11/03/07 Concert Day!

We were up early this morning in anticipation of the fun day ahead. We once again had perfect weather for this grand gathering of the Parrotheads.

Our hotel is only 11 miles from the fairgrounds and we only had one stop to make before heading there. We stopped at the grocery store so we could get cheese and crackers as our contribution to the food. Last year we had our rig with us and I had access to my kitchen and was able to contribute more substantial fare but living out of a suitcase as we are this year, well, cheese and crackers was the best I could do. Of course we also picked up Pepsi's and BEER!

We arrived at the fairgrounds shortly after nine and the rigs were already there. We ran into a little trouble with the fairgrounds security because of the way the rigs were set up. They formed a square U shape l_l but the fairgrounds people wanted us to line them up "their way". All in a line. l l l l That wasn't going to work for us and before they left they told us to park anyway we wanted, they didn't care. (We invited them back for lunch.)

The rigs are set up now and its time to decorate!

Palm trees need to be inflated.

Tables need to be set up for the food.

Banners must be strung.

Umbrellas lifted.

Golf carts must be decorated.

A last minute sign must be painted.

Signs must be taped to the side of a trailer.

.....and the signpost planted.

Finally all the decorating was done and it was time to party! If the truth be told I was sorry the decorating was done in short order. In between helping out where I could and making digital memories with my camera it made the time go faster and time was of the essence for me. As you read previously my brother Bill and his family were flying down from Delaware and I couldn't wait to see them! The last time I had seen Billy and his family was the Buffett concert last year in Tampa just a few days shy of a year ago. We thought of all kinds of scenarios in which to let them know we were here and finally settled on getting in one of the golf carts and taking a ride when he called Bonnie to let her know they were at the gate. Well, he called as promised but he was inside the gate to the fairgrounds already and in fact just a few party sites away when the phone rang. Bob and I hopped on a golf cart took off. We didn't know what direction they were coming in from so we turned in the least crowded direction. Just as we turned the corner they came. I heard, "There's Snookie" and I knew we didn't get away fast enough. As luck would have it we couldn't turn around right away and had to ride around the block. As soon as we got back to our site and the golf cart came to a standstill I saw him. As you can guess the tears started and I ran to him. It was so wonderful to see family again! After many hugs from him, my sister in law Michelle and their kids Dusty and Brittany, and Paul and Susan and their kids, well, my day was complete!

Our signpost has grown alot since last year. We had quite a few fly in for the concert and if I remember correctly we came from New Mexico, Delaware, Massachusetts, Colorado and Illinois in addition to the all the Floridians. This signpost was very popular as many Parrotheads came by and had their picture taken in front of it. In fact, one couple even got engaged in front of it! This signpost was also pictured on the big screens during the concert.

The finished decorated golf cart.

It was time for games.

Even the dogs got into the act.

Once again Chris outdid himself with his decorations. He built this Bank of Bad Habits ATM machine.

A close up of the ATM machine.

Pictures of "our crowd". Meet Andy

The younger set, or the Kids as we call them.

Mark getting his white lei because he is a Buffett concert virgin.

Most of the Delaware crowd. A few of the group were off doing who knows what.We had enough food to feed a third world country!

It was time to take a walk to work off all the food we ate. Here are some sights we saw.

This guy knew how to make this conch sing!

A group picture, but again, we're not all here.

The time had come for us, along with 27,000 others, to make our way to the Ford Amphitheater for the concert. We sang, we danced, we had a great time! All too soon it was over and we made our way back to our site to bring the food again for a late night snack.

Since it was getting very late and the Delaware group had to drive back to Sarasota it was time once again for hugs and handshakes. It wasn't so hard saying so long this time because I know in the spring I"ll see them all again when Bob and I go "home" for a few weeks.

This was the night when we were all glad that the clocks were being set back, we'll all get that much needed extra hour of sleep.

It came time for us to say so long to Bonnie and Chris and their friends that we now consider ours as well.

What a great day!