story time (last one)
Day 5: Cat and I got up to the alarm clock. I don't know about her, but I was exhausted. Neither one of us slept very well. We got all ready for the beach party and headed up to breakfast. On the way up, we found out that Progreso was a no-go. She ship wasn't able to dock because of high winds. As we ate breakfast, I noticed the water looked quite choppy, so I took a bonine. Since no shows were scheduled while we were supposed to be in port, Cat and I went back to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. We got back up around 1:30 or 2, and went up for lunch, only to discover that it was getting really bad. The ship's crew kicked everyone off the Lido Deck and they closed up everything outside. The boat was starting to rock, too. This posed another scheduling problem for Sixthman, since now they were missing one of their main stages. But, they pulled it off. New schedules were posted on board not too long after.
We had plenty of time before shows. On the way to the merch store (not the day before like I said in the last update)Pat McGee, Brian Fechino and Chardy McEwan were playing on the tiny stage by the casino. We stayed and listened through that. Florez was playing in the Atrium as we got there so we listened to that. Dropped the merch at the cabin, then headed to the Mikado for Pat Green. Cat didn't care to see him, but I enjoyed it. It's a bit country-ish, but has enough rock sound to make it bearable. Moved front and center for Barnes' second set. Marc came up for a bit during this set, which was excellent! We stayed put for Blue Merle. I thought they were pretty good, but I didn't get their cd. After BM, we were supposed to go see Josh Kelley, but we decided to stay for Martin Sexton (perhaps because the boat was really a rockin' at this point, making walking around the ship a bit difficult. Martin's second set was just as good as his first, plus another bonus appearance by Marc. Pat McGee did get on board in Calica, luckily, so we stayed for PMB's set. I was disappointed that it was so short, as PMB historically plays forever on TRB. Although, everybody on board by this time was feeling a little seasick. We decided to check out the SoCo lounge, and sure enough, Gaelic Storm was still going strong, though the crowd had thinned significantly. We caught the last half hour of their set, which I really enjoyed. I missed the on the last boat due to conflicts, and I thought I was going to miss them this time, too. We headed off to bed and tried to sleep. The boat was rocking so much I thought it would roll me off my bed. I had taken another bonine just before Martin's set, so I wasn't too bad sickness-wise, and I finally drifted off to sleep.
Day 6: Last day at sea. :( The weather was much, much better on this day. We got up and ate breakfast. Shows started around at noon again, but we didn't have anything we really had to see until 2. (I'm getting tired so I'm going to try to breeze through this without looking at the schedule.) We saw Wideawake again, the end of Five Star Iris' set, Drew Copeland, and Wertz again in the afternoon. Then we ate. Evenout had been moved because of the rescheduling from the day before, and now there second set didn't conflict with anyone else for me! That started off the evening shows. We got comfy in the Mikado again, since that's where Evenout played. After Evenout was Zac Brown Band. Not really my thing, but I wasn't giving up my 2nd row bench for anything, because after Zac Brown came Dexter Freebish's last show. I was up on the bench most of the time, and I got some good, quick clips from a couple different songs. The guys went offstage and the crowd was screaming for "one more song!" Andy (or Tod, I can't remember which one) from Sixthman came out and said DF could come back for one more song. (This is unusual since they need to clear the stage to prepare for the next act.)
Finally, the highlight of the whole trip. Sister Hazel did the closing show, and it was good, as usual, but at 12:30, when the show was scheduled to end, SH filed down the aisle straight out of the lounge into the atrium. Because Cat and I were at the front of the lounge, we couldn't get close for the atrium. SH started playing on the atrium stage. Every floor and every balcony were packed. SH and Icehouse beachballs were flying everywhere (and a huge inflated SoCo bottle). Everybody was singing. One by one every act on board got up and did one song. People were singing, having a blast. This continued until 4am, when Wideawake closed the entire cruise with not one, but two songs. Did I mention they totally blew the boat away! Sixthman must have realized it and put them up last. The frontman wore jeans that he had passed around the boat earlier in the day and TRBers (guests) signed! It was so neat. Sort like a backwards autograph session. When 4am hit, they had to stop, since the atrium has to be completely cleared for the ship to clear customs.
Day 7: Just debarking the ship, saying goodbye to everyone, and traveling home. Got home after 9pm. Couldn't sleep. Wondered where the shows and the alcohol were at. Finally went to bed. And thus ended my BEST. TRIP. EVER.
We had plenty of time before shows. On the way to the merch store (not the day before like I said in the last update)Pat McGee, Brian Fechino and Chardy McEwan were playing on the tiny stage by the casino. We stayed and listened through that. Florez was playing in the Atrium as we got there so we listened to that. Dropped the merch at the cabin, then headed to the Mikado for Pat Green. Cat didn't care to see him, but I enjoyed it. It's a bit country-ish, but has enough rock sound to make it bearable. Moved front and center for Barnes' second set. Marc came up for a bit during this set, which was excellent! We stayed put for Blue Merle. I thought they were pretty good, but I didn't get their cd. After BM, we were supposed to go see Josh Kelley, but we decided to stay for Martin Sexton (perhaps because the boat was really a rockin' at this point, making walking around the ship a bit difficult. Martin's second set was just as good as his first, plus another bonus appearance by Marc. Pat McGee did get on board in Calica, luckily, so we stayed for PMB's set. I was disappointed that it was so short, as PMB historically plays forever on TRB. Although, everybody on board by this time was feeling a little seasick. We decided to check out the SoCo lounge, and sure enough, Gaelic Storm was still going strong, though the crowd had thinned significantly. We caught the last half hour of their set, which I really enjoyed. I missed the on the last boat due to conflicts, and I thought I was going to miss them this time, too. We headed off to bed and tried to sleep. The boat was rocking so much I thought it would roll me off my bed. I had taken another bonine just before Martin's set, so I wasn't too bad sickness-wise, and I finally drifted off to sleep.
Day 6: Last day at sea. :( The weather was much, much better on this day. We got up and ate breakfast. Shows started around at noon again, but we didn't have anything we really had to see until 2. (I'm getting tired so I'm going to try to breeze through this without looking at the schedule.) We saw Wideawake again, the end of Five Star Iris' set, Drew Copeland, and Wertz again in the afternoon. Then we ate. Evenout had been moved because of the rescheduling from the day before, and now there second set didn't conflict with anyone else for me! That started off the evening shows. We got comfy in the Mikado again, since that's where Evenout played. After Evenout was Zac Brown Band. Not really my thing, but I wasn't giving up my 2nd row bench for anything, because after Zac Brown came Dexter Freebish's last show. I was up on the bench most of the time, and I got some good, quick clips from a couple different songs. The guys went offstage and the crowd was screaming for "one more song!" Andy (or Tod, I can't remember which one) from Sixthman came out and said DF could come back for one more song. (This is unusual since they need to clear the stage to prepare for the next act.)
Finally, the highlight of the whole trip. Sister Hazel did the closing show, and it was good, as usual, but at 12:30, when the show was scheduled to end, SH filed down the aisle straight out of the lounge into the atrium. Because Cat and I were at the front of the lounge, we couldn't get close for the atrium. SH started playing on the atrium stage. Every floor and every balcony were packed. SH and Icehouse beachballs were flying everywhere (and a huge inflated SoCo bottle). Everybody was singing. One by one every act on board got up and did one song. People were singing, having a blast. This continued until 4am, when Wideawake closed the entire cruise with not one, but two songs. Did I mention they totally blew the boat away! Sixthman must have realized it and put them up last. The frontman wore jeans that he had passed around the boat earlier in the day and TRBers (guests) signed! It was so neat. Sort like a backwards autograph session. When 4am hit, they had to stop, since the atrium has to be completely cleared for the ship to clear customs.
Day 7: Just debarking the ship, saying goodbye to everyone, and traveling home. Got home after 9pm. Couldn't sleep. Wondered where the shows and the alcohol were at. Finally went to bed. And thus ended my BEST. TRIP. EVER.