I am a firm believer in fate, serendipity and all those other sappy things in life.  And I thoroughly enjoy meeting new people – especially if it’s by happenstance.  Such is the case with my friend Cristobal.  Cris and I met randomly while I was traipsing around Northern California on a shoot.  Right off the bat I noticed he had this mad-crazy energy and was the life of the party.  Well, that – and I noticed he stole most of my thunder.  I was equally intrigued and annoyed.

We instantly bonded, became friends and he made a pilgrimage out to visit Kansas City over the weekend.  Welcome to the Midwest, indeed!  Cris is originally from Puerto Rico, so upon arrival he mentioned that KC seemed overwrought with pasty white people.  Not only did he stand out like a sore thumb … he relished in it.

Very rarely do I get the chance to play tour guide.  KC is not my hometown, but I’ve lived here for 10 years – so I’d like to think I know my way around.  I was planning on a lazy, mindless weekend.  Cris, of course, had other plans.  He wanted to see and be seen.  BBQ – check.  Blues – check.  And something called Powell Gardens – uh, check.  (I had to look it up.)  If Wikipedia had a to-do list for things to do in KC – we accomplished all of them.

Cris was clever, charismatic, gregarious and hungry all weekend.  He’s now better friends with some of my friends than I am.  Looks like I’m going to have to step it up a notch or two.  Of course, my friends never met a person they didn’t like – so it was like old home week when they met Cris.  They picked on him.  He picked on them.  Everyone picked on me.  And so it goes. 

I’ll say this much … the kid can eat.  Once Cristobal discovered Kansas City beef, it was all over.  I told him KC’s nickname was Cowtown for a reason.   Of course, he already knew that.  I think he did his research … uh, again Wikipedia.  He would inhale anything put in front of him.  We spent a majority of the weekend pigging … er, beefing out with my friends.  They were impressed by how much he could pack away.  (And by impressed, I mean, appalled.)  He’s a growing boy though … big, muscular growing boy, mind you.  If I looked like him, I wouldn’t even OWN shirts.

We had a great time getting lost at Powell Gardens – one of the Midwest’s most prestigious outdoor greeneries.  Cris made mention of all the lush vegetation and jungles in Puerto Rico … and while it wasn’t quite home (cue the white people), it was a glorious array of flora/fauna and flowers at Powell Gardens.  If you miss it, don’t worry – Cris took 18,402 pictures.  Seems he’s got a creative streak too – no WONDER we got along so well.  But if you get a chance, you should visit. 

And if you get a chance to visit Northern California, be sure to look up Cristobal … he’s everyone’s BFF.  He’ll charm the pants right off you.