Tennessee Wedding.

A little while ago I made a quick weekend trip to Tennessee with my Dad and Brother for my cousin's Wedding. It was a good trip and a good break from Chicago, which I think every Chicagoan sometimes needs. Did I just say Chicagoan? We ended up leaving to go there a little late because we made a stop at Lazo's for some dinner first. I think we ended up leaving around 9pm. My dad drove for 3 hours and asked me to drive and I told him we'd be in Tennessee when he woke up (at the time I thought I was kidding).

Then I kind of blacked out and ended up in Tennessee at 7am, it seemed like nothing. I think what kept me going was the sunrise through the fog, driving through mountains. It was a sight to see. The bummer was that there was no place you could stop that would be high enough to look over the trees. So the best view you had was on the highway, which was still alright. Sometimes you don't need a camera to fully experience things, sometimes all it takes it some energy drinks and lack of sleep to put you in the same mindset.



As if it would be some surprise, our first stop when we got to Tennessee was breakfast at the Waffle House. I still can't get over how awesome that place is. And the best part: every single restaurant is the exact same, ensuring a great full meal of waffle, eggs, bacon, and coffee for $4.50 no matter what state you're in.

After the filling meal, we did what most people probably do after eating at the Waffle House and took about a 7 hour nap. We woke up around 4pm and my dad gave me and Jeff about 45 minutes to go photograph and explore a little bit of beautiful Johnson City.






Then we went to the rehearsal dinner and after-rehearsal-dinner-after-party...where we had a great time.
^Nice shot Dad!

Then we headed back for the night and got up early for the always necessary pre-family-get-together-awkward-uncomfortable-picture time before we went to the wedding.

Who am I kidding, that time was awesome!
Dad, there is something on your lens.

We went to the wedding and I ended up photographing it because my Uncle asked me that favor. I'd post some of those but I believe they are on two cds, one in Tennessee and one in New York. After the wedding we went to this awesome house further into the country. Very relaxing.

For all the fellow nerds back in the nerdry, ^HP5+ @ 1600 in Xtol 1:1, 9.5 minutes.

Then the next morning it was time to head back home.Don't cry, Jonathan.





So then we were back on the road home, but my Dad wanted to take us to a place called the "Cumberland Gap," which from what I understood a place where you take a road up really high and then you can look out at Tennesee's mountains.


It was pretty awesome.



When I went to get my 35mm slides processed from the trip, I asked Precision to not cut, not mount, and process my slides normally. I got cut, mounted, and what looked like vomited/stepped on slides. My guess is they just knew I deep down wanted that "vintage" look.


A word to fellow travelers:


If you're desperate for food on the road and see a sign for a restaurant that says "Shoney's," and you think, "Oh well that could be kinda good, it kinda looks like a T.G.I. Friday's or a Chili's. I could go for Chili's." DO NOT STOP.

(^This image isn't edited.)

Shoney's is nothing like Chili's. My brother went with the buffet, and as a vegetarian, chose the watery mac and cheese. The rest of us went with the "American Burger," and ordered it to be prepared medium-well. Response: "We only cook it one way here."
The water was good...





Then I took some portraits of my cousin, Andrew.

And then we drove home.





And that was it.



See ya.

-Matt