FuseTV was in town filming a special on Sneaker Culture and had stopped at the iconic shop to take a look around.

We were told who the on camera talent was, and naturally went over to introduce ourselves. That was when we met Esteban Serrano, host of "Top 20 Countdown" on FuseTV. We told him all about what we were up to and he quickly became very excited to follow us on our social media platforms. We chatted for a while longer about previous trips and life in general before he signed our guest book and invited us to swing by his place if we were ever in New York. Chance encounters like these are always memorable, so thank you Esteban for your kind words and encouragement! We wish you all the best.

Our new friend, Esteban.

The next day as we were cruising the streets of Philly, we were again close to the place we had met Esteban the day prior. We decided to go in one more time, as it seemed to be a good place to grab a Phillies shirt to remember the city by (we went to a ball game the night before remember?). This time when we walked through the door, we were greeted by some DJ's from "104.5 Philadelphia's Alternative Radio Station!" As it turns out, the station was throwing a concert for their 6th birthday starring Paramore and Phoenix. The DJ's were hanging out at Mitchell & Ness giving away tickets to the show and promoting the station. As a fellow radio DJ, I enjoyed chatting with them about their roles at the station. There were three drawings for tickets, so I imagine you can guess what happened when four of us entered the contest...

We won two tickets :)

Tyrone's name was drawn and since we weren't going to be in Philly any longer, we gave two kids the chance to rock out at the show. It was pretty clear that the two who we gave them to were keen on seeing their favourite band, so it worked out really well. The mother was so grateful, and again we were able to engage in some great conversation. "Stuff like this just doesn't happen!" Sometimes it does, and we are so thankful when we get to be a part of that kind of "stuff."

Tyrone with his spoils.

Easy come, easy go.

Always sign the guest book!

And last but not least, a quick video of Tyrone winning. Somehow, deeeep inside our souls, we just knew that we were going to win some tickets, so I decided to film the drawing.

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Fred from the Bank of America

This is Fred.

Shortly after we barrelled into downotwn DC, we met Fred. He was the first person to receive a handful of chocolates as we were taking laps around the downtown, enjoying the sights.  While stopped at a red light outside his post at the Bank of America, we struck up a conversation about Lily.  Fred was happy to provide us with suggestions for Lily's look, such as “Y’all gotta rim it up! Put some 24's on this thing!”  I guess it’s safe to say we liked Fred from the beginning.  After our little encounter with the Secret Service, we came back to Fred who was laughing as we approached. He saw the hot pursuit and pull over go down, and asked us what we did to deserve the encounter.  This was also our first experience of how closely connected all levels of security are in Washington.  We continued to talk with Fred and soon realized he was a true Washington local and would be able to give us some great insight and where to eat and what to do.  Over the next two days Fred was our expert on everything and more importantly someone we just wanted to hang out with and get to know.  He provided us with quotes that kept us laughing as well as candid facts, like how we were on the radar of security while walking around the nation’s capital.  He helped put a face to the city and remind us of the difference between simply rolling through as a tourist and intentionally getting to know people and let them help shape your experience there.


Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Home Sweet Home

Every time we hit the road, we meet amazing people, create amazing memories and learn some important life lessons. After we got home on Saturday night, we lit a huge fire on Lake Ontario and talked about our trip. The highs and the lows always provide good perspective for us going forward. We also talk about things that we are thankful for and during this trip there are a few things we remember in particular.

We are thankful for no mechanical failures.
We are thankful for the incredible timing that created to an amazing adventure.

In the four trips that Lily has embarked on since we have owned her, this is the first one that didn't involve an encounter with a mechanic. Transmissions, alternators, brake cylinders and push rods are just a few of the many things that we have had to replace over the two years we have been tripping. Usually, our trips to the mechanic end up being significant parts of our trips, but thankfully, Lily decided to co-operate this time around.

Timing is always an interesting to think about when we live on the road. Every day is a link in the chain that becomes our adventure. All of our group decisions contribute to this chain, so it is always interesting to look back at how we all shaped the experience with our different leadership styles and decision making processes. If we wouldn't have left Philly on Friday night, we wouldn't have made it to Scranton, but if we had stayed an extra afternoon in Pittsburgh, we never would have been able to meet up with Janice and her family. This isn't a revolutionary way of thinking, all of life moves like this, but it is always great to be able to isolate a week and reflect on how things came about.

We did a lot in a week. We visited three major American cities and stopped in a bunch of others. We met some amazing people and made some great memories. We were able to lend a helping hand when the opportunities arose and made a lot of people smile with our RV antics. Our friendships are stronger and we learned a lot about community.

All in all, The Open Road Project D.C. was a great success. Now it's time to plan our next adventure.

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Scranton: The Electric City

As our time in Philly came to an end, we recognized that Scranton was the perfect distance away to park overnight and head home in the morning. Myself (Tyrone), and Jer both being pretty huge fans of The Office, were excited by the novelty of the stop. The plan was to get there in the evening, grab some grub at Poor Richards (a pub frequently mentioned in the show) and head out in the morning. We pictured a quaint little town where Michael Scott roamed free and the smell of freshly printed paper was in the air. This however, was not the case.

After pulling into Scranton off the freeway, it was easy to see that this was not unlike some of the other cities we had visited. What was once a hub of industrial activity was left abandoned and rusted. We arrived at the address of Poor Richards, only we saw a sign for South Side Bowl. Slightly confused we entered and found the pub tucked away in a corner. After taking a seat and being clearly identified as outsiders by looks from those seated around us, we decided to leave feeling discouraged that Scranton might not be all it promised. They used a different set on the show...

Still feeling hungry we headed on over to the local McDonald's where the parking lot looked like a scene out of a Fast and Furious movie. It was littered with souped up cars. Were talking neon underglow, rims, big ol' sub-woofers; you name it, they had it. We were informed that the Scranton Car Club is a pretty big deal and meets there every Friday night. Needless to say, Enns Battery & Tire could make a killing in a place like this. Now here is where our tale takes a turn for the better. In this McD's we happen to pick up that days issue of the Scranton Times and saw a title stating that tomorrow was the much-anticipated Office Wrap Up Party. We read on. In fact, Saturday was a day packed with activities to celebrate the upcoming series finale of the show that helped put Scranton back on the map. Now this was more like it. We researched and found out tickets were sold out, but when has something like that stopped us? We decided we would investigate in the morning and went to bed after a few games of intense euchre.

The beautiful Saturday sun helped us get up and moving to start the day. We knew that the morning activities were taking place at the University of Scranton, so that was our destination. We started exploring the campus and stumbled upon the remnants of the Bloggers Breakfast. An event organizer told us to wait in the back of the line and there might be some tickets left for the next panel event, which was not exactly what we wanted to hear. However, we walked away with some authentic Dunder Mifflin paper supplies and a little voice in our heads telling us we had to get tickets.

We continued to walk around until we found a group of student volunteers, and after telling them our story, they helped round up a few extra volunteer tickets for us. Little did we know we hit the jack pot as these were also VIP tickets. So for the next hour we were all smiles as we listened to the writers and producers of the show talk about their favourite moments over the years. After this was over, we were informed that the cast would shortly parade down main street and that would be our shot to meet them. In between we grabbed some delicious lunch at an Irish Pub to celebrate Tim’s 21st birthday. A couple items on the house for the occasion later, we headed back out to the streets to join the crowds in anticipation.

Now since The Open Road Project began in 2011, there has been a guestbook to help record all of the interesting people we meet along the way. Armed with this is hand, we stood by as the parade started to come our way. First came David Wallace and I was able to go up have him sign our guestbook. From there the floodgates opened. Darryl. Erin. Creed. Meredith. Cast members kept rolling and we kept getting signatures. We were just having a grand ol' time, laughing at our impeccable timing. As some of the more popular characters such as Jim, Pam and Dwight rolled through, the crowds quickly turned to mobs and we took to sitting back and enjoying as wild fans. After the parade was over we hopped back into Lily thinking about how lucky we were to be here in Scranton, PA for this one day, and how the sketchy town that greeted us was in the far back of our minds, now replaced by experiences that seem to only happen on the open road.

We left that afternoon to begin our long haul back home, smiling.

Home is where you park it,
The Boys.

Philly

Tim here. Our time in the City of Brotherly Love was one serious adventure. We began our second day in the city rather slowly, as we waited to hear back from a few contacts that we had made. After walking around for a while we decided it was time to settle on a place that we believed would be the home of Philadelphia’s finest Philly Cheese Steak. Naturally, we wanted to enjoy a true Philly Cheese Steak. A Philly Cheese Steak that people from Philly loved, and not necessarily from a place where hundreds of tourists walking along South Street frequented. As we chatted with locals, we were told about few fine establishments, but a particularly strong recommendations landed at "Ishkabibble's" and let me say we were not disappointed.

After chowing down, we split off into 2’s to meet some people to and spread a little bit of love.  Zach and I walked around for a while and ended up meeting a homeless guy named Robert, who was looking lunch around 3 (the first food he would have eaten all day). We offered to take him out for something to eat and a drink and naturally got chatting. In 1999, he was caught in a drive by shooting and had to have his leg amputated. He has been homeless for the last three years along with his daughter and grandson. He talked quickly about the struggles of finding work and the conditions of the shelter he stays at during the nights. We then prayed with him and wished him the best.

Jer and Tyrone had a great time chatting with a social venture in the apparel industry and with some folks who were tending to a community garden in the city.

Thankful for the sunny days

After we met back up, we went to a record store on South Street and were skimming through the hoards of albums, trying to find a few gems. Tyrone struck gold and finally found his holy grail, Neil Young’s Harvest, at a pretty fine price too. We got talking with the record store owner about his shop, the ups of the early and mid 90’s where business was fantastic and about tough times for him after the digital revolution. Eventually we began talking about the game “bigger and better”. Now if you aren’t familiar with the game, it’s all about trading what you have to someone else for something of bigger or better value. What we had to offer was a box of matches, not much sure, but something. The store owner wanted to give us something he had that possibly was valuable but he wasn’t sure. It was an antique Pittsburgh Pirates pin in a little box that a past customer left and never came back to get. The exchange was made and so the game began.

After we visited Love Park and chatted with some people with a neat organization that helps homeless people called One Step Away, we passed a little pizza shop that seemed quite welcoming. An old man named Ed was sitting eating some za, and let us know that he had been eating at "The best pizzeria in Philly for 40 years!" Well, one thing led to another and we found ourselves eating pizza with Ed and listening to his stories of being in the navy, traveling the world, becoming and architect, running a bank and ultimately turning an old abandoned Episcopal Church into an apartment building. At 80 Ed was unbelievably sharp and loved to crack jokes. He continually reminded us that life was too short to not be able to laugh and joke around. We continually heard Ed say the phrase “Don’t be nervous!” whether it be to us, the cop he talked to at the counter when he paid or when he said goodbye to the grand daughter of the original pizza shop owner. We laughed it off and soon realized that it was a phrase that he tried to live his life by. After a while of talking he asked us if we would want to come see the apartment building he put together. He welcomed us into his personal apartment to show us around and show us some pictures of what the building looked like when he first saw it. He was an incredible guy who was nothing short of humble. Before we left we asked Ed if he would be interested in our “Bigger or Better” game which he said he didn’t want to take anything from us but wanted to give us a gift. From a shelf he grabbed a little miniature replica ship that was put in a little glass block. We asked what the story was behind it and Ed said he wouldn’t tell us and that we should make up a new story for it. After Ed gave us his business card, we shook his hand and promised to visit him again if we were ever in Philadelphia or Washington again. As we said goodbye, Ed reminded us one last time to “not be nervous” and he bid us safe travels.

With some great Old Man wisdom ringing in our ears, we headed back to Lily. Next stop: Scranton Pennsylvania, the home of the beloved TV show, The Office.

Home is where you park it,

Tim and The Boys