Lee works with Dave and handles Events for the Marketing Dept. Lee is from England, lives in the U.S. now and was hanging out after a race a few years back. He started talking to this guy for a couple of hours about racing, etc. and it turns out that it was Patrick Dempsey. He had no idea who he was because the show was not on in England. Lee and Patrick are friends now and love racing. The L.A. Autoshow was this past week, so Dave and Lee were out there for the event. Since birthdays were rolling around and we rarely get to see each other with all the travel that is going on, we thought it would be nice to celebrate in L.A. Lee was taking his wife, Kerrie, to the set and was nice enough to let us tag along.
As it turned out, we spent almost the entire day on the set with the cast and crew members. No other outsiders were there, and the group made us feel completely comfortable and welcome. Patrick toured us around the entire set (it's huge) we took a few silly pictures of him serving Kerrie and I a drink at "the bar" and we hung out in his trailer for half an hour before they started filming for the day. As it turns out, this group works 12-16 hour days M-F. We were there from 12-3 pm, left for the taping of the Jay Leno Show Friday afternoon (it was a neat show, but nothing like being on set with you know who) and we went back from 6 -10 pm. They planned to work until at least midnight. This is a typical work day. They are off May & June (aside from movies, racing, or whatever they can fit in). Wow.
So we ate lunch and dinner with them - I called us 'the guest that would never leave', but luckily, the cast and crew said we were fun to have around and that Patrick was in a better mood with us around. Ok, we'll take it. Patrick was showing me photos of his kids on his phone. He told us he had a 8-year old daughter and 3-year old twin sons. He showed me a photo of a young long-hair kid and I said "how old is she again"? Dave said "HE". Ooops! Patrick laughed and said, yes, we need to get his hair cut. Leave it to me to say something like that. I have a bit of my grandmother in me.... I say things too bluntly sometimes. His wife would send him a photo or a video and he would share with us. She put up their Christmas tree Friday night with the kids and she sent him the video. Bummer he wasn't there....
We met the writer for that specific show, the producer (he gave me his headset to use and introduced everyone) and lots of the cast. Here is a quick rundown of who we met and talked to....almost everyone was on set that day.
Show names (can't remember all of their real names)...http://abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/about-the-show
Mark - Eric Dane, Lexie, Callie, Arizona, Richard (The Chief), Owen, Cristina Yang, Alex and all the new cast from Mercy West (names.???)
We had a great time bumming around the entire set, taking photos and talking to everyone. We were a little slap happy at the end of the evening. We were invited back...was he just being nice or can we impose again?!
Patrick walked us all to the car and Kerrie and I got a hug and kiss goodnight from the very own...Patrick Dempsey. He's a top-notch guy and we had a great time with him.
As for the rest of the weekend... it was all great. Thursday night dinner with our great friend, Andy (Porsche guy from Stuttgart). He has great taste in restuarants, so we dined with him at Spago in Beverly Hills (Wolfgang Puck's restuarant). Danke, Andy! Friday, we were entertained by Grey's Anatomy and bit of Jay Leno (Kelsey Grammar and Taylor Swift were guests). Saturday was my actual birthday, Dec. 5th. Thank you for all the well wishes via Facebook, phone, text and email! Technology is wonderful!
I talked Dave into a bike ride on the boardwalk. We were in Manhattan Beach and rode through Hermosa and Redondo beaches. I haven't been on a bike in years, but it was a blast. College football was on, so we hit a sports bar for lunch to watch FL v. AL, then visited our old neighbors from Smyrna who now live in Hermosa Beach- Gia and Troy. Thanks for taking us in, guys! We watched the first part of the GA Tech game with them, finished up at our hotel (Go Tech) and had a birthday dinner out that night. Sunday brunch at our hotel (Shade) with ESPN Radio broadcasting live - surprise to us- and then headed out for a walk on the boardwalk and beach to get some fresh air before our flight home.
Thanks to mom and dad for watching the kids!
'Twas a good birthday, indeed. Now, I hope Dave doesn't expect much on Dec. 9th (his birthday). He's in Germany...working. I'm sure the kids and I will figure out a way to celebrate when he gets home.
1 comment:
Your site came up on a google alert for Patrick Dempsey.
As a fan of his I think that is an adorable story and what a lucky fan you are! Thanks so much for sharing. What a great birthday for you! (happy birthday btw)
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