The First Annual My Three Sons + One Fishing Trip and the Public Debut of Johnny Bronze

This past week my dad, my brother and my brother in law started a new tradition that P-Dawg (Dad) has been longing to do for quite sometime. We took our first annual My Three Sons + One fishing trip to Destine, Fl along with P-Dawg's good friend, Mark Smithwick. Mark has been a striper guide (not to be confused with a stripper guide) up on Lake Lanier for many years and my dad has been fishing with him for a while so when it came time to find someone to take us down to Destine and catch some fish, naturally Mark was the first person that came to mind.

So, with everything lined up, all that was left to do was take the six hour drive through Alabama and into Florida early last Wednesday morning. A funny note to mention is that we didn't stop the entire trip down to go to the bathroom or anything, which I have to say is an impressive feat for P-Dawg to complete. Anywho, we arrived a short six hours later in time for lunch, so we stopped at a whole in the wall oyster bar right on the water to kick off the week. with my brother, my dad and I in Destine and Brad soon to arrive via Destine's rather small airport, it was shaping up to be an epic trip.
That night after we picked up Brad from the airport, we settled at nice restaurant for dinner, ate some nice sea food, had a few laughs and caught up on everyone's lives. (I want to congratulate Brad and my sister, by the way, on breaking ground on remodeling their new house in downtown Raleigh, NC.) Anywho, we went back to our beach front condo to get some much needed shuteye to prepare for our first day on the water.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30 to get an early jump on all the fishing Destine had to offer. First, we had to catch some bait fish to use for our targets later on in the day. We spent about 30 minutes in the bay snagging little herring and hardtails, pulling them in three and four at a time. It was pretty fun, we would cast into a school and just snag a mess of them as soon as the line hit the water. It was pretty cool!
Once we caught our fill of bait fish, we headed to the harbor docks to load up with ice and to pick up fishing licenses that we somehow forgot. Oh well, no harm no foul! We quickly left the docks on our way out to a foggy morning on the Gulf of Mexico.
It stayed foggy for most of the morning but it burned off around 11 or 12 in the afternoon and the vacancy of the fog yielded a beautiful sunny day on the water. We pulled a few fish the first day but Mark, the man with the plan, was disappointed that we didn't "slay" the snapper like my dad and he have done in the past. So at about two or three in the afternoon, the fish weren't biting and after several hours of hot sun, few fish, and one member of the trip blowing chunks over the side, we decided to call it a day and get an early jump in the morning.
The rest of the day was spent cleaning fish, nursing some gnarly sunburn from eight hours on the Gulf of Mexico, and relaxing. We enjoyed some nice seafood and a few beers to end a decent first day of fishing, but hopes of a better day in the morning were eagerly on our minds.
We woke around the same time as the previous day, but we were dragging a little bit. The first day had worn us out, but we really wanted to get into some fish. John and I, who thought it was a wonderful idea to fish all day yesterday with our shirts off, were nursing burns with Johnny Bronze's secret browning formula, aka Hawaiian Tropic after sun lotion, and taking extra precautions to protect against that brutal sun. Johnny B went as far as wearing his nicest dress shirt, which was long sleeved, and a sweet hat that John soon dubbed his Taliban hat.
His Taliban hat seemed to work because we pulled a few fish right when we got out on the water. We spent most of the day around this one snapper hole but it seemed to dry up after each of us pulled up a few fish. One thing that was really frustrating about the fishing was that these "trash" fish, as Mark called them, which are those fish that stick to the bottoms of sharks (I think they are called Amore or something like that) kept snagging our bait. We must have caught at least 20 of these beggars and it was pretty agravating but they were punished for being so dumb as to take our bait. Mark had a small baseball bat that he kept on board and everytime one of us hooked up on one of these things, we would pull it in and he would bash it over the head three or four times and rip the hook out. The crazy thing was that they wouldn't get knocked out. So one of these fish we pulled in was a special target for John, who took a two handed home run cut at the fish's head and knocked him out cold. I must say, good show!
Anywho, we pulled a few snapper the second day and some king mackrel that we kept after trolling for the latter half of the afternoon. We pulled in around three in the afternoon and cleaned the fish including a snapper that I cleaned. That was the first time I had ever cleaned a fish and I must say I did a pretty good job. After we cleaned the fish and went home, it was time to relax. Again, we enjoyed some nice food and a few beers and just hung out.
Saturday was our day to relax on the beach and we did just that. We all kicked it with the famous Johnny Bronze, professional tanner. It was a pretty cool surprise. He gave us tips on how to tan without any SPF and how to take severe back burns and turn them into dark bronzeness.
Overall it was a great trip with my brothers and P-Dawg. We got to enjoy some fishing on the Gulf of Mexico, some delicious seafood, and some good times shared. Seeing as how my dad considered this the first annual My Three Sons plus One fishing trip, we plan on doing this again in the near future. Now that I am back from Destine, its time to celebrate the birth of our nation by going to see 311 on the fourth with my John, Katie, and all of John's friends. Should be a blast and I will be sure to post about it in the next couple days. Be easy and take time to smell the roses!
Here are the rest of the pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

I've got the travel bug!

Today, I'm back in the great state of North Carolina (Go on and Raise Up!!!) visiting Katie and a few other friends for a couple days. However, this is only the beginning of what is sure to be an action packed month and a half.
While I'm up here, I plan on visiting my mom, who lives in Raleigh for an afternoon and try to get in touch with a few buddies from school. I'll be staying until Wednesday and then heading back to the A for a few days to get ready for the fishing trip to Destine, FL that my dad is taking my brother, my brother-in-law, and me on. He has always wanted to do this but it has never worked out in the past. I'm pretty stoked to get out on the open seas again since I haven't seen the beach or the beautiful ocean in about 3 months! It doesn't sound like a very long time but for a person who loves the ocean and spends as much time as I did around it, it seems like an eternity. Regardless I know he and the rest of the guys are super excited.
Once we get back from Destine, Katie is coming down for a few days to spend 4th of July with me and the fam and we are going to the biggest concert of the summer, 311!!! It will be my first time seeing them live and since we are tagging along with Adam Rabreau and hopefully my brother, it should prove to be an epic experience. For those of you who don't know, Adam Rabreau is the younger one of two Rabreaus who have been my brother's best friends since, it seems like, the beginning of time. Anywho, I have been hanging out with him and Brian alot and we have become pretty good friends as well. The only thing that could make this concert realize its full potential, in the words of philosophers everywhere, would be if Tobias Levin were to come to the ATL for the show. But I don't think that will happen considering its 4th of July weekend. I mean this in the most heterosexual way possible when I say that man I miss that dude!
Anyway, after the concert, I am driving over to my old home for the first time since mom moved to Raleigh. I have to get some OSC time in there and if you don't know what the OSC is, then you don't know me very well. Once, I go there, I will most likely be coming back to Atlanta for a few days preparing for the family vaction in St. Simmons, GA. We didn't go last year so it should be extra fun this year.
Well there is the next month of my life, I have no job so I might as well kick it and go places that satisfy my heart's desire. Until next time, keep it real and remember, there is no use in worrying because if God wants it to happen, there is no stopping it, you just have to understand that it is the way it is for a reason and you have to look at the "half-full" side of life.

Journeys in the South

It's been a while since I last blogged about my life this summer here in Atlanta, Georgia. Since my last post I have done many things that have kept me fairly busy during the past couple weeks.
Last week I traveled to Dothan, Alabama for a funeral as my step-mom and her side of the family mourned the loss of their mother. I am not sure about some of the details involved with her passing but I do know that she had been pretty sick days before she passed away. Although I had never met this woman, I wanted to pay my respects to her for Mama's sake. My step-mom (Mama, as she is affectionately known by me) and I have a pretty close relationship and I have come to regard her as my second mother, so naturally, when she asked me to be there with her, I wanted to give her all the support I could. So Dad, Grandma, and I packed up my truck and headed down last Friday morning.
We took my truck because Grandma had some furniture that she wanted to give to Mandie, (my oldest sibbling) who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and I figured it would be an appropriate time to drop by and say hey. Also, I have some friends from Furman who live there, so I decided that I would make a weekend out of it.
In total, I probably drove close to eight or nine hours that day, leaving for the four hour journey to Dothan early in the morning and then drove roughly three to four hour up to Birmingham after paying my respects to Mama's mother. Man it was a drive, but seeing as how I had never ventured into Alabama before, I just sat back and took in the scenery. I especially enjoyed driving on I-20 through downtown Birmingham late on Friday night. The interstate cut right through the center of town and rested above the land making it somewhat like a subway ride or something. All the city lights and late night ambience was unforgettable. The city lays in a valley surrounded by large rolling hills which made for a great scenic drive through this urban jungle.
Finally, I arrived at my friend Cyrus' house around ten at night and just hung out and caught up on the time appart. My other friend, John (known as Buggins to me) took me to this restaurant called Al's that served this gigantic baked potato filled with all the regular fixin's along with chicken and barbeque sauce. Man! It tasted good but by the plate's end, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It was nice hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in a while and I must say experiencing Birmingham was fun too.
In other news regarding my life, I've been pushing myself into a pretty good exercise routine after deciding to adopt some healthy habits over the summer sometime near the end of school. I've been running between two and three miles a day, five times a week. Also, I have been playing some racketball with the old man, and surprisingly, he's pretty good and I haven't gotten to the point where I can beat him on a regular basis. None the less, he and I have started exercising on a regular basis, something that is very crucial for a family that loves to eat!
Other than that, I have just been hanging out around the house. I did buy a season pass to Six Flags and White Water and I took my niece and nephew, Hannah and Jordan to the water park yesterday. We had a lot of fun!
This weekend, my brother and his roomates are throwing a moon bounce party that seems to be shaping up to be a pretty big deal. After it's over, I will be sure to tell you how it goes. Also, I am planning a trip up to Charlotte next week to see Katie and some other friends from school. Should be a good time. Until next time, be easy and keep it real and always remember to look at the positive side of life. If you don't, life will be a huge let down for you.

Revenge of the Nerds...

Hey everybody. I just wanted to share with you a funny thing that happened to Katie, my brother John, and me the other night.
We were all hanging out and just had a pretty chill day; went to the pool, ate a little spaghetti, and hung out with the family. We were chillin down in the basement, a.k.a. summer apartment (lol), for a while. We soon became bored watching tv and decided to go to blockbuster and get some movies, specifically, Revenge of the Nerds. This was about 9:30 at night when we headed out on our journey to find cinimatic entertainment. Being that blockbuster is right up the street from my apartment (again lol), we arrived there about 9:35 only to find that the store had just closed and the person who closed it was walking out to his car. We found this a bit odd being that it was only 9:30 on a monday night. You would think that the store would be open until at least 10!

Anyway, our plan was to buy Revenge of the Nerds because John hasn't been able to find it anywhere. So blockbuster would probably be one of the only stores that would carry this old classic. But we never found out. We figured we would take a chance at Walmart and see what we could find.

When we got there we decided that it wouldn't be on any shelf but it would be in the 5$ movie bin that most Walmart regulars should know about. So we headed over to the 5$ bin and as if by some divine intervention, on the top of the bin of probably 500 DVDs was Revenge of the Nerds! It was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh.

So after what seemed to be a dud of a night, we found our movie, got some good candy and had a great Katie's last night! She left for Charlotte this morning and got back safely. I had a great weekend with her and had so much fun concert hopping! Hope everyone has a great week this week and keep your fingers crossed that I find a job so I don't become bored out of my mind. I'll keep you posted.

Coldplay and a near "T-bone" collision with Cobb County's finest

Man, this past weekend was jam-packed. Katie was down for a couple of days and we went to two concerts, the Crawfish Boil on Friday, and we attended the Coldplay show on Sunday. In between the two amazing concerts, we spent some time in Roswell with Katie's family during her cousin's wedding. Although this was an event that most would consider to be laid back and easy-going, it was a bit stressful as I met many of Katie's family members and had to present myself after a long night of Snoop Dogg and driving from state to state the previous day. However, it was fun getting to know some of her family and to realize how much we have in common with each other. But enough of the sappy stuff. Sunday night: Coldplay.

It was a great time at Lakewood Amphitheater where Katie and I had lawn seats for the 7 o'clock show. Two other bands opened for them, one I don't remember the name of, and Pete Yorn. We arrived during the middle of Pete Yorn's set and got situated on the lawn while listening to some pretty good music. After that set, there was a twenty minute intermission for Coldplay to set up for their show. At this point in time, it began drizzling (Thankfully we were prepared with rain jackets), however, the crowd was not deterred in the least. Everyone in the amphitheater was standing up eager for the band to start the show.

Finally, after what seemed to be a half hour, the band came out and the crowd erupted.
They played many songs from their new album, Viva La Vida, as well as many of their classic songs like Clocks, Fix You, and many more. The amazing special effects and many different screen shots of the band projected on the three big screens behind and on either side of the main stage made a great show absolutely unforgettable.

But for anyone who questions how awesome Coldplay is live, I hope the videos I put up on this blog will leave you amazed. They sounded just like they were playing a studio recording, with no mistakes or anything of that sort. Also, Chris Martin has to be the best performer I have seen live. His suttle jokes during the middle of songs were very entertaining. They switched stages twice throughout the night, the first time they moved into the crowd under the amphitheatre overhang and then moved again out into the rain in the midst of the crowd located on the lawn. It was pretty cool.

As the show went on, the rain continued to drizzle down and we were getting pretty wet, but that didn't disturb us in the least. The show seemed to be wrapping up and the band soon left the stage, but the crowd stayed put. We wanted an encore. It was cool because instead of the crowd chanting "encore" or saying the band's name over and over, the crowd started singing the background music to the song, Viva La Vida, and it got pretty loud. Finally, the band came back out and played two more songs. Before they played their encore, however, Chris Martin made an announcement that to show the band's gratitude for their fans, everyone in the audience would be receiving free copies of their new live cd from the tour. It was awesome! Katie and I listened to it on the way home, jamming to many of the songs we heard earlier that night.

Funny little story about the ride home. We had just got off of GA 400 on the Holcomb Bridge exit and were heading back to my dad's house when we approached the intersection where I used to live as a baby. All of the sudden one of Cobb county's finest rolled up to the intersection and looked like he had no intention of stopping despite us having the green light and everything. Well naturally I swerved into the other lane and slammed on my brakes. Pretty Scary. The cop then proceeded to catch up to me very quickly and I thought for sure he would pull me over despite me doing nothing wrong. Thankfully he did not but it would have been a pretty interesting situation had he not stopped when he did. It goes to show you that even police make mistakes! Ha!

Anywho, the show was great and below is video of Viva La Vida for you to see as well as a link to my flickr site with pictures from the night!

Greenville Crawfish Boil: Its kinda hard bein' snoop-d-oh-double-g...

Friday night, Katie, my beautiful girlfriend, and I drove up to Greenville, SC, to attend the first annual Crawfish Boil. This was the first of many summer concerts I plan on attending and was really excited about some of the bands in the line up, namely Snoop Dogg. The line up included Mike's Pawn Shop, Hurt, Saving Abel, Gavin Rossdale (leader singer of Bush), Shinedown, and of course the Original Gangster himself.
Before arriving at the venue outside Greenville's BiLo Center, I wasn't sure I was familiar with some of the bands that were playing that night. Not knowing who the first four bands in the line-up were, I went into the concert with somewhat modest expectations. But after arriving and making small talk with other members of the audience, I learned that Gavin Rossdale is the former lead singer for the band, Bush. Also, after hearing the bands play, I recognized much of their music from the radio.
We arrived around 4:30, just after the first band, Mike's Pawn Shop finished their set, and it was hot! It must have been somewhere between 85 and 90 degrees sitting on the tarmac of the make shift concert venue that was the parking lot of the BiLo Center. Thank God for the clouds though. After Hurt finished playing an hour long set, the clouds started rolling in and provided some much needed shade from the uncomfortably hot sun.
Next in the line-up was a band called Saving Abel. I knew little about them, but as soon as they played their first song, I knew they were going to play a pretty solid show. They played for a while and about halfway through their set, they played a song I was familiar with from the radio, Addicted. This got me pretty excited. With a cool breeze easing the heat from earlier that day and some delicious fried crawfish and alligator to satisfy our hunger, Katie and I were beginning to have fun!

Next up was Gavin Rossdale, who was the lead singer for Bush a few years back. His performance was awesome! He played quite a few of the songs that were written with his former band, Bush, as well as some of his new stuff that provided for a very enjoyable experience.
At this point during the concert, the people were beginning to pack in and the booze was flowing. I was particularly amused by a man in a yellow shirt that was just hammered drunk and rocking out in his own world. It was pretty hilarious. You can catch a glimpse of him in the video of Saving Abel above. You can't miss him. By the way, the vendors at the concert were making an absolute killing selling 24oz beers for 7 dollars, corn dogs for 8, along with everything else being severely over priced. But, I guess it's a good marketing ploy getting people drunk and then selling them fried food at ridiculous prices. Good work!
Shinedown was up next and with the crowd eagerly anticipating their performance, the atmosphere was becoming pretty intense. People were really beginning to let loose. There were many screaming obnoxiously, typical of most concerts, and I decided it was appropriate to let out a "letsssgoooooooo!!!" in that high pitched girl's voice my brother does so hilariously. Anywho, when Shinedown came on the crowd went crazy. It was pretty exciting to see so many people get into the show, and at one point, the enitre crowd was jumping up and down. Check out this video to get a better idea of what I am talking about.

The final act of the night was the OG himself, Snoop Doggy Dogg. He was pretty much the reason I decided that the Crawfish Boil would be worth the two and a half hour drive from Atlanta to Greenville. He was supposed to come on around 9:45 and was running a little late. So, Katie and I decided to get as close as possible considering neither of us had ever seen a rapper in concert. We figured it would be worth it to fight the crowd to get a good seat for the show. So after about 15 minutes and the crowd getting antsy, Snoop-a-loop came out and the crowd went insane!

A funny side note to this moment in time: As soon as Snoop Dogg (known for his marijuana antics) came out, there was a strong scent of cannabis emerging from the crowd. Go figure.

Anyway, Snoop played an amazing show, touching on most of his best songs like Ain't nothing but a "G" thang, Gin & Juice, and many other Snoop Dogg Classics. Overall, It was an amazing night. After the two hour drive back to Atlanta that night, Katie and I were very tired but anticipating Sunday when we go to see Coldplay at Lakewood Amplitheatre in Atlanta. Below are some videos of Snoop and here is a link to some more pictures from the night! I will be sure to let you know how Coldplay is on Sunday. Can't Wait!

To begin....

Well folks, before you all can have a front row seat to read how my life unfolds, I probably should tell you a little about the family of David Hottel.
If I were to claim one event in my life that has defined me most, it would be the divorce of my biological parents when I was very young. Out of this seemingly negative situation, my family has grown tremendously. Up until recently, I have had two sets of parents who love me very much. Last year however, my mother and stepfather separated and I have not had a conversation with Bruce (my stepfather) since. This has been some what of a tramatic event for me considering my relationship with him.
Throughout high school, I lived with my mom and stepdad on the coast of North Carolina. I was a very committed football player during this time in my life and my parents were very supportive of my endeavors. Since my father lived in Atlanta, GA some eight hours away, he couldn't be there for every single game I had. (For the record, however, I must comend my dad on coming to at least one game every season and not missing our designated weekends every three weeks in eighteen years.) Bruce and my mother always attended my games and Bruce and I had developed a great relationship. Bruce served as my day to day father while my biological father was still very active in my life, despite being nearly eight hours away from me.
It was a huge shock when my mother told me during a break in my freshman year of college that they had separated. Since that day I have spoken to Bruce maybe twice for a total of about four minutes. This is partly my fault because I haven't tried very hard to stay in contact with him but likewise, he hasn't tried very hard to contact me either, but back to the rest of my family.
I have a wonderful stepmom, Helen, who has three children, Mandie, John, and Becca, whom I don't consider to be my step brother and sisters, but rather just my brother and sisters considering we have grown so close over virtually my entire life.
With my sister, Courtney, and her husband, Brad I have a pretty full immediate family and I love them all very much. I also must mention that Mandie has two kids, Hannah (13) and Jordan (12), and Courtney recently had baby Caedmon join my wondeful family.
My father's side of the family is located in the Atlanta area, where I am spending my summer, and my mother's side of the family is located in Raleigh.
My family is a huge part of my life and much of the content in this blog will be either involved with them or involved with my friends. I will introduce my friends as they come into play during the course of this blog. For now, however, I am going to enjoy a beer with my family in ATL. So, until next time, Nastrovia!