i keep a diary

October 29, 2010

Halloween in Florida

Just when it was starting to get cold in NYC, Ty invited Matt and I to come down to Florida for some sunshine!

Previous Halloween Entries:
Halloween 1996 - The Very First Post I ever Made
Halloween 1997 - My Senior Year in College
Halloween1998 - Modem Media
Halloween 1999 - Visiting Boston
Halloween 2001 - Halloween Model Party
Halloween 2002 - Halloween Model Party Again!
Halloween 2003 - In Bas Vegas, Essex!
Halloween 2004 - In San Francisco!
Halloween 2005- NYC
Halloween 2006- NYC
Halloween 2007- NYC
Halloween 2008- NYC
Halloween 2009- NYC

Friday, October 29th

The view out of the living room window as I finished packing my travel bag before work in the morning.
Farewell, speckle-neck! See you in a few days.
mark d
I arrived at Yodle's offices to find Mark preparing his homemade A.W.E.S.O.M.-O costume for the office costumer contest!
costumes ˆ halloween ˆ robot ˆ yodle ˆ mark d
Here's a screenshot of Cartman's original A.W.E.S.O.M.-O from South Park...
robot ˆ tv
mark d
...and here's Mark's real-life rendition. Hahaha. SOOOO GOOD!
best ˆ costumes ˆ halloween ˆ robot ˆ work ˆ yodle ˆ mark d
At 11:30, everyone headed over to the main office for the costume judging.
work ˆ yodle
blair, candy
Blair / Harry made the rounds with a candy bowl.
halloween ˆ yodle ˆ blair ˆ candy
mark d
Let the judgement begin!
halloween ˆ robot ˆ yodle ˆ mark d
Mmmmmm, racist.
costumes ˆ halloween
Oh, making fun of Tea Partiers. That's okay!
costumes
Taco Kane!
halloween ˆ taco ˆ yodle
The best Halloween costume at work is always to dress up as one of your co-workers! Bonus points to Greg for his Will costume!
dress as your coworker ˆ halloween ˆ yodle
Although, my favorite costume of the day by far was Leonzo dressing up as LENNY KRAVITZ! Hahahaha. Oh man, so great.
best ˆ doppleganger ˆ halloween ˆ work ˆ yodle
matt
A little later that afternoon, I took the subway up to Penn Station and met up with this guy. Hey there, handsome....
escalator ˆ matt
....(whispered) want to fly away with me?
tickets
AirTrain to JFK.
clouds
me
While waiting in line for security, we made friends with a woman who was in line with us who ended up sitting next to me on our flight! Yay, airplane strangers!
flying ˆ strangers ˆ me
Up in the air above somewhere with no houses.
flying
matt, me
We landed right at 10pm, we had a text message from Ty telling us the address of a Halloween party he was at. He told us he had costumes waiting for us!
excited ˆ matt ˆ me
We made a quick pit stop en route to pick up some much needed post-airplane party supplies.
treats
tyson
We arrived at the party and Ty came out to the parking lot to greet us and give us our costumes!
dance ˆ halloween ˆ tyson
matt, tyson
A friend of his was working to clean up the BP oil spill in the gulf and when he heard we need three costumes on short notice, he let him borrow some gear! After getting suited up...
costumes ˆ halloween ˆ matt ˆ tyson
...we headed into the party!
glove
The party was in some huge outdoor courtyard with a pool.
party
We were "greeted" as we arrived.
alien ˆ costumes ˆ halloween
matt, me
Haha.
alien ˆ matt ˆ me
This guy had a little "crypt keeper" guy on a leash and was making him dance in a all-too-realistically way.
creepy ˆ halloween
Wolfman!
halloween ˆ wolf
Hangover.
costumes ˆ halloween
clark griswold, jason e
The first time I met Jason he was dressed up as Clark W. Griswold from Christmas Vacation. Squirrel on back = perfect.
best ˆ costumes ˆ first time i met ˆ halloween ˆ clark griswold ˆ jason e
tyson
Our costumes enabled us to easily take swimming pool short cuts.
tyson
Aerial view of the party.
halloween ˆ party
Headed home.
Sit in the hot tub until you are too hot and then run into the ocean.
hot tub

Saturday, October 30th

The next day, I got to see Florida's panhandle coast in the sun for the very first time. It is one of the nicest beaches I've ever seen.
beach ˆ best
I didn't know that Florida...
beach
...had beaches like this.
beach
It feels like you got shipwrecked somewhere.
beach ˆ ocean
The sand is really fine quartz sand that makes weird "barking" noises as you walk over it.
beach
Hardly any waves.
beach ˆ ocean
Right next to the turquoise ocean is a coastal dune lake. The contrast in colors is crazy.
beach ˆ ocean
Lake of cola.
beach
matt, tyson
Bringing the scooter out of storage.
elevator ˆ scooter ˆ matt ˆ tyson
tyson
Leading the way to food.
scooter ˆ tyson
This part of Florida is a lot like south Jersey somehow.
driving ˆ scooter
matty, tyson
Southern breakfast.
brunch ˆ food ˆ matty ˆ tyson
Still warm enough to head to the beach at five o'clock.
View from the top of the dunes.
ocean
me
We walked a couple hundred yards...
beach ˆ sunglasses ˆ me
...down the beach that looks like this.
beach ˆ ocean
david g
And met up with Dave and a bunch of other people we'd met the previous evening. The were having some drinks, enjoying the sun and...
beach ˆ sunglasses ˆ david g
...flying kites.
kite
Plenty of kites for everyone.
beach
david g, tyson
It didn't take long for the kite fights to start.
beach ˆ kite ˆ david g ˆ tyson
Four way fighting involved way too much running.
beach
So things got cooperative and everyone let out their strings ALL THE WAY.
beach ˆ kite
jason e, matt
Everyone else reeled their kite in and Matt used our rolls of string...
beach ˆ jason e ˆ matt
matt
...to keep spooling his kite out higher and higher.
kite ˆ matt
matt
Oh man, the kite was SO HIGH. It kept doing out until it was hardly even a pixel visible to the human eye, and then the string finally broke.
kite ˆ matt
Check out the sunset.
beach ˆ sunset
david g, matt, tyson
You serious, Clark?
beach ˆ sunset ˆ david g ˆ matt ˆ tyson
david g, matt, tyson
Sunset jump shots.
beach ˆ jump ˆ sunset ˆ david g ˆ matt ˆ tyson
david g, matt, tyson
Hahaha.
beach ˆ jump ˆ sunset ˆ david g ˆ matt ˆ tyson
matt, me, tyson
Unbelievable sunset.
best ˆ ocean ˆ sunset ˆ matt ˆ me ˆ tyson
me, tyson
Pretty nice little Saturday.
me ˆ tyson
Spooky decorations.
david g, jason e, josh s, matt, me, tyson
Group dinner!
david g ˆ jason e ˆ josh s ˆ matt ˆ me ˆ tyson
Veggie curry.
food
david g
Later that evening, we got costumed up for another night of Halloween celebrating.
halloween ˆ nerd ˆ david g
david g, tyson
Dave showed up with a solid nerd costume.
best ˆ costumes ˆ halloween ˆ nerd ˆ david g ˆ tyson
matt, me, tyson
We reprised our Gulf clean-up costumes from the other evening.
halloween ˆ matt ˆ me ˆ tyson
Noting the disharmony my lack-of-facial brought to the group, Ty found me a stick-on-stache to butch up my look.
moustache
me
So much manlier.
halloween ˆ moustache ˆ me
jason e
Jason had a church bus!
van ˆ jason e
Had a couple of quiet drinks at this place.
me, tyson
Dance while no one's watching.
dance ˆ jump ˆ me ˆ tyson
josh s, matt, me, tyson
The next place we went to had some sort of weird oversized beach chairs out front.
halloween ˆ josh s ˆ matt ˆ me ˆ tyson
jason e, tommy, tyson
And was part of some complex that had a wooden boardwalk that connected all the stores.
jason e ˆ tommy ˆ tyson
Fun live band.
band ˆ halloween
Itchy zombie face.
halloween ˆ strangers ˆ zombie
david g
Dave knew this hot chick from Hooter's and he totally introduced us.
halloween ˆ hooters ˆ strangers ˆ david g
david g, jason e, josh s, matt, tyson
Last-call portrait.
climb ˆ halloween ˆ tree ˆ david g ˆ jason e ˆ josh s ˆ matt ˆ tyson

Sunday, October 31st

matt, tyson
On Sunday morning Dave helped get a second scooter running which meant we could all ride. Time to buddy-up for adventure!
best ˆ helmet ˆ scooter ˆ thumbs up ˆ matt ˆ tyson
david g, me
You can be my wingman anytime.
best ˆ scooter ˆ david g ˆ me
Nothing better than cruising the sleepy coastal-side streets of Florida by scooter.
driving ˆ scooter
Police pulling over someone driving a golf cart! Haha.
golf cart ˆ police
We dove to another gorgeous nearby beach.
beach ˆ ocean
matt, me
Most relaxing day.
beach ˆ matt ˆ me
Ocean kayak.
beach ˆ boat ˆ sunset
david g, tyson
Man chats.
beach ˆ ocean ˆ sunset ˆ david g ˆ tyson
Hardly anyone on the beach.
beach
Plenty of room for frisbee.
beach ˆ frisbee ˆ ocean ˆ sunset
After the sun set, we headed back home for a bit.
driving ˆ scooter
david g, me
Dave and me on the move.
best ˆ helmet ˆ scooter ˆ david g ˆ me
Later that night we added even more scooters to our gang.
gas station ˆ scooter
me, tyson
Oompaloompa-haired bliss.
best ˆ scooter ˆ me ˆ tyson
We went to a Halloween party at a nearby bar.
halloween ˆ party
Solid Robert Palmer & Co.
costumes ˆ halloween ˆ strangers
matt
We hadn't worn costumes, but with with a little improvisation and little borrowing...
halloween ˆ matt
matt
...Matt whipped something together in no time.
halloween ˆ matt
matt
Matt & Tinkerbell!
best ˆ strangers ˆ matt
tyson
Meanwhile, Ty was getting charmed in the corner.
strangers ˆ tyson
Happy Halloween!
halloween
tyson
VAMOS...
tyson
...to the scooters!
scooter
matt
We adjourned to a bar closer to homebase and ordered a bunch of food.
pizza ˆ matt
catrinel
There was a lady dressed like a cat who reminded me of Cat!
doppleganger ˆ strangers ˆ catrinel
matt
Matt performed his famous JAZZ VAC routine.
best ˆ dance ˆ vacuum ˆ matt
matt
Cleanliness with a kick.
best ˆ dance ˆ jump ˆ vacuum ˆ matt
Worm finale.
breakdance ˆ halloween ˆ the worm
matt, me, tyson
This photo makes me really happy.
best ˆ halloween ˆ matt ˆ me ˆ tyson

Monday, November 1st

We woke up to beautiful skies on Monday and headed down the road...
driving ˆ scooter
...to the Donut Hole!
scooter
matt
Oh yes.
breakfast ˆ diner ˆ excited ˆ pancakes ˆ waffle ˆ matt
david g, tyson
After one last glorious southern breakfast, we bid these two handsome gentlemen farewell...
breakfast ˆ diner ˆ food ˆ pancakes ˆ david g ˆ tyson
...and headed back to the airport!
driving
matt, me
Zombified ride through the countryside.
driving ˆ rental car ˆ sunglasses ˆ matt ˆ me
Regional airport skies.
airport ˆ clouds
Probably not a crosswalk.
flying
matt
Super-powers of the well-traveled man.
asleep ˆ flying ˆ matt
Sort of looks like home.
flying
Skivilization.
flying ˆ wing
LGA home.
airport

4 comments

  • kimmarch 1, 2013

    Whoa...what beaches are these, Brian? Super-pretty.

    • brian battjermarch 4, 2013

      Hi Kim! It's northwest Florida. Emerald Coast. Twenty-something miles of beaches that all look like that.

      • kimmarch 8, 2013

        Thanks so much, Brian! :)

  • carlmarch 2, 2013

    One thing is clear: Matt WILL find a way to take his shirt off at any occasion.