Nothing Better than Finally Getting to Skateboard and Film at Freedom Plaza with some of your Favorite Skateboarders
The trip was first conceptualized during Red Bull Terminal Takeover when we let the crew know that if we won, Southside Skatepark would take them all to Washington, DC on a filming mission. Although we didn’t win the event our edit turned out great and we were pleased with how hard everyone tried. So we opted to take David Langston, Tate Malpass, John Bermea, Omero Hernandez, John Danielson, and bigo on the trip anyway. About a week before heading out of town, Sean Balusek wanted to come along. With the hotel rooms and rental vehicle already arranged, we were grateful to have a photographer with us.
Before Heading Out We Reached Out to Baltimore and DC’s Bobby Worrest for the Rules of the Road
What we were told was that you are going to want to skateboard at Freedom Plaza during the week and then venture out and around the city during the weekend. This is due to a rise in pedestrians, much light traffic, at the plaza on the weekend. So we flew into DC on Wednesday, settled in, and rolled over to Freedom Plaza that first evening just for a roll around.
Freedom was Everything We Hoped it Would Be
So the next morning we were right back at the plaza on a crisp cool morning with some of the most incredible light reflecting off the surrounding buildings onto the plaza. Everyone was inspired by what seemed to be way more than anyone could skate in endless granite, marble, and stone. The plaza is so big we would imagine it might take numerous weeks to truly skate every aspect and discover everything it had to offer. The air was cool low 60s and dry so as soon as you were moving around you were perfectly comfortable.
Freedom Plaza Has Incredible Reflected Light Early in the Day
Although we had an early start the hours just passed by at Freedom and before you know it you are having to force the crew to take a break to get something to eat. Maybe it was the bananas that had held them over, but regardless of this everyone would skate until they just physically could not anymore, which is a testament to just how good of a skate spot it is.
We Skated the Plaza Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Like We had been Told to Do
Although you know there is way more to Washington, DC than just Freedom Plaza, the daily ritual has you pulled down there for at least a warm-up. When we did venture out to Welfare Banks and other spots it was quickly evident that DC held more spots than we could ever skateboard. Even though at the time we thought that a five-day trip would be plenty of time to check it out. We left feeling like we had only scratched the surface and thinking of when we might be able to return.
We Left Feeling Like We Had Only Scratched the Surface
Just Going to Washington, DC to Skateboard had been a Lifelong Dream
Happy to Have Finally Made it to Washington, DC to Skateboard
We have been thinking of Freedom Plaza and what it meant to roll around there since the days of Pepe Martinez, Chris Hall, and many more. Bobby Worrest has been consistently putting out clips keeping the spot on our minds. Happy to have been able to go with some of our favorite skateboarders Omero Hernandez, John Bermea, Tate Malpass, and David Langston. To be able to document these skateboarders at these spots with John Danielson, Sean Balusek, and bigo was something special and not something we will soon forget.
Southside Skatepark Turns 30 Next Year, 2024
Southside Skatepark Team is Moving Towards a 30-year Video
Pretty good start on some kind of edit, montage, video, visual transmission whatever you want to call it. After stacking clips in DC for five days, the Southside Skatepark team is opting to move towards a legit 30-year video. Now that we all have something to think about and focus on, we are going to make it happen. We try to stay away from the pressures something like that brings but these skateboarders are opting in on their own. It’s what they want to do and Southside Skatepark is happy to be the platform to support whatever they put together. So wish us all the very best of luck, we will be looking for you at the premiere of this video project happening at some time in 2024!
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