40 Dates in 40 Days: Day 21

Wow, it’s arrived! We’ve made it to the second portion of our dating project! It’s the part that tonight’s date, Mike, likes to call – the better half. :) We’ve met so many fun people and had such great experiences that it’s hard to imagine things getting much better!

Mike found out about the project through one of my Facebook friends and sent a message to our 40datesin40days@gmail.com account to let us know he was interested in participating. I quickly emailed him back to let him know that we’d love to have him join us in our little adventure and got something set on the calendar to go out.

Because he was coming from the south part of town, we decided to meet halfway, near the Heights/downtown area. As I was talking to my co-workers about some date ideas in that area, one of them mentioned SculpturWorx, the studio of local sculptor, David Adickes. The gates to the area are usually open in the evenings and I had actually wanted to visit it for a while. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Adickes is responsible for creating several giant presidential head busts that can be seen in random parts of town, like the I-10 east and I-45 southbound interchange.

I gave Mike the address I found online and we arranged to meet there at 7 p.m., just after dark. As I drove through the poorly lit warehouse district where the address led me, I began to wonder where on earth my co-worker had sent me… It seemed to be a pretty sketchy part of town and I started to worry about my safety. I mean I was meeting a complete stranger, in a perfectly dark alley, in a corner of town that I was unfamiliar with and that I was sure could host my body (or any body) for quite some time… You can be sure the first thing after I parked was check in at the location via Facebook. You can never be too careful, right?

However, when I met Mike I instantly felt at peace and realized I had nothing to worry about. From the moment he arrived, Mike was friendly, welcoming and just as excited as me to be checking out some of the coolest structures in town.

We talked as we wandered the grounds and found ourselves in awe at the more than 50 head busts (ok, maybe more like 100 – I don’t know, a ton!!) that sat in the lot next to the SculpturWorx parking lot. We quickly approached the gate to the lot, but were disappointed to find it locked. Thankfully though we could still see plenty of the statues and even captured some decent photos to share with all of you (see the end of this post for more)! The majority of sculptures are of past U.S. presidents, occasionally he does some more unique images, like the set of Beatles statues we saw from afar.

While we meandered through the area and I shot photos through the chain link fence, I learned that Mike currently works at a cognitive learning center in Sugarland. There he helps teach kids that struggle with learning disorders how to cope with them and how they can learn the same concepts in a different way. One of the topics he teaches just so happens to be the U.S. Presidents. Needless to say, he can name all the presidents in order, forwards and backwards. I think I can name maybe the last 4…Though they’re not all pictured here, see if you can identify any of the ones at the bottom of this post.

We found some more accessible statues in the parking lot that we could check out up close and as you can see, they’re HUGE. These are just the heads so you can get an idea of how much larger they are when they’re set on the bust.

After we had sufficiently tortured Lincoln and Jefferson (I think that’s who it was) Mike humored me as I led him on a wild goose chase to find the other 4 busts located along the side of the freeway interchange. However, after searching through the severely rundown neighborhood across from the warehouse district, we gave up our search. We never found them but I’m certain they’re still there. Maybe I’ll try going during the day next time. ;)

After we finished our little scavenger hunt for the undiscoverable presidential heads, I had the brilliant idea to go to a nearby Starbucks shop to sit down and get to know each other better over hot chocolate. I had even done a map search prior to our visit to make sure there was something nearby. However, as we approached the destination dot on the screen, I learned that it was one tucked inside the front of Target and came fully equipped with one table and an extra long line. Scratch that.

Instead we wandered through the parking lot until we ended up at the next best alternative to hot chocolate…ice cream!

We placed our orders at the nearby Marble Slab and Mike graciously paid before we headed to the tables outside to enjoy the weather and the company.

Like Jessica’s dates have often come from a family of just brothers, I’ve discovered a theme among some of my dates, too. They all love to cook! Well, at least the last few. I love it! Mike particularly loves to cook Cajun food and says that gumbo with chicken and sausage is his shining star.

I also learned that Mike was in band in middle school (me too) and that it was his goal to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on as many instruments as he could. He made it to 19, including clarinet, tuba, French horn and bass drums (yes, bass drums – different pitches and all) among others. Impressive, right?

He loves sports and is a die-hard pro football fan, but is also big into professional baseball and basketball. He also loves to play disc golf, an activity I might not have called a sport before tonight. I feel like I got the inside scoop on a secret society! I mean, who knew there was such as thing as a putter (a type of Frisbee, not golf club) and a driver? Not me! I also learned that some of the best Frisbee collections are found in billiard stores. Who would have thought?! Maybe some day when I actually learn how to throw a Frisbee properly, I’ll look into it more. I’m terrible. :/

Before long we had to part ways, but overall I had a great time and was glad to meet someone new that I may have missed out on before this project. Thanks, Mike, for braving the sketchy parts of Houston to come spend the evening with me!

It’s been fantastic to meet and learn about people from all over this great state. May the adventure continue!