Jon’s Favorites · 2014
Quick note: This was originally posted on Storify a few years ago, but now that Storify is shutting down, I’m just moving this here for posterity. If I was able to timestamp this retroactively, I would do so. Cool.
2014 was a long year. I got to write many stories about a wide variety of topics. Below are just a few of my favorites. Feel free to give them a read, if you want.
Up first, photographer Laura Emmons and I spent 12 hours on Chet Townsend’s lobster boat about 22 miles off the Ocean City Inlet for a story about lobsters on Delmarva. Through my text and her photos and videos, and some photography from Joe Lamberti back on land, we chronicled the tale of the lobster, from crawling on the ocean floor to being slathered on a croissant at Chet’s food shack.
I enjoy telling stories about how things work. One local restaurant doesn’t come up with a menu for the day’s lunch or dinner until just before service is about to start, and this story delves into why and how that happens.
Some days, you cover something you simply can’t imagine actually happening. Jeff Gordon — yes, that Jeff Gordon — made his way to Sussex County to help promote NASCAR in the area. During his trip, he toured Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton and held a Q&A with brewery owner Sam Calagione at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand. I had the pleasure of chronicling the day for the paper.
The day concluded with Calagione taking part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. There’s a video of that in the story.
This summer, I wrote a few stories that detailed “a day in the life” of people with various seasonal jobs. One of my favorites was of a beach boy, the person who moves umbrellas and chairs on the beach all day. I spent the day with Kevin Hann and provided readers with a behind the scenes look of what seems like a fairly simple job.
I had some fun with this one. I checked in with local breweries to see what beers brewers thought would go well with various Girl Scout cookies. The photo shoot was even more fun. And delicious.
Read more about Jon Bleiweis at his online portfolio.
Follow Jon on Twitter at @JonBleiweis.