Spontaneity

Sometimes your husband gets home from work unexpectedly early on a Saturday when he is in cycle and you decide to be spontaneous. You hop in the car and drive two hours or so while he snores softly in the passenger seat and head to Myrtle Beach, SC for a small change of scenery. Sometimes a random Saturday becomes a fun day full of firsts that you never expect!

We made our way south and got to Broadway at the Beach in the early afternoon. We were starving so after walking around for a minute we decided to go to Joe's Crab Shack, a place we'd seen in commercials for years but never actually went. I got a steam pot of deliciousness that came with a bib declaring I was the Queen Crab and Ryan was totally jealous of my bib.

One thing on my bucket list (and yes I do have a physical printed out list) is to ride in a helicopter. Ryan rode on one before when he was deployed, and he will quickly say that one was not really an enjoyable experience, but I have never been on one. Myrtle Beach has this company that advertises $20 quick rides and we decided to give it a go. We walked there from Broadway at the Beach (all Ryan's idea, I totally wanted to drive the mile or so since it was pretty hot) and eventually made it to the site. Helicopters were taking off and landing right over the fence from us and I got pretty excited. Once inside we decided to spend a little more to do the next price up tour so we could fly over the beach and have a slightly longer ride. Totally worth it!

First we took a golf cart over to the area where we would board the helicopter. We received instructions on who would board when, where to sit, and or brief list of what not to do (stay away from the back of the helicopter basically and do not take pictures until you are inside). It finally started to hit me that we were going to be flying in this tiny thing and I started to get a little nervous... but not nervous enough to back out!

Once we boarded and got strapped in we slipped on our headsets and met our pilot Scott. Before I knew it, we were off!! And it was amazing. I hardly believed we were really flying! We soared over Broadway at the beach and across the the beach. I could see the Sky Wheel, the wooden roller coaster, all the schools in Myrtle Beach, the Walmart, and the baseball stadium. Scott pointed out all the landmarks and kept the conversation flowing and we had a blast. I was so excited the entire time I probably looked a little manic!

The ride was definitely quick, but worth it in my book. Ryan keeps saying he is going to buy a helicopter and learn to fly it so he never has to sit in traffic again. I laughed it off a bit until I saw him googling helicopter prices later on that evening!

We walked around the shops a bit more before finding a dueling pianos bar. Since we are big fans of the dueling pianos we have seen in Jacksonville we decided to go in while there was still no cover and enjoy the air conditioning! The setup at our local dueling pianos is small but we always have fun.... this was huge! They had two teams that tagged in and out plus at one point they had a drummer and three piano players. The drinks were good, the music was excellent and the guys were really funny.

All too soon we realized it was getting late and we probably should go since we had a two hour drive home. The drive back ended up being a little much since we were both tired, but we made it home safe and sound and crashed into bed. Sunday we were pretty lazy as a result but for a spontaneous Saturday adventure it was totally worth it. 

Lady Antebellum Concert

A couple weeks ago the hubby and I were driving back from Wilmington where we went to get a bridesmaid's dress for me for my best's friend's wedding (19 DAYS SAMMY SAM!) when I heard on our radio station to call in for concert tickets. Ryan was asleep in the passenger seat as I started steathily dialing again and again. Suddenly it started ringing. I slammed the phone into his chest and yelled, "TALK TO THEM! IT'S RINGING!"

 

My poor husband was so confused when he heard "Sorry, you're caller six. Try again." Especially since I yelled at him to hit redial. To my surprise it rung again and we were caller nine! We won!! To quote Ryan's whispers as he covered the mouthpiece, "What did we win??"

 

Tickets to see Lady Antebellum, Billy Currington and Kasey Musgraves in Raleigh!

 

Poor Ryan didn't even know how to answer the DJ when he asked, "Ryan, how do you spell country?" He didn't even know what station I was listening to (the same country one we ALWAYS listen to) so he turned to me and said, "Sweetie, tell them how we spell country." to which I saved his behind and yelled out "WRNS!"

 

Smooth.

This would be our first country concert so I was pretty excited, as was he. The lawn tickets arrived in the mail a week or two before and had a spot of glory on our fridge until the big day. Naturally it was sunny every day up until the concert. The Friday of the concert it turned gray and green and tornado warnings blasted across the radio. Naturally. Did I mention we had lawn seats in an outdoor ampitheatre?

 

The entire two hour drive to Raleigh the sky got darker and greener and the rain poured until we hit our exit. Magically the skies cleared and we trudged through the mud to the ampitheatre.

We rented chairs (since, um, we forgot to bring some) and staked out decent seats as the sun began to set. Fate was on our side as the rain stayed away the entire concert! Victory!

We had a gorgeous sunset happen behind us too as some awesome music happened in front.

My iphone didn't take the best pictures (and the quality on my 11 or so videos is so so) but we heard and saw just fine. All the acts were brilliant. Even Ryan agreed. Sometimes when you hear someone on the radio versus a concert you can tell a lot of editing is done in the studio but all three of these acts sounded exactly like they did on the radio, glorious!

I am such a dork for the panorama setting on my iPhone. I seriously need help. All three acts sang some songs you didn't expect as well. Kasey Musgraves sang some Miranda Lambert (and nailed it, it was the This Ain't My Mama's Broken Heart song), Billy Currington sang Blurred Lines and Friends in Low Places, and Lady A sang When I'm Gone (the cups song).

It did get a little chilly as the sun went down but we were prepared with hoodies thankfully. I felt bad for all the girls walking around in short gauzy sundresses but I am sure their beer kept them warm. At $11 a can (for bud light) it better!

Concerts used to be lit up by lighters. Now they are lit up by flashlights from smart phones. The enitre ampitheatre was GLOWING when Lady A asked us for some light. It was crazy!

 

All five of them got together and sang "Sittin on the dock of the bay" which was awesome. Especially when they got to the whistling part and no one could keep a straight face to listen into the microphone.

So yes, the show was fantastic, I heard (and maybe recorded) all my favorites and had a wonderful time with Ryan. We sang and danced and paid way too much for drinks and food but certainly worth it. Even sitting with our gas tank empty light on for an hour in the parking lot trying to get out was an adventure in itself!

 

I will try to upload a video or two.... we shall see!