champaign-urbana

october 25th through 27th, 2002

friday lunch at the apple dumplin' - 254, 578 sold.

if you ever visit, check out the plaque which presents the board of directors.

donovan shops for workwear at blain's farm & fleet.

after lunch, is there a better dessert than frozen custard? amy approaches the window at jarling's custard cup.

here's a silly video made while running friday afternoon errands with donovan and amy.

as night falls, the exploration of champaign-urbana's hot spots continues. at les's lounge i share the latest gossip from brooklyn with amy and donovan. due to the rapid exchange of email, it turns out they already know everything.

saturday's breakfast at the pancake house with kevin and rosalie is followed by a trip to curtis orchard.

before visiting the pumpkin patch, we take a stroll through the goat and photo taking areas.

amy and kevin take the zipline for a ride, doing their best impressions of sydney bristow from tv's alias.

and then, i marvel at the size of the pumpkin patch.

it's a sea of orange globes!

rosalie scans the horizon for just the right pumpkin.

donovan uses a key to cut his pumpkin from the vine.

kevin says "this bright orange pumpkin will make the perfect jack-o'-lantern!" or, he may have said "okay, marc, i'll hold this pumpkin up to appease your photo taking needs."

saturday afternoon means the start of the pumpkin carving and whiskey party.

last year donovan, amy and i hung out at o'connor's where a guy walked through the front door wearing a dirty old winnie the pooh suit and smoking a cigarette. that visual is matched this year as tigger pounces up the driveway drinking from a bottle of maker's mark.

chris reminisces about his favorite new york city bars.

with plastic covering the carpet and knives drawn, english department graduate students begin the pumpkin carving.

despite the beer and bourbon flowing through their systems, chis and donovan use pens and specialty carving instruments.

elizabeth celebrates a successful carve!

pumpkins begin assembling, creating the most intimidating house on the block.

donovan's jack-o'-lantern

see? fire filled jack-o'-lanterns and knives are intimidating!

after changing into costumes, it's time for another party.

and there's a costume contest with multiple categories!

shutout of the prize for best group costume? the white stripes.

this intellectual group proves there really is a trend of people dressing as canadian provinces.