So, What would bring three New Yorkers to the state of Florida for four days during the last weekend of January / first weekend
of February?… Some sun, some fun, and (at least for two of us) Kenny Chesney. We are actually thinking of making this an
annual trip. It was great to get away from the frigid New York air. When Nikki left her house on Wednesday evening to travel to
Long Island, the temperature was at about zero. When we all flew out on Thursday morning, it was a balmy 26 degrees.
For this trip, we all met at my house. I live about 15-minutes from Long Island’s MacArthur Airport, the place of our
departing winged-chariot, Delta Express. I don’t think that airport was quite prepared for us at 5 AM that day. As soon as
you enter the airport, your checked luggage needs to clear security. They actually opened all of the luggage we were checking,
that would be two bags per person (we were going away for four days). They swabbed the outside border of all the luggage.
Luckily we all passed, especially the cooler, which had wheels. The cooler was a necessary item for our tailgating intentions.
Before they opened the cooler, they asked what was inside. They didn’t expect the answer they got. After all, is it so
strange for a woman to pack her shoes inside a cooler when she goes on vacation? I think it was at this point that someone in
security said that we must have been going on vacation “no one is this happy at 5 AM�
After our checked luggage was cleared, we got to “check-in�. After that our carry-ons and ourselves needed to go through
the metal detectors. After hearing about Nae’s adventure through security on her way to Nashville, I was prepared for this. I
made sure my keys were in my purse and not in my pants pocket. I also made a point of not wearing my belt. Well all my
preparations were for naught. I was singled out to be wanded or probed, however you want to put it. I had to take my shoes off
so that they could go through the x-ray machine. While my shoes are being x-rayed, I have a female security worker going over
my body with a wand, checking for any metal. Well, I passed, and I found out that my shoes have a metal tip in them. So, in the
future when I go through any metal detectors, they need to come off my feet first.
The flight itself was non-eventful, but with my recent concussion, take-off, landing, and any sudden movements (turbulence) just
did not feel good on my head. We had about a two-hour layover in Atlanta, Georgia. When we first arrived in Atlanta, we
stopped at some small café type place to eat some breakfast, and then we headed towards our departing gate and found the
nearest bar. Yeah, this was at 10:30 AM. We were on vacation and didn’t care what time it was. After all, somewhere in the
world it was noon. Plus, we weren’t alone. There were other borderline alcoholics in there with us.
When we landed in Atlanta, the pilot said the local temperature was 65 degrees. He got a round of applause from my traveling
companions and myself. When we landed in Orlando, Florida that pilot said the temperature was 73 degrees, but when we got to
the arrival gate, the temperature was 71 degrees. Nikki wanted to go back to the point on the runway where it was 73.
After landing in Orlando, we promptly went to the car rental counter to pick up our portable party mobile. Since I was the travel
agent for this roadtrip, I had reserved a full sized vehicle with four doors. It was the biggest type of automobile that was in our
budget. I prayed that it would be large enough for all of our luggage and us. Nikki searched the row of full sized vehicles that
were available to us at the time. She was looking at the trunks, trying to eye up a big one. She wanted to make sure she picked us
a “bull� sized trunk because the “field mouse� variety just wouldn’t cut it. According to the chart that National
had on their counter, a full sized vehicle would hold three large pieces of luggage and two small pieces. Well, we got five large
pieces and two small ones in that trunk thanks to Nikki’s trunk packing technique. She even drew a “map� as to where
each piece went so that we wouldn’t have a problem repeating that feat.
Well, with the car finally packed with all the luggage and the senoritas, it was time to find us a store that sold adult beverages and
ice. Unfortunately, the place we found didn’t sell beer. So, we settled for some wine coolers, wild margarita and fuzzy naval
flavors. Once that was accomplished we could hit the road and head north towards Jacksonville. When I had first planned this
trip, I had noticed we would be passing through Daytona. Even though this was my third trip to the state of Florida, I had yet to
be on a Florida beach. That made Daytona Beach a necessary pit stop on our journey. We followed the signs that led us to the
beach. We were all surprised when we actually wound up driving on the beach, and not because we made a wrong turn, everyone
was. You actually drive onto the beach and park right there in the sand, which was very exciting. I was very prepared for this pit
stop. When I got dressed earlier that morning, I put my bathing suit on underneath my winter clothes in anticipation of getting
some sun. I was so happy to be able to get some sun. We walked around a bit, and according to Jen, “we walked on the waterâ
€�. This is where Jen got her new nickname. She’s still referred to as cone girl, but we also call her Moses now. She meant
to tell someone that we drove “on� the beach, but she got confused and said we “walked on the water�.
After our stop on the beach, we still needed to drive another hour or so north to reach our final destination for the evening.
Unfortunately the directions to the hotel were horrible that I had gotten on-line. Florida recently changed all the exit sign numbers
on their interstate highways. They have the mile marker as the exit number now. Unlucky for us not all the signs had the new
and old number. This caused quite a problem with us finding our way. I believe Nikki called the hotel two different times. The
first time helped us get off the interstate and the second time guided us through that maze of a city. While Nikki was making the
second phone call Jen and I finally found a place that sold beer. Nikki was getting us mapped and Jen and I were taking care of
our future drinking needs.
We wound up getting to the first show late. After getting lost, we needed to change our clothes, make margaritas (good thing I had
packed a starter bottle of both margarita mix and Tequila), tailgate, and take the car for a swim. Yes, that’s right, I almost
took Jen, Nikki, myself, and the car for a swim. One minute I’m driving in a traffic circle, of some sort and the next I’m
almost in a boat launch. It was so dark and the three of us noticed the water at the same time, the last possible second.
The show was really good. Montgomery Gentry did an excellent job. They have so much fun on stage with each other and with
the crowd. I just love it when they do HELL YEAH, MY TOWN and especially HILLBILLY SHOES.
Our seats were pretty good for this show. We were sitting on the right side (audience’s right) of the stage, where Tim would
normally be. Tracy sat in the same row as us that night. Security was really tight that night. They did their job well. There were
two guys standing at about the fifth row. If you didn’t have a ticker for that row or lower, you couldn’t go pass them,
not even for a picture. They nicely told you to go back to your seat. Although, they did have a slight problem keeping people
from standing on their seats, but that’s where Nikki comes in.
The crowd was so ready for Kenny to come out. I couldn’t wait either. Even though this was my third show of this tour, I
had yet to see the stage from the front. I really like the video screens. They are so big and life-like. Actually, they are bigger than
life. Someone had mentioned that they didn’t like the split screen set-up, since you don’t get to see a whole picture,
especially of the live feeds. The picture gets cut-off where the screens are split. As far as Tim’s replacement was concerned,
he did an excellent job. He appeared to be having a great time up there on stage. Jeff was good, but I did miss not seeing Tim up
there. Hopefully, by the next time I go to a show, Tim will be back and feeling better than ever.
While Montgomery Gentry was still on stage, they had mentioned that they would be going to some local nightclub called Eight
Seconds. Naturally we went. The girls had gotten directions while they were hanging out in the smoking lounge. Good thing too,
it was very hard to navigate through that city. It is a beautiful city, but it has way too many bridges. Thanks to good directions,
we found the nightclub pretty easily. It was actually these same directions that helped us escape this city the following morning
when it was time to head to Tallahassee, but the night is still young and there was so much more to do in Jacksonville. When we
first got to the nightclub, it was packed. It was difficult finding a parking place. Once we were parked, we moved over to the
huge line of people waiting to enter the place. Naturally, we had our solo cups in hand, filled with margaritas, while patiently
waiting to enter.
When we finally got in they were playing a KC song, FALL IN LOVE, which is my song, ever since he sang it to me in Albany.
Nikki and I were two-stepping to it as we were walking in. They had a huge dance floor and it was full. They didn’t just
play country music. There were no Genre boundaries in here. It seemed like a fun place to go. We had a great time while we
were there and we attempted dancing to several line dances. There was even a mechanical bull. After about an hour, we found out
where Montgomery Gentry were hanging out, actually, where they had been hanging out. They were gone by now, but there was
one member of their band still jamming on a stage in a separate lounge located inside this nightclub. I told you it was a huge
place. There was a local band playing there and they had the pleasure of jamming with a member of Montgomery Gentry’s
band.
We did have a lot of fun in the parking lot before we went inside, we had fun once inside, and we had more fun in the parking lot
after we had gone back outside. At some point while at Eight Seconds, Jen and I had our first taste of Jim Beam, tour sponsor for
Montgomery Gentry. Jen had a shot of it and she also had some with soda. She liked him better with the soda and not so much
on his own. I’ve decided this: Jack—okay, Jose—okay, Jim—no way!
Well before we left to head back to our hotel, Jen being the cone girl that she is found a road cone and decided to do her usual
dance with it. Just when she was really getting into it, some guy ran over and took it away from her. Apparently, they have road
cone police in Jacksonville. After we got back to the hotel, I got ready for bed and immediately passed out. The other two girls
went back out.
Whew! All that and it’s only the first day. The following morning I was doing an inventory of what Jen and I had to drink
during the course of our first day in Florida. We had started at 10:30 AM with beer, then we had some wine coolers, then
strawberry margaritas while tailgating, rumrunners during the show (sold by the venue and quite tasty), more beer, and Jim Beam.
No wonder we both felt like puking on Friday. Jen didn’t sober up until 10 PM on Friday, after she had already been
drinking for a few hours.