It's pretty obvious these days that Clermont is the new Orlando. To be quite frank (even though my name is Garrett… hahaha), I think there might be more wakeboarders and wakeskaters living in the city limits of Clermont than Orlando these days. For me, this has become somewhat of a pain in my rear end (and my car's odometer), 'cause it's a good 35-minute drive from my house to the new mecca.

Nevertheless, I found myself out there bright and early the other day to shoot with Shane Bonifay, Corey Bradley, Ben Greenwood and Cason Lehman. Actually, it wasn't bright, but it was early. A thick fog was hovering over Lake Minneola and created a pretty surreal and eerie feeling. The fog was actually so thick that we had to wait for it to burn off 'cause we couldn't safely drive the boats. Once we hit the water though, it was nothing but butter, margarine and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" conditions.

After the shoot I made my way over to Kevin Henshaw's pad, which is the new hot hangout in Clermont (see the "Ante Up" web story). Kevin's new house is pretty much off the sickter scale in terms of being both nice (hardwood floors, big screen TV, a real dishwasher, etc.) and fun (pool table, ping pong table, big screen TV, bar, etc.). When I got there Kevin and some buddies were working on digging out a mini-bike track in the backyard for their 50cc and 70cc bikes. Yeah, it really is a sweet place. But don't even think about trying to rob it, 'cause there are a few trees in the yard that instead of bark grow some crazy nasty thorns, so when you're making your escape, you'll more than likely fall into one and bleed to death from hundreds of tiny puncture wounds. Not fun.

sidnote: I've quickly learned that when wakeboarders have a fairly large amount of free time these days it is usually spent doing one of three things: wasting money on dirt bikes (or other motorcycle type vehicles), wasting money on poker, or wasting brain cells on Guitar Hero.

The mini 50 track in Kevin's backyard is going to be pretty sweet, though. I'm sure his neighbors are going to be big fans, as well. After getting dirty riding some small, motorized bikes, we all played some poker and Guitar Hero (go figure). Then we got dinner at Chili's and went bowling. Basically it was an epic day.

See, I told you Clermont was the new hot spot. I'm sure I'll be back really soon and even more prepared to lose some money.

 

p.s. Kevin Henshaw wants Aaron Grace to know that the mini 50 track is officially the "Monster Energy Mini Track."