A little spaceship ride to Bocephus

Once upon a two months ago, I injured the poor Doozer Mobile in the parking lot of my apartment complex.  Somehow it became quite-complex to get her fixed.  Between two Ford Dealerships, my insurance company, and several phone calls, I was finally able to drop off my beloved car and get transported to a rental car place to get something to drive for a few days.  Or so I thought.  First of all, when I got to the rental joint, they did not have any Fords available for me to rent.  Like, what? I’m a Ford girl, and I was not impressed with the Nissan that they had for me.  It was a 2016 Nissan Altima.  It was nice, and I’m sure that most people would be super amped to drive it for a few days..I however was not.  It was loaded down with far more technology than I needed, and I was not given any sort of pre-drive instructions.  It amounted in me driving down the road while trying to figure out where my wiper controls were, and..are my lights on?  It also had a button to start it.  A button ya’ll.  Why does one need to start their car with a button and not a key? It just felt weird.  Not to mention that I was warned not to be too far away with the key fob, or the car would shut off.  Stupendous really.  The fact that I took just one picture of the rental car, only so I could remember its tag number.. tells you how much I enjoyed it.  I should also mention that a few days turned into a couple of weeks that I was driving it.  Because of the level of technology in the car itself, and also the fact that it was a touch larger and harder to navigate than mine, it was nicknamed quite quickly as -The Spaceship.

I was only supposed to have the rental Spaceship for a few days, and that did not happen.  However something much more interesting and fun was coming up.  My favorite Handy Fellow and I were making our second annual pilgrimage to Daytona for Country 500, a fun filled country music festival.  And now, we had to take the Spaceship there. UGH.  Also, two people wearing Ford hats arriving in a Nissan, so uncool.

 

Long before the Doozer Mobile was ever damaged, and long before I was in the rental Spaceship, the tickets for Country 500 were purchased.  I was, per usual when it comes to live music, so so excited.  Last year it was our honor and pleasure to see Willie Nelson, and this year….are ya’ll ready…Hank Williams, Jr!!!!  Now, while I have seen Bocephus a few times in concert before, it is still always a really good show, and he is one of my absolute favorite singers.  I realized later that there is a Hank Jr song on just about every play list I have ever made, that his songs are deeply rooted in memories of my Daddy, and I just love the sound of his voice.  It should come as no surprise that a few months before the concert, I started searching for the perfect shirt to wear with some jean shorts and my cowboy boots! I found this super cute tank top on Etsy, and you can also get a great one that is similar on Amazon!

The drive to Daytona was uneventful, lots of jokes and laughing and me speeding a little..maybe a lot.  We got to our hotel and check in was a bit horrific.  We were checked into a room only to find that someone was already in it, we had to park down the block and across the street, the elevators were for crap and the staff was less than amazing.  I have a full review on Yelp of the Ocean Breeze Hotel for you to check out (Its called the Plaza Ocean Club there, not sure why).  What was amazing about this place, was its proximity to the Daytona International Speedway! It was just a quick taxi ride and we were there in all the country-ness!! I fit right in with all the other gals in tanks tops, jean shorts, and cowboy boots, and we saw lots of other interesting outfits as well, such as the man in cut off overalls and boots!  There was lots of people, lots of drinking, and LOTS of sun.  It was in the 90’s that day, and not a cloud in the sky.  Perfect if you remember to apply the sunscreen you packed.  We worked our way into the middle of the speedway and acquired wrist bands to prove we were in fact of legal drinking age, purchased some redic huge beers, and started moving with the flow towards the stage.  I will note that there was allegedly only one place to get Miller Light beer, and I never found that place.  I, for that night only, was a Bud Light drinker; even at one point a regular Budweiser!

 

In no time at all it seemed, the crowd was ready for some HANK!  We all screamed, cheered, clapped, sang and danced along with some of our favorite songs, and watched as this masterful performer played all sorts of different instruments, changed hats, told jokes and told stories.  It was after about 35 minutes that Mr Williams disappeared from the stage, and was never to be seen again.  The band looked around at each other, and those of us in the audience that were paying attention could tell there was a ton of confusion on the stage.  The band played one more song without him;  the concert promoter came out, and we were all being told that we just experienced a legend.  But did we? I turned to my concert companion and said- Is that really it?  Indeed it was.  I will tell you that Hank Williams Jr put on more of a show in that short time than some people decades younger can in several hours.  The crowd did not miss a beat.  We were all still happy, still jamming, and still country.

The rest of the night was spent happily wandering around the speedway grounds, hanging out in the shade of a large tent for a while, and people watching.  Per usual, I made some new friends here and there along the way.  We did get pretty close to the stage to hear Thomas Rhett, who put on a great show, and we listened to some Blake Shelton from the outskirts of the crowds as well.  We drank a bunch more huge beers, I had some shots, and then went and got a T-shirt to commemorate the trip, and head back to the hotel.  We (ok he) summoned a taxi, and away we went.  Along the way we picked up several other passengers, since this was a taxi van and there was plenty of room.  We have a knack for getting the most interesting taxi drivers every time we have required one, and this was no exception.  Until the point where I felt it necessary to turn this cab full of folks into an audience for my very own comedy show.  It was hilarious fun, and another passenger ended up paying our fare when we were dropped off at our destination!

 

 

The rest of the night consisted of a walk to a gas station for more beer, and to a pizza place for a 1 am snack.  Then some talking, laughing, and hanging out in the room before showers and passing the eff out! The next day included plans to see my cousin for lunch so we needed the rest.  My cousin lives a few hours south of Daytona, and last year we figured out a spot for him and my other cousin (his brother) to meet up for lunch and a quick visit.  When you live so many years not close in miles to anyone that is related to you, and has known you practically your whole life, it becomes a priority.  You drive the extra couple hours to meet up and just eat a meal of food and have some laughs.  So we did again this year, and I’m always glad to see him.  We met at a Mexican place since I do love tacos, and even though the food was less than amazing, it was still one of the better lunches I have had in a while.

Soon we were back on the road, and as per our agreement, he took over the driving.  I drove everything South, and he drove everything North.  The drive home always seems exponentially longer and more tiring than the drive there.  This may or may not have something to do with his ability to follow the speed limit, but I digress.  We stopped I think twice for red bulls, and even though I was trying to play some up beat music and told the Handy Fellow if he got country’d out we could listen to whatever, we still ended up talking in silence about whatever came to mind.  When we finally arrived back in Jax, we were sore and tired and sun burnt, but smiling none the less.  My boy Waylon had a great time with my neighbor and was worn out but oh so happy to see his Mama, and I was ecstatic for the doggy breath kisses!!

Later while I was unpacking, I looked at the T-shirt that I had purchased. I noticed that in the list of each days performers, Hank Williams Jr did not appear any where.  I double, triple and maybe even quadruple checked because-how weird is that.  There was nothing in the news about him having any health emergency,  nothing was mentioned at all about the brevity of the show.  Strange as it may seem, it brought to mind some lyrics from a song about his Father.  “The wind picked up, and he was gone..was he ever really there?”