highlights from our trip -
watching filming at the river court. i never thought in a billion years that i would be lucky enough to witness that. sure, i've been to wilmington 5 times but i've never been able to catch river court filming. we were very lucky this time around and got to see paul and james film a scene from 9x11 on thursday night. it was even more special when we realized we had just watched paul johansson officially wrap. after about 5 hours of shooting, a crew member said, "and that's a wrap on paul johansson and dan scott for one tree hill!" it was a beautiful moment. paul went around and hugged every single crew member on set and they all gave him a standing ovation. paul is my favorite cast member of the bunch so i felt blessed to be able to see him film a scene as dan scott for the last time.
meeting mark schwahn. during the filming on thursday night, mark was not directing the episode but he drove over to the river court to visit set for a while. allison and i were about to give up and go sit in the car, we were freezing & it was about 40 degrees outside, when we realized mark was walking up to all of us to come say hello. i've always wanted to meet mark. he's the creator, mastermind, and brains of the show. the one and only mark schwahn was coming to speak to us. it was definitely one of my favorite moments of any trip to wilmington. he's an amazing guy with a very creative mind as he's proved over the last 9 years. he's my hero.
meeting antwon tanner. it was a very brief run-in but we ran into this hilarious man on the front street while he was busy filming his independent movie. he's directing & starring in it. we were just walking downtown and saw that something was filming in front of nick's diner. a girl had told us about how she managed to meet him the day before while he was shooting his film in the same location so we stopped to see if he was there. he walked out of the diner and we decided to cross the street and approach him. he was very busy so we quickly asked him for a photo and then we went inside. we were lucky enough to run into him again inside the restaurant and allison asked him if he could sign a photo she had. he stopped and sat down at our table and chatted with us for a few minutes about florida (where we're from) and he was so nice. as he was leaving to go back outside i turned to him and said, "thanks for the photos antwon!" he turned around and said to me, "no problem, mama! thanks a lot." he called me mama! it was hilarious.
being an extra for the series finale's final scene. this was my ultimate one tree hill dream. after 9 years of loving and watching this amazing show since the pilot, it was the best way for me to end my experience. the scene took place during the 5 year jump into the future. the entire cast was on set: james, joy, sophia, austin, antwon, lee, lisa, tyler, stephen, rob, shantel, and even the return of the lovely bevin. the ravens were playing basketball and it featured jamie all grown up. the actors had zero lines, it was all montage and close ups of the face. it was beautifully directed and shot and i'm so proud to be a part of it. before lunch, i had a very unfortunate spot, far away from any of the actors and not seen at all by the cameras. however, after lunch, they randomly chose me and some other girl to move locations. i wasn't sure where i was going but the a.d. moved me right next to bevin and in front of james. i couldn't believe it. i was right next to my favorite cast in the entire world. these people had been my role models since i was 10 years old and i was being blessed with the opportunity to finish the series right along with them. i've had the pleasure of meeting all of them besides lisa, shantel, and joy. so being able to spend time next to the bunch was a true dream come true. we were on set from about 2:30-10:00 that evening. it was magical. i heard so many hilarious conversations and sing alongs from the cast. i'll be publishing my favorite moments in another blog post coming up very soon. it was an amazing scene to be in and i got spoiled quite a few times but it was so worth it. i'd post the spoilers for you guys, but shantel told me personally to not spill any secrets so i'm going to keep my word.
tyler hilton's concert at the soapbox. we finished up on set at around 9:45 and the doors opened for his show at 9! tyler ended up being late to his own performance but it was okay because he wasn't set to go on until around 11. we got to the venue about 15 before he was ready to begin and it was jam packed from wall to wall. as we were waiting in line to enter, paul johansson jumped out of a cab and walked upstairs. he is about as hot as it gets, my friends. for being in his 40's, he is one attractive man. when we got inside, he was sitting at the bar, being ambushed by fans. flash after flash went off in his face and he couldn't have been happier. he's so polite and so cool. allison and i didn't go up to him, we didn't want to bother him even if several other fans were already approaching him. we had such a pleasant first time run-in with him on our last trip that we didn't want to ruin that by a quick hello and photo. i do regret not going up to him that night though. i thought i'd get to meet him again after the show. i almost did but long story short, we lost him on front street. anyway, tyler went on and played an amazing set! he called it "one tree hill night" because of the fact that we were in wilmington, plenty of the cast was in attendance, and that day happened to be day 1 of them filming the finale. tyler performed the following songs, (forgive me if i'm forgetting any): how love should be, when it comes, missing you, when the stars go blue (he pulled up a fan and she got to sing on stage with him), kickin' my heels (my absolute favorite!), sunset blvd, glad, loaded gun (brilliant and very hot song), and a song with michael may. michael, tyler, joe davola, and mark schwahn all performed the song together on stage. it was a truly magical moment for any one tree hill fan to witness. after the show, we were able to meet tyler through a meet & greet process. due to the venue's strict rules, we weren't allowed to take photos with him. when i got up to meet tyler, i asked him just to make sure, "we can't take a picture, right?" and he adorably answered, "no hun, i'm so sorry. they won't let me!" he signed my poster, ep, and shirt that i had just bought. i told him how much i loved 'kickin' my heels' and he was so grateful and thanked us for coming. it was an awesome night and one that i will never forget.
my last screen gems studios tour ever. on our last day in town, we planned it so that we would be going to the last screen gems one tree hill tour ever. the last two set tours were that day so we made it a priority to head over there and experience it for one last time. i'm so glad we did. the scheduled set visits were as follows: nathan & haley's downstairs, red bedroom records, and brooke & julian's house. now i've been on the tour 5 times and the two times before my 5th, i'd seen the same sets as the ones listed above. i was really hoping that we'd see something new because of the fact that it was the last day for tours. allison started conversation with one of the lovely tour guides, ashley, and i ended up telling her that it was my 5th visit to wilmington and my 5th time to screen gems. she was amazed and asked me which sets i'd seen before. i told her i'd seen mouth's apartment, nathan & haley's season 5 house, and tree hill high along with the day's planned visits. she came up to us when we were visiting nathan & haley's downstairs and pulled us to the side. she told us that she was able to convince her manager to secretly take us off the tour and bring us to mouth's apartment & the upstairs to nathan and haley's home. i was thrilled. a crew member came along with us and they ended up letting us take photos on the set! i didn't take many, but i was just grateful to just have the opportunity. we took pictures in and of red bedroom records, the baker boy's room, and with the teddy bear in brooke's house. he also allowed us to take a photo in front of the big blue door! my DREAM!
running into tyler hilton downtown. on our way out of town on sunday afternoon, we were over at the river court and about to go home. i turned to my mom (who flew in friday night) and allison, "can we please drive through downtown once more? i know it's across the bridge but i just need to say goodbye." i'm so glad i followed my intuition because as we drove down market street, allison spotted tyler on the sidewalk. we got out of the car and allowed mom to go park somewhere on front. we approached him as he was stopped on the sidewalk, talking to a group of girls. he was with his girlfriend, megan park. she's absolutely beautiful in person and overwhelmingly sweet. we told tyler that we had met him the night before at his show and he was like, "oh yeah! thank you so much for coming!" i said something about how we weren't able to get a photo with him and he graciously allowed us to take one with him right there on the street. it was a great way to end my trip, considering that i had been very bummed about not being able to take one with him the night before. i also got one with megan, who is just as cute as a button!
so there you have it. sorry for my long rambles and stupid paragraphs but it's hard even a week later to gather my thoughts. i'll be posting more things as i remember them. this was just a brief post about my awesome time. i'll never forget wilmington, north carolina. my soul will always be there. every time i've left the port city, i've left a part of my heart with the residents & the town.
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