Reclaiming Jax Thanks

[nomeus]

As many of you know, we had a book signing this past Wednesday and award ceremony the day after. I didnt get a chance to give any type of acceptance speech or formal shout outs to anyone so im going to do it here.



Big thanks to RH for making this event possible. Without you, it wouldnt have happened at all. To everyone from the urbex world and beyond, who has encouraged and supported me with kind words over the years, and also to the haters, thank you. Thanks to Adam The Woo, Bluestreak and Larz for helping set up and break down. Thanks to Ennis Davis of www.metrojacksonville.com for inviting me to be a part of the Reclaiming Jacksonville book. His extensive knowledge of Jacksonville history and endless research has made the book rich with history and information.

Last but certainly not least... big ups to Carpemuffin. Carpe and I first met in December of 2006, shortly after www.FLURBEX.com was live on the net. At the time, Carpe was in the Navy, stationed in Jacksonville. He discovered FLURBEX while searching for abandoned places online. Carpe and I went on to explore many locations in Jacksonville, most of those spots having been unseen by anyone for many years. Carpe was the first person I know of to discover, enter and photograph Florida Foundry/National Wire. Together, him and I discovered the Glowe cargo ship, Occidental Chemicals/PCS Phosphate, EHT/Cadillac, the Kinsale Gaelic tugboat, old federal courthouse, Kartouche nightclub and many others. In the spring of 2008, Carpemuffin moved back home to Indiana, thus beginning a 3 year break of me exploring Jacksonville. Sometime last year, with new connections in Jax, I started going back to explore new locations. Locations that Carpe and I had tried for a couple of years to get into. However, something was and has been missing. If I hadnt ever met Carpemuffin, who knows when I would have ever got up to Jax to explore, if ever? With that said, maybe I wouldnt have ever discovered Metro Jacksonville, met Ennis Davis and needless to say, had no part in the Reclaiming Jacksonville book.

On May 3rd, Ennis, Robert, Daniel and myself accepted our awards for the Reclaiming Jacksonville book. All I could think about was the fact that Carpe wasnt there to be a part of it all. If I would have had a chance to say something on the mic, I would have said thanks to him. Thanks buddy, Jacksonville isnt the same without you.



Carpe and I meeting for the first time - Dec. 2006