Mike Rowe Visits Holland Michigan
Last night, Julie and I were photographing Doug & Kate’s engagement session downtown Holland. It was rather hot, and especially humid, so when we were done with our session we all decided to go to the New Holland Brewery for a beer.
As we were waiting to be seated I looked over to my left and noticed a guy sitting with a big group of people. He was wearing his baseball cap and not drawing any attention really. I did a double take: wait, is that Mike Rowe? Needing a second opinion not believing that Mike Rowe was in Holland, I asked Kate, “Do you know who Mike Rowe is?”
“Of course!”
“Is that him sitting over there facing us?”
“Well, if that’s not him, it’s his twin!”
After we were seated our giddy waitress confirmed that it was indeed Mike Rowe. Turns out she was a huge fan of Mike’s, and was too nervous to even talk to him. We told her we’d take her photo with him if she wanted. I think all of us wanted to get a photo! Our plan was to wait until he was finished eating and then see if he’d oblige us.
The four of us made our move. Whenever you’re in a situation like this, it really helps to have two good looking women with you! Mike was very friendly. I told him that “the Deadliest Catch was my favorite show. Dirty Jobs? Eh, not so much.” He thought that was funny. He told us that he shot a cow in the face and butchered it for a segment on an upcoming Dirty Jobs episode.
“So you slaughtered a cow and then came to the brewery for a burger?”
“Er, no, that wouldn’t be right. I think I had the Treehugger.”
“Is this your first time to Holland?”
“Yeah, I think so. Michigan’s been really good to me.”
“We did see the Mackinaw Island episode.”
“I’ve been in Detroit a lot, y’know for the Ford commercials.”
We got our photos and talked for a couple minutes before going back to our table. I can only imagine what Mike was thinking when we first walked into the brewery carrying all of that camera equipment.
“Holy crap! Is that Mike Rowe over there?”
“Aw crap! It’s the papparazzi over there.”
What a great night it was! Creating engagement photos, great company, great conversation, and we get to meet a really cool celebrity.
I love my “job!”
Mike Rowe, Julie, & Shawn
Doug & Kate
