Pics from Jacksonville, Florida, & AEW Dynamite

I took Emma to Jacksonville, Florida, yesterday to see AEW Dynamite in person.  It's her 16th birthday, and she's been asking to go forever, so we finally went.  We had a lot of fun.  I finally got a chance to got through and edit some of the pics from the trip on the plane this afternoon, and here we are.

I gotta say, we talked a lot about whether or not we should attempt this trip during the pandemic, but there's already so little that we can do to celebrate my daughter's birthday that I wanted to at least give it a shot.  For what it's worth, we were in the State of Florida for less than 24 hours, so technically, we don't need to quarantine.  It's also worth noting -- maybe -- that Florida's coronavirus rates are about on the same level as Connecticut's and that Jacksonville County's in particular are quite a bit lower (17 cases per 100K) than ours here in Fairfield County (24 cases per 100K).  Nevertheless, we're trying to follow the rules.  I've already scheduled Emma for a test and will test myself on Monday.  This despite the fact that New York, where I go regularly for work via mass transit, is much, much more dangerous in terms of exposure (47 cases per 100K) but does not require any sort of quarantine.

What can you do?  I've said before that the folks most apt to say that they're "following the science" are the least likely to understand the actual statistics and science by a mile.

So.  Pics, yeah?  That's why you're here?

I liked how some of these came out.

Jacksonville Beach

This first set is my favorite.  I mean, I'm not where I want to be as, like, an adventure photographer, but I do feel like I'm improving.  It was overcast in Jacksonville yesterday, so we didn't spend a super-long time out there.  Still, after having spent months in frigid New England, even chilly, overcast Jacksonville Beach was something of a revelation.

Emma mugs for the camera.  Thankfully, she's a little too cool to actually look right at us.

If you've seen any of my beach photography at all, you will know
that I love shooting lifeguard stands.  

It was technically wrong to have Emma pose for this picture.  I know.

As we walked, I wondered how much Jacksonville Beach lifeguards got paid.  Heavy surf out there.  Saving somebody in that is extremely dangerous.  So then we find this and learn that, of course, these guys are volunteers.

Travel Food

This first pic is from dinner last night.  We went to Beach Road Fish House & Chicken Dinners.  This was the only place we went where folks were aggressively refusing to wear masks.  The food was outstanding, but we took one look at the place and decided to eat outside.

That was the right call.  Temps were chilly but not freezing -- maybe in the upper-50s.  That's not warm by Florida standards, but it's balmy for an evening in early March in Connecticut.

Cute place.  Highly recommended, honestly.  I got the blackened mahi mahi, accompanied by a local IPA.  Emma got crab cakes.  Both were terrific.  I honestly think I need to try making blackened mahi mahi next time I get a chance.

This next shot is the airport Denny's.  There's nothing special about it; I just really like how the shot itself came out.

AEW Dynamite

We spent most of the day driving around Jacksonville, and that was fun.  However, we were actually in town to see Dynamite, and that was a blast.

I gotta say, the camera on my phone was not quite up to the task here.  I thought a long time about taking a real camera, too, but you know, folks can get a little funny about having people take high quality pictures at live events.  I wasn't sure what the rules would be.  And anyway, this wasn't a working trip, not even in the As For Football sense.  I wanted to have fun much more than I wanted to spend time trying to document the AEW fan experience.  It's just that once we got there, I couldn't help myself.

This shot of Pac and Rey Fenix is probably the best of the night.

This is STING!  Or, uh, it's my attempt to capture the production guy filming an indoor snowstorm.

Shaq!  I wanted this shot to work so bad, but the lighting was tough, especially for the tiny lens on my phone.  I feel like the high contrast black & white at least captures the drama of the moment, but nothing can un-muddy the rest of this, alas.

Obligatory selfie.

Homeward Bound

That's all, folks.  See you next time!