Metrolina Expo : Statesville, NC : November 2010

This is the biggest country fried flea market you will ever see in your life. It's here where the Yankee Peddler first met Colonel Littleton. If you need a beat up coke bottle from 1947, this is your place. (I actually saw one vendor selling used lip balm...)


But it also attracts a good number of very accomplished artists and craftsmen. Working with reclaimed materials, wood, stamped metal, found objects and the like, many of their wares are quite beautiful. I bought a broken fridge from 1952 that someone had painted red. It's pretty much the only place on the planet where this type of transaction could have taken place.

Chicago : October 2011

I went to Chicago last week for a restaurant conference and to do some research on a new restaurant project. Subject matter? Hot dogs. Fascinating research, really. Long history (no pun intended). I had been to Chicago many times before, but there was something about this visit that was different. I was sober, for one, but that wasn't really it. I think this was the first time I visited Chicago with a real desire to take pictures and to document my experience there. It is jaw-droppingly striking city to look at. I don't think I ever really noticed that before. Especially at night. Go there as many times as you can. Just not in the winter.

Looking down from the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower