My Weekend: Brews, Bird & Bear Eating, A Big Check, and I Became a Judge

I can not lie - I really needed the last few days off - hahah.... (Wouldn't anyone say that?)

Hope you all had a break at some point and I hope you had a chance to connect with family and friends over the holiday weekend!

I did both nothing and a lot, if you know what I mean. I've come to the point where I don't feel guilty about just saying "F it -" - Im just chilling today and I'm not leaving the house. Granted- I try to do those on days when the weather is less than agreeable- but sometimes I do it when the weather is awesome! Like I said - "F IT!"

Lets go back to Thanksgiving- this is what our 23 lb turkey looked like -

Afterwards.....hahah. We had Valerie's family over and we had a great time! We hung out all day with the fam, and when everyone left (19 folks) - we pretty much collapsed! But - I was up the next morning and out the door at 5am to catch the sunrise! The location? Plum Island MA -

And of course I had to get a shot of the legendary "Pink House". This house has been the subject of controversy for a long time with some folks who want it torn down because they say "it's an eyesore". Well it doesn't look like an eyesore to me. The house is really old and has a lot of character- and the fight to destroy it/save it is still going on today. I'm pulling for the savers.

Lunch on Friday? Bear chili, given to me by my brother, who harvested the bear this fall. And you know what? It was DELICIOUS!

I know the pic isnt the best, but I'm telling you - the flavor was incredible! Might be the best chili I've had in a long time!

Friday night I got to accept a check to LEND A HELPING CAN for over $8000 from Trans Siberian Orchestra!

They've been great partners with us for a very long time- and each show they do, they always give back to the communities they're playing in!

And what do you know! THERE'S A NEW BREWERY RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM SNHU ARENA!

We hit up Republic Brewing Co and had a great time! The beer (I had a "sour") and food were both really good, and the place has a really cool, chill vibe which I loved! And if that's not enough - the entire staff was AWESOME! They've only been open a couple of weeks so stop by and show em some love! (Try the nachos- they're killer!)

Saturday was one of those aforementioned "F It" days and I didn't do squat except make a trash run to the dumpster! But on Sunday- it was out early again- and this time I headed to Portland Maine to Portland Head Lighthouse-

The above pic was a cell phone pic before sunrise- but I made sure I was in position about 20 min before the sun rose, so I could get a shot like this-

And the lesson I learned doing this shoot? It was this - when you're wearing waterproof hiking shoes, you have to remember they are only "waterproof" if the water DOESN'T go over the top of the shoe.

Which - given the pic above- clearly wasn't the case. I took on water up past my ankles.

And the added bonus lesson? Sea water is ****ing COLD in December! hahah -

Finally- later in the day, I was honored to be asked to judge the Winter Photo Contest of the Greater Rochester Camera Club - where there were a ton of really excellent photographs to see and choose from -

I judged with 2 excellent photographers, Don Chick and Jean Wozniak. It was a fun time!

And then it was home to see the Celtics, and Yellowstone-

See ya in the morning-

g