For my outside assignment, Ethan and I went to downtown Annapolis to find three food trucks that were there filming for Food Network's Great Food Truck Race. The process we went through to find these trucks ended up being more fun and interesting than the truck themselves. Heading down to Annapolis, we did not have much to go on other than the fact that they were going to be filming in Annapolis. Obviously, we decided to head straight to the historic downtown area, because where else would you film a TV show in Annapolis.
While I drove, Ethan searched the Internet on his iPhone for any news articles that may point us in the right direction of the food trucks. Most of the articles did not tell us anything that we did not already know. We were able to figure out the names of the three trucks and then turned to their respective Twitter pages for information. The trucks were updating their followers on where and when they would be in Annapolis, but we quickly realized that those times and locations were constantly changing.
The first truck we found was Tikka Tikka Taco, which had a prime location in a parking lot across from the Annapolis City Dock. The line there was already exceptionally long when we got there, so we did not get any food. However, we were able to take plenty of pictures, talk to customers, see some of the production crew in action, and even play with a few puppies, which were brought by the Annapolis SPCA with the hopes that someone would adopt them.
Tracking down the remaining two trucks turned into a game of cat and mouse. Both tweeted out times that were an hour apart and locations that were fairly close to one another. So, Ethan and I thought this would be a piece of cake. We went to the location where Philly's Finest Sambonis was supposed to be, and we waited, and waited. The people we were waiting with were growing equally impatient, but some were enjoying themselves. One woman was all fired up and trying to get the people around her as excited as she was. Another guy broke out a harmonica and broke into a tune that got some people dancing. And then the news broke on Twitter that Sambonis needed to switch locations and did not offer up a new time or location. So Ethan and I took off for a local restaurant to kill some time and wait for the third truck to show up.
We finally headed out to track down the third truck, Aloha Plate, around 2:30 p.m. It was supposed to be at its location by 3 p.m., but we were less than confident about that. When we arrived, we saw a guy who we talked to earlier in the day because he was wearing an Aloha Plate shirt. He worked with the food truck to help them get setup and what not. On that day he was tasked with helping them find a parking spot. He was in communication with the truck and kept telling those who were waiting that the truck was on its way. About an hour later the truck showed up.
With this truck, we were much more in the action. Ethan and I had secured spots near the front of the line, talked to some customers, talked to the production staff, and possibly made it on to film. Since we were close to the front this time, I purchased one of the few food items they were selling, which ended up being extremely overpriced and not very good.
Around 5 p.m., after being in the sun for nearly five hours, Ethan and I decided to call it a day. Unfortunately, we were unable to make it to the third truck, but did finally see it drive past while we were at Aloha Plate. On our way out, we popped in another restaurant to grab some real food and relax before driving back to College Park.
Overall, the day was a lot of fun. We met some interesting and nice people, saw some real life TV production in progress, and sampled some mediocre food. We went down to Annapolis with a basic game plan, but were unsure of the details. We made are decisions on the fly and just went with the flow of things. The uncertainty of our day is what made it the most interesting and we both realized how reporting of that nature could be very fun.
While I drove, Ethan searched the Internet on his iPhone for any news articles that may point us in the right direction of the food trucks. Most of the articles did not tell us anything that we did not already know. We were able to figure out the names of the three trucks and then turned to their respective Twitter pages for information. The trucks were updating their followers on where and when they would be in Annapolis, but we quickly realized that those times and locations were constantly changing.
The first truck we found was Tikka Tikka Taco, which had a prime location in a parking lot across from the Annapolis City Dock. The line there was already exceptionally long when we got there, so we did not get any food. However, we were able to take plenty of pictures, talk to customers, see some of the production crew in action, and even play with a few puppies, which were brought by the Annapolis SPCA with the hopes that someone would adopt them.
Tracking down the remaining two trucks turned into a game of cat and mouse. Both tweeted out times that were an hour apart and locations that were fairly close to one another. So, Ethan and I thought this would be a piece of cake. We went to the location where Philly's Finest Sambonis was supposed to be, and we waited, and waited. The people we were waiting with were growing equally impatient, but some were enjoying themselves. One woman was all fired up and trying to get the people around her as excited as she was. Another guy broke out a harmonica and broke into a tune that got some people dancing. And then the news broke on Twitter that Sambonis needed to switch locations and did not offer up a new time or location. So Ethan and I took off for a local restaurant to kill some time and wait for the third truck to show up.
We finally headed out to track down the third truck, Aloha Plate, around 2:30 p.m. It was supposed to be at its location by 3 p.m., but we were less than confident about that. When we arrived, we saw a guy who we talked to earlier in the day because he was wearing an Aloha Plate shirt. He worked with the food truck to help them get setup and what not. On that day he was tasked with helping them find a parking spot. He was in communication with the truck and kept telling those who were waiting that the truck was on its way. About an hour later the truck showed up.
With this truck, we were much more in the action. Ethan and I had secured spots near the front of the line, talked to some customers, talked to the production staff, and possibly made it on to film. Since we were close to the front this time, I purchased one of the few food items they were selling, which ended up being extremely overpriced and not very good.
Around 5 p.m., after being in the sun for nearly five hours, Ethan and I decided to call it a day. Unfortunately, we were unable to make it to the third truck, but did finally see it drive past while we were at Aloha Plate. On our way out, we popped in another restaurant to grab some real food and relax before driving back to College Park.
Overall, the day was a lot of fun. We met some interesting and nice people, saw some real life TV production in progress, and sampled some mediocre food. We went down to Annapolis with a basic game plan, but were unsure of the details. We made are decisions on the fly and just went with the flow of things. The uncertainty of our day is what made it the most interesting and we both realized how reporting of that nature could be very fun.
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