Meeting Patrick Dempsey was a serendipitous moment for me. Everything aligned perfectly for that chance in a lifetime photographic opportunity.

My family was in Florida for three weeks over Christmas. We were in the Naples area for almost two weeks. We had a week booked in Disneyworld for the end of our trip and a couple days in between. We wanted to experience the Atlantic Coast after the two weeks on the Gulf Shores and the famous Daytona Beach called our names. We booked our one night in Daytona Beach months before we arrived in Florida. A few weeks before we headed out we found out that Patrick Dempsey MIGHT be at test days for the Daytona 24 hours on the VERY day that we were in Daytona. I promptly bought the $10 tickets upon the urging of my husband who thought that experiencing the famous speedway while something was going on was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Our hotel was swimming with race people. It was easy to spot race car drivers in the lobby when we checked in and again at breakfast. I shared the business centre with other journalists. We used the Internet access to file our respective stories. They were filing race related stories and while it may have looked like I was doing the same – I was simply filing my regular neighborhood news column from the comfort of my vacation.

We got to the track when it opened on the first day of Test Days. I had no idea what we were doing or where we were going – we’d never been to a track before. It was LOUD. We decided to head to stall number 40 right away. We found 39 and 41 but couldn’t see 40. Thanks to gravedancer40 I knew they had a black trailer but that was about all. I turned around to get my bearings and there, right in front of me was Patrick Dempsey.

He was a lot smaller than I expected and he was normal. I don’t know what I was expecting (well I wasn’t expecting to actually meet him at all – we had 2 hours at the track and cars were already speeding around) but I wasn’t expecting him to seem so, well, normal.

He smiled and waved at us and signalled for us to hold tight while he finished his coversation with another driver. There was NOBODY around. He chatted with us for at least five minutes. Posed for a number of photographs and talked to my daughter about Enchanted. He made her day when he told her that one day there could maybe be a sequel. He made sure we got the kids ear protection and was just genuinely a nice, normal, down to earth guy. There was no McDreamy or Dr. Shepherd or larger than life actor about him at all.

There was so much that I wanted to say to him but it was LOUD and I couldn’t get the words out. I was nervous and giddy and hoping my husband was focusing the camera properly!

As Patrick Dempsey squeezed my arm and then said goodbye I think I knew right then how much he appreciates his fans. He respects them and tries to make the time to meet them.

He hopped on his cart and was suddenly noticed by other women who chased after him to get a quick picture. I was lucky. So lucky that when he finished his first round of testing, and it had been announced that he was there, I thought I could sneak in another picture. Was I ever wrong. The bottleneck by their car was huge, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Like I said. I was lucky.

There I was, a mom from British Columbia, Canada, in Florida meeting Patrick Dempsey. Like I said – lucky!

Thanks, Michelle (mcshells on Twitter)

Popularity: 2% [?]