Saint Louis & Kansas

July 12

The days have been long and the rain has been coming down in torrents; I have never had so much fun in my life. The past two days have been a test of our patience and our wits, which makes this trip that much more rewarding. We have driven in major cities, cornfields, college campuses, and on every road surface imaginable. We left Chicago and headed south towards Saint Louis, with a stop at the University of Illinois planned. Champaign, Illinois is home to the Fighting Illini and is ranked as the 10th best public university in the country. It was a Sunday and campus was pretty dead so we hit the road to Saint Louis. The GPS device in my car said we only had a 2 ½ hour drive but Mother Nature had other plans. One of my favorite parts about summer weather is the way the rain approaches you in sheets that are visible a mile or two away. We made it through the rain to East Saint Louis and Malcolm W. Martin Park, a recently finished raised platform on the banks of the Mississippi with amazing views of the Gateway Arch and Downtown Saint Louis.

July 13

We woke up early on Monday to visit Historic Saint Charles, a small town on the banks of the Missouri we saw the night before, which holds the distinction of being the site of Missouri’s first state capitol. After talking to the owner of a local Irish/Scottish Heritage shop for a few minutes, she used to live in La Jolla; we started our cross-Missouri journey. The University of Missouri calls Columbia, Missouri home so we pulled of I-70 and went to the Columbia Skate Park, where we met and hung out with a few local skaters. After a few more hours on the road we pulled off the interstate right on the outskirts of Kansas City to see the homes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals (Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums respectively) for a few minutes while we figured out our game plan for the day. I have to say the nicest college campus/town I have ever visited is the University of Kansas in Lawrence. The picturesque Main Street is filled with local shops and also stores that are normally reserved for malls/shopping centers. Campus was buzzing with hundreds of people out walking or running through the hills of Lawrence and all through campus people were out enjoying the beautiful Kansas summer afternoon. Bruno was playing in Topeka so we unloaded the car at the hotel and went to see the most controversial movie of the year, in a city that makes a few appearances in the film. I was hoping for people to get up and leave during the more awkward scenes; however I underestimated the people of Topeka. One woman was having trouble breathing she was laughing so hard, while another man would make classic/precise comments that made the rest of the audience erupt in laughter. We were feeling restless after sitting for a majority of the day and the nearby Jeremiah Bullfrogs, a local dive bar, seemed like the place to see hangout with the locals.

Chicago

July 10

After barreling through heavy rain through most of the morning and early afternoon, I finally picked Jason up at the Indianapolis Airport. While we rolled through the cornfields of Indiana it became apparent we were becoming restless for the streets of Chicago. Jason has never been to the Windy City and I have relatives who call live in the city so it’s almost a second home for me. We checked into our hotel and drove into the jungle of downtown right as the sun went down. We went to visit a friend of Jason’s and then we went to a local pizzeria for some deep dish pizza. After walking down Michigan Avenue and on the riverfront we headed back south to our hotel to rest before the long day ahead of us.


July 11

As soon as we thought the morning traffic passed, the Museum Campus Park on the shores of Lake Michigan became our destination. We parked under Soldier Field and came out of the parking lot to an amazing view of the Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, Lake Michigan and the “Loop” Skyline including the two tallest buildings in Chicago (Sears Tower and Aon Center). There were families, tourists, runners and even a wild pack of Segway riders. We then headed north along Lake Shore Dr. to the north side of the city to check our Uprise Skate Shop. The guys there were real cool and told us some places to check out in the city. We then headed toward Downtown for lunch in Washington Square. A quick change of clothes and a drive around the city to drop the car off were the only things between us and the Hancock Center. The CTA’s Orange Line and a short cab ride later we were standing in line to go up to the Hancock tower observatory. We walked around the with crowd and saw the tail end of the sunset and the beginning of the warm summer evening. Air-conditioning kept us in the tower for a little longer than expected but we then made our way to Wrigleyville. Chicago’s subway and overhead rail system is an oven on July nights, which along with the filled to capacity train-cars made for an epic trip to the Northside. Celebrations were in mass across, and in a few cases into, the street from the famed Wrigley Field. With only a few hours as the buffer from our arrival and a victory over the rival Saint Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs fans gave us a nice welcome to Chicago nightlife.

After weeks and weeks of planning, Operation O’Quinn is underway. After a short 2 hour drive I arrived in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina right as the rain arrived. My first stop was Push Skate Shop in Downtown Asheville. It’s located on a quaint tree lined street filled with art galleries, cafes and boutique stores. Push has the standard selection of skate shoes, clothes, and boards but what makes Push so unique is their art gallery in the back of the store. After hanging out at Push and talking to Rob, a Push employee, I hit the road again; this time I had Knoxville, Tennessee in my sights. I drove up and down the winding mountain roads until I finally arrived on the campus of the University of Tennessee. After some searching I finally stumbled upon Pluto Sports. Located underneath a barbershop, Pluto Sports is a small skate shop that is filled to the brim with everything one could possible want from a skate shop. Big thanks to Alan, Zach and Brian at Pluto for the helping me find the local skate park. The Knoxville Skate Park is a brand new park tucked in the back of a Knoxville’s Tyson Park. I passed out some O’Quinn shirts and stickers to the local skaters who were ripping up the park despite the frequent thunderstorms. The rain started to pick up so I checked out of the park and hit the road to Kentucky
The rest of the day was spent driving through the stunningly beautiful Kentucky hills to Lexington, KY where I will rest my head and then hit the road tomorrow to Louisville, Indianapolis, South Bend and Chicago. Tomorrow my wingman Jason flies into Lexington to help the cause, and maybe a little help with the driving as well.
We will profile each shop we visit below each day’s update so make sure you check out the shops and become a friend on Facebook (www.facebook.com/oquinnclothing) to see the daily photo album.

Cheers,

sfs

Pluto Sports

1. Store Name: Pluto Sports

2. Founded: 1992

3. Location: Knoxville, Tennessee


4. Local Area’s Nickname: Knockville/Knoxvegas


5. Favorite Local Skate/BMX Spot: Knoxville Skate Park


6. Notes: Adjacent to University of Tennessee

“Hidden Location” beneath a Barber Shop

www.plutosports.com







sfs

Push Skate Shop

1. Name: Push Skateboards

2. Founded: 2005

3. Location: Asheville, North Carolina


4. Local Area’s Nickname: Ashevegas/ Land of the Sky


5. Favorite Local Skate/BMX Spot: FoodLion skate park


6. Local Skate/Surf/BMX Legends: Mike Belleme (featured in Thrasher Magazine)


7. Notes: Transworld Magazine Shop of the Month: December 2007

Art Gallery in the back of the store

www.pushtoyproject.com (under construction)






sfs

Back in your Mind like Return of the Jedi, LA for the night then back on the Red-Eye

'Operation O'Quinn' unofficially gets started tonight around 11:55pm PDT when I get on the red-eye to Boston with a short layover then on to Charlotte. We are all really pumped to get out on the street and tell The People about us.

Stay Tuned

Nike SB July Collection

Nike SB July Collection.
Nike finally let the SB design team off the training wheels and this month shows the greatness of Nike. The Dunk SB will release in three variations: a blue/white low-top, a black/sea green mid-top, and a black/ozone high-top. The Blazer SB will release in two colorways: green spark/pimento and white/hot red. The Zoom Tre SB will drop in an Orgeon Ducks inspired colorway, while the Bruin SB will be made available in a simple black/white colorway.












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