Skateboard Mansion to Baños Publicos

The Washington Post made a call for graffiti photos from around the world, so I dug this one up from the Casco Viejo neighborhood of Panama City.

It definitely qualifies as a worldly graffiti shot, but the back story is fun, too.  My wife Stacey and I had been wandering through the very-old neighborhood of Casco Viejo, looking for a place to eat.

We came across a row of abandoned mansions, and we watched as skateboarder after skateboarder climbed over a few weeds and through the foundation in order to get out on the back deck.  We eyed the unlikely view in:

We followed a few kids in, and found an overgrown pool…

…as well as ramps, rails, and graffiti–a makeshift skatepark with a real estate agent’s dream view back over the bay towards downtown Panama City.  We hung out with the skateboarders and shot them as the sun went down.

After the sun fell low, a few of them invited Stacey and I to a show at a local bar/music venue called Baños Publicos (yup–“public bathrooms”).  This little hole-in-the-wall–which actually had been a public bathroom at some point in its past–cradled a get-together of friends and aspiring recording artists.  Beer was sold in cans from a cooler, and CDs hung from strings from the ceiling.  For a little color, the vocalist screamed to show his harder side…

and crooned to show his softer one.

After the band’s set, we thanked our new friend Jason (pictured below), exchanged emails, and headed off to a great seafood dinner.  Magical!