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