On September 10, 2001, a friend from high school (@mrkennerline) and I went out drinking somewhere in Los Angeles.
If I remember it correctly, we went to a place called Pierce Street Annex (I only remember the name because there was a bar with the exact same name in Lake Tahoe). I’m pretty sure, earlier in the day, we hit up some @footlocker in Costa Mesa, I picked up a pair of black Nike Hyperflights, and then we played ball at a 24 hour fitness. For the first time in my life I got dunked on...it wasn’t all that awesome. At the bar, we had a good time, but It wasn’t a particularly ‘successful’ night, but it was a fun time as a 21 year old in a big city. As the night was winding down, we went back to my buddies house, watched some ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and called it a (late) night. The next day - I was to fly from LA to SF so I could head back to college and get started with the school year.
The next morning, I woke up to 31 missed calls from my mom on my Motorola brick phone. I was kinda hungover, but I called her...my mom had grown in New York and she was freaking out: “DO NOT GET ON THAT PLANE”.
We turned on the news and we were watching what was unfolding. Everyone on the news was saying that all of these big cities in America were about to be attacked next. We spent about 10 minutes watching before we decided...we’ve gotta bail. So we packed up Mikes car and drove from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe in about 6 hours. Me in my Hyperflights. Mike in his Penny IIs. We stopped at one or two gas stations along the way, and it was just like the stuff you see in those movies - a bunch of people at a gas station in the middle of nowhere watching the news unfold on a 9 inch television behind the counter....everyone with just that look of horror on their faces...what does this mean?
When I got home to Tahoe, I just remember the sky being a darker shade of gray...similar to what’s going on in California right now. Just...overcast.
Anyway, I’ve still got the unused plane ticket somewhere. I always look at it and think about that day.
Anyway here’s a pic of the Adidas Kobe II 9/11 tribute...the #824pack card and the shoe on display at @xinjie_snea