Luke's Latest Video

"Dukes" Do Surfin'

Even though the "Duke Boys" reside on the west coast of Florida where the waves are mediocre at best, we thought we'd give a surfing festival and camping a try on the east coast. To begin with, we weren't sure if there was going to even be enough camping sites available since previous calls during the week proved less than enthusiastic, and our commute to the other side of the state was plagued with a horrible accident on one of the worst stretches of highway in the state causing major detour and delay. None the less, we made it to Jetty Park right next to the Cape Canaveral port terminals for many of the Disney, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival cruise ships and had a nice little camp site. Well those were our initial thoughts, but our only neighbors proved to be much more than just loud Puerto Rican nationals. Oh wait, they were loud Puerto Rican national a**holes that stayed up all night drinking (literally), had way too many tents for one camp site (3), really popular because they had several vehicles and visitors, and kept Luke and I up all night (They sounded like "Univision Telemundo" tv station left on all night).

The drive over was long, but still had fun.

Port Canaveral terminals.

Our first campsite.

Luke drinks and cooks food well... Ladies, he's single...

Statues at Ron Jon Surf Shop are bad ass.

Luke heads up, there's Kelly Slater!

We couldn't see anything standing in front of those lights, but well worth it.

Ron Jon had so much crap.

Despite getting two poor nights of sleep, we weren't about to let some loud mouths ruin our trip as we had surfing to get into, and let me tell you my friends that surfing is one tough workout. Making it out past the break is a test in of itself, let alone be good enough to ride a wave. Luke rented a larger board from (World Famous) Ron Jon Surf Shop, and let me play around on his shorter, more advanced surfboard. I know that I was an athlete in high school and I'm in somewhat decent shape, but holy shit is surfing hard. The people who are good make it look easy, Luke did a good job since he's been out a few times, but I struggled greatly and was proud that I got up for one pretty good run that no one seemed to see. One of the good things about surfing though is when you come out of the water you look absolutely shredded from the workout of almost nonstop paddling, kicking of legs like a duck, and abs on fire from trying to balance. Women seemed to be giving us quite the "eye f***" looks, but then again everyone has sunglasses on so maybe that's just my imagination.

Saw these guys, thought they were way cooler than regular seagulls.

Tide's out.

Center for our campground.

The Puerto Rican campsite.

Close encounters with wildlife.

Original campsite, not bad but the neighbors sucked.

Brothers of Surf.

As luck would have it we were fortunate enough to be able to relocate our campsite away from the Puerto Rican nightmare, and into a more secluded, quiet, and idealistic setting for camping. This enabled us to get some much needed rest from the abuse that surfing and sun can have on the human body. The following morning on our own accord, we both took walks on the beach on what was a beautiful Easter morning. Luke walked towards the loud speaker he was hearing on the beach, which was Sunday church right after sunset. As I was more thrilled with waking up to see the sunrise, and take a walk down the beach and pier. Cleaning up was a breeze and then it was back down the beach near the surfing festival that was being put on at Cocoa Beach, FL. Luke was man enough to surf pretty much all morning and into the early afternoon, but I was kind of a pussy and began to remember how exhausting surfing can be. Finally, we watched a few of the local competitors in the competition, and talked about how one day we might be cool enough to actually do some of those moves on the waves. The drive back was much more relaxing as we reflected on a lot of things from the weekend, and now we both have a better idea of how to surf and where to stay for a reasonable price. We certainly learned a great deal this weekend and there were a lot to remember, but more than anything try desperately to move camp sites anytime there are loud Spanish speaking guests staying next to you at a campground.

Sunrise, a little cloud cover.

That's better.

Easter Sunday church on the beach... Not bad.

Very few people on the beach when we got to our spot.

Luke Wertz ladies and gentlemen.

Who is that? Johnny Utah, Kelly Slater, or Matthew McConaughey?

Nope, it's Luke Wertz, now get him a cold beer for those gnarly shreds.

Intruder Alert(s)

Well ever since the weather has started to take a turn for the better, the "Duke Boys" have seen quite the upturn on animal visits as well. No, I'm not talking about my old college roommate, Teddy, but rather wildlife that has lived in Palm Harbor far longer than us. Two weeks ago while I was doing laundry, I turned the corner in our living room to find a large bird walking up our walkway towards our open front door. He didn't seem that scary, but when you're face to face with a bird of this magnitude, you give it space. How the next visitor actually got in the house and when remains a mystery, but we're just glad we saw him when we did rather than find him cuddling up next to us in bed. Luke was on his way to workout when a 2 foot long snake hid under our couch until we drove him out with a hockey stick. The good news is that non of these animals were harmed in the removal process from the property, but the "Duke Boys" have found themselves keeping a watchful eye over the next brave animal that wishes to become the 3rd roommate.

The Stork here for Vlasic Pickles...

Snake... Not cool.

Jimmy Buffett Adventure

In the weeks leading up to the Jimmy Buffett concert I heard nothing but great things about the people, booze, and festivities that take place. Some even go just to tailgate rather than attend the actual concert, and oddly enough I ran into a few folks who were doing just that. When we got there I couldn't help but admire some of the other "parrot heads" dedication and elaborate set-ups for tailgating. Some included sand in flatbed trucks, hot tubs at maximum capacity, and tiki bars stocked full of liquor. Anyone who ventures to one of these concerts in the future should definitely take bikes to ride around on to explore, and in my case, take the opportunity to say "hello" to beautiful women.

After having a great time tailgating it was time to go into concert, and that proved to be an interesting endeavor in of itself. For the first ten minutes I was together with my friends, but after finding a lovely 38 year old woman in line waiting for a beer to make-out with, I knew I was in good company anyway. Despite what some may say about Jimmy Buffett's athleticism on stage (coming off a recent injury from his last tour where he fell off stage), the concert was very entertaining, visually appealing, and an overall great time. And wouldn't you know it, after spending part of the concert alone I found Amy, the 38 year old from Ft. Myers who thought I was "too cute" and loved kissing me. The kissing continued throughout most of the concert with spurts of dancing, chugging of $10 beers, and making fun of intoxicated onlookers. After it was all said and done I treated Amy to dinner at Five Guys and where we parted ways for the last time, but not before exchanging numbers in case I was ever in the Ft. Myers area. Looking back on the day there is a lot to think about and remember, but most of all I'll remember the people, cocktails, and non-sense. Florida continues to churn out great memories while I'm down here, and the Jimmy Buffett concert was sure to not disappoint me and those who spoke about the craziness. 

Our tailgating area.

Cocktails anyone?

Shotgun race with Amy and Darse.

Get your concert gear ready with Milan and Jeff.

Our group included (from left) Cole, Erin, Kim, Darse, and Amy.

Jimmy!! The stage was sweet.

Not great seats, but then again it was a sea of humanity unlike any other.

Drunk faces at Five Guys says it all. What a day..

Man V. Surf

Luke travels to the east coast to camp and search for waves to surf. Meanwhile Beau stays back to hang with the schellhause crew and get the house ready for mom's (constance) visit

Mom Comes To Visit

This past week we had the fortune of having our dear mother down from up north, and spent most of that time forgetting about her bum shoulder in the Florida sun. Well that was the plan but mother nature decided to grace this part of Florida with rain, and not just a light dusting but a storm of epic proportions at one point. After arriving on Monday to fair weather the sun barely shined for the first three days in town, and Thursday's forecast called for severe weather. Severe was an understatement, this according to the excited (nipples hard as little rocks) meteorologist that was ecstatic that an off-shore tornado had moved onto the land, which was most unusual for this part of Florida. Buckets, upon buckets of rain fell that morning, and didn't really stop until about an hour before sunset. Still, we didn't let the weather get to us as we watched "Black Swan", starring academy award winning actress Natalie Portman. I'll tell ya, this movie was very confusing at times, hot-n-heavy in other, and changed my outlook on ballerina's forever.

After we shook off our post-depression symptoms from the dreary day and the movie we accelerated quickly into the weekend, and everyone was fortunate enough to get plenty of sun (some more than others, I didn't put lotion on my face Saturday and got fried). Luke was fortunate enough to get out both on his surfboard and kayak this weekend, and mom was able to do her little "swinging arm" exercise (leans over and swings her arm) and got to swim in the gulf all weekend long. Having mother down to visit is a great thing for us "Duke Boys" as we get a chance to hear a strong "voice of reason" in our lives, and mom hasn't dulled down from the stern structure we grew up loving and respecting. I encourage everyone who reads this blog to try and have a strong relationship with their mother, because she's the one women in your life that truly knows best.

Love You Mom, Come Back Soon.

At the beach with Mom.

Luke heads out to the waves, and "Shred the Gnar!"

Acqua Di Gio... Giorgio Armani... Available at Macy's...

Long before her shoulder surgery and health ailments, Constance was a fitness model in the '80's...

Just the Good Ol' Boys sitting out in the sun. Some day the mountain might get em, but to the beach they'll run.

Luke heading out.

No Fear.