Ted's Trip & Kenny Chesney

So after a few weeks off from the writing block, we're back for another installment of the adventures of Beau (LaVigne) & Luke (Wertz) Duke. My old college roommate, Teddy Ogdahl, visited for six days as he was taking time to clear his head from his job on the railroad. We began the week off on a great start as the second night we all went out Ted was lucky enough to slay some recent-divorcee that considered him "therapy". For the weekend, we went only 10 miles south to Clearwater Beach to stay closer to the beach, avoid DUI's, and more intertwined with a youthful spring break crowd. The first night started as only three healthy, young, attractive men should start at Sheppards Bar & Grill where we were instantly embraced by women who wanted nothing more than meaningless relations... if only for a night. I'll leave the details to those who lived through the night, but it was entertaining, intoxicating, and quite hilarious to say the least. The next day we spent the entire day at Sheppards once again as this time the crowd was even more youthful, vibrant, and somehow even more intoxicated from the previous day. Ted got extremely hammered and sun burnt on this day, and instead of going out to join the beautiful women we had just met he opted to stay in and sleep it off. The Duke Boys went and met up with two very nice girls, and despite communicating via text messages they were never seen again as they flew back to New York. Guess it's true what they say, "don't fall in love on spring break!" Ted and I wrapped up his Florida trip with a small venture of our own to Lakeland where we caught the Detroit Tigers v. Boston Red Sox spring training game, and what was a great change of pace from the constant work-a-holic mentality I've seem to have developed since being down south.

                     Ted feeding his fat face before going out.

                      Luke with a classic "duke boy" outfit.

                             Ted, what an athlete.

                                     Ted and I in the pool.

                              View from our hotel towards the Gulf. 

Once Ted left and I was able to get a few more days back at work it was time once again for another exciting weekend, and this time it was going to be a Kenny Chesney concert. The rumors of this concert had been in circulation for months about the beautiful women in "Daisy Duke attire", and so naturally I was sold. The weather was amazing, tailgating was amazing, the food was amazing, the women were.... Amazing. From watching hillbillies smoke pot in the woods to teenagers defecating on themselves, all the way up to directing traffic as a "makeshift bathroom attendant" for the woods area this concert proved to have it all... And we weren't even in the stadium yet. After opting out of Billy Carringtons' performance, we made it in to see Zac Brown Band and Kenny for what was an amazing concert. After the concert however is were things get a little blurry, and by a little blurry I mean a lot of blurriness. My boss Keith was able to give me the details as they were events I don't remember acting upon, but we'll once again leave those details to the people effected by them. So far, Florida is proving to have a slight upper hand in the entertainment factor of a region that I've ever lived in. There is so much to do around here, and a young man like myself has a lot of great opportunities to have fun, meet people, and experience amazing things.

                (From left, Rob, Keith, and Evans) at our seats.

                       Keith, Evans, and McClure.

                            Hi, I'm from Montauk, NY...

              View from our seats, not the greatest but it was still fun.

                Kenny's that little highlighted guy... in the hat... duh...

                 Kenny!

          Gettin' a little "sausy look" going on now for Rob. I'm entering "Blackoutville".

               Kenny!

Trip Across Florida

There doesn't seem to be a dull moment in the lives of The Duke Boys, as we've had yet another exciting weekend with lots to do and see. Friday night we had tickets to the Slightly Stoopid concert in downtown St. Petersburg. The atmosphere during the show was amazing, and the aroma of hippie lettuce filled the air throughout the entire concert. We also were blessed to see a rare special appearance from "the funk master", George Clinton.... Ah, that takes me back to the good ole days at PCU... I mean BGSU.

Saturday we awoke to raging hangovers and dry mouths only to have to get ready for the days road trip towards NE Florida to help Keith's brother move. After getting food and non-alcoholic liquids in our body we started off on our journey across the state, and as Keith as our "tour guide" we saw a lot of interesting sites. From the insanity that is Orlando, FL to the Blue Spring State Park that featured a natural freshwater spring that pumped clean water up from the depths of the earth. The water was crystal clear everywhere, and would have been great to swim in or treat as a lazy river (since it flowed like a river) but the sun was going down too fast.

After finally reaching our destination at Mike's place we were able to relax a moment, and enjoy a cocktail before going out to dinner. Saturday night's alcohol level consumption was not as dramatic as the previous night, and this was atypical of the company of the Duke and Demchek brothers. Either way, we all had a great time, and had an even better night of sleep in a comfortable bed in Mike's rather empty house. The next day we loaded a U-Haul truck and cleaned up the house, and once again we were back on the road towards home... But of course, we had Keith who was a Florida resident for some time now, and wanted to show us "Bike Week" at Daytona Beach. The drive probably took a bit longer than first anticipated, but proved to be a wonderful change of pace from the west coast lifestyle I've become familiar with here in Florida. Overall, the weekend was extremely enjoyable for the Duke Boys, and we learned a great deal about what this state has to offer.

 On the way home, there was a Sasquatch sighting... He's a big dumb animal isn't he folks.

Dudes Night Out

Last night we had some buddies over to have a few drinks, and explore the festival "Blues and Brew" a few blocks over in downtown Palm Harbor. The night began with the pounding of Budweiser as we drank on our back porch, and soon it was time for us to venture up towards the festivities. After a few beers and listening to the "fossil rock band" that entertained about 200 people in the streets we decided to get some food at one of the local eateries. By this time it was very necessary that we ate, because we all were getting too drunk to even talk coherently to two pretty ladies. Once we had the chance to fill out stomachs with food we were ready once again to continue drinking, and onto the next bar Peggy O' Neils where the atmosphere was a little more our age group. Despite having decades of sexual and conversational experience between the five of us, we managed to only spot a few healthy prospects including a chick that looked almost identical to the hot Indian chick from Slumdog Millionaire and a cougar. After we swallowed our pride and about 3 more beers it was off to do what most men do after the bars, and that is to rotate around the group playing their favorite YouTube songs at a level that neighbors on both sides could surely hear from the sub woofer bass. From Garth Brooks to Afroman, Dropkick Murphy's and dubstep we rocked out till about 1:30 a.m. Culminating with a delicious shake that was made by Jeff, and some of the ingredients included Kahlua, peanuts, peanut butter, and some other essentials that only skilled drink makers can orchestrate. The night was interesting to say the least, but yielded some great songs that will forever mark the true meaning of friendship.

Luke's House

                                                A look from the front yard.

                                     Our little "mud room", lots of art created here.

                               One of Luke Wertz's latest creations. Bad Ass!

                               Our living room, and where we watched Super Bowl.

                                  Nice entertainment center, and set up personally.

                             The back deck, and the shed holds washer and dryer.

                                     Our kitchen is nice, but our fridge is awesome. 
For the past month now, I've been living with Luke in our comfortable Palm Harbor, FL house. Luke has about a 15 minute drive north to his job in Tarpon Springs, but I have an 45 minute drive (30 min. if traffic is good, hour if it's bad) to where I'm working in downtown St. Petersburg. This place is a lot better than his little beach shack in Pass-a-grille, but not as close to the beach. Still a nice place for a teacher, and his little brother.

"We Got A First Timer Here..."

Well folks, here we go with the first posting of my new blogging era. Actually, this is the second blog I have started as the first was done in college for a class, but this one will promise to be more entertaining, compelling, and thoughtful in nature. My basic goal is to inform those near and far from myself of the adventures that occur throughout my life, and the experience along the way. Enjoy America. Let the hilarity ensue...