Even though I'm living in vacation mode here in Florida, I still think it is fun to get away for a weekend and spend some time exploring a new place. I bought tickets for the Florida Country Superfest in Jacksonville a couple months back as a graduation present to myself. For those of you who know of my love of country music would understand why I was SO incredibly excited for this two day country music fest! But, it is important to think about your concert buddy and plan some fun adventures for them too (especially when country music isn't their preferred genre of music).
So, in order to get the weekend started, I left an itinerary on Matt's pillow in the morning. Although this was really cute and got us started for the day, Matt knew that there would be one on his pillow on day 2. Being the snoop that he is, he went around the apartment trying to find the note and teasing me. When he found the book that it was in, I had to quickly snatch it off of him and hide it for the rest of the morning. Even though this is his "fun," he didn't get the note until day 2! (*I'm also really excited that I made these in InDesign for the first time since college...almost 4 years ago!)
Our first stop was Starbucks to grab some fuel for the day. Then, we made our way to Jacksonville Beach (one of the top 10 beaches in the country!) for a few hours. The beach was GORGEOUS, even though it drizzled a little bit of the morning. We stuck it out and the rain cleared rather quickly. The beach has always been and continues to be my favorite place to be. Nothing beats the sand between your toes, the hot sun on your skin, and the ocean water washing over your feet as you walk along the coast.
But, that was just the start to our trip. After spending a few hours at the beach, we made our way to Intuition Ale Works. Intuition is a local Jacksonville brewery (Jacksonville has almost 10 breweries!) that we went to for some midday beers and snacks (you are able to bring your own food, but since there wasn't much food stops around we had to empty our cooler and eat up most of our snacks). We both got a flight of beer (6 beers) which allowed us to try almost the entire beer list (all but 3!). It was such a nice way to get our of the heat and get ready for a night of music. Plus, one of our favorite things to do is check out local breweries and try new beers.
Next, we headed to the hotel to get ready for the concert at EverBank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, it we ended up getting crazy thunder/lightening storms and almost 2 hours of a rain delay. We hung out in the main area to avoid getting rained on until they allowed us to head to our seats. Once they allowed us to get to our seats, we made our way to the upper section, row X (about 10 seats from the very top of the stadium...). The seats were covered with water, but Matt sat down in my seat and got his shorts soaked so mine didn't (he really is wonderful). The concert started with Little Big Town, who sang Matt's (least) favorite country song Pontoon! His face was priceless when they started playing (I knew he'd know a few songs!) After LBT, Eric Church took the stage followed by the main headliner, Jason Aldean! Because of the rain delay, the concert went later than expected, ending around 12:30. It was an AWESOME first day of country music and got me even more excited for day 2. I never thought I'd be sitting in the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium listening to 2 days worth of country music!!
We woke up early to get breakfast and ready for day 2! I knew Matt would be SO excited to see the itinerary that I grabbed the piece of paper almost immediately upon waking up. He saw the Zoo themed photo and knew we were going to Jacksonville Zoo, but didn't know that one of his dreams of feeding giraffes would come true until reading the words on the paper. I'll never forget the excitement on his face after reading those words!! We were both SO excited to feed the giraffes and see all of the animals at the Zoo! As soon as we walked in, Matt was looking at the map and jumping up and down with excitement! It was literally the cutest thing I've ever seen him do...well, until we made our way to the giraffes and Matt was able to feed the them. It was so exciting and the giraffe that we got to feed was so adorable! After the giraffes, we made our way around the rest of the zoo, making sure to see every animal AT LEAST once! We were more like little kids than adults in their twenties. But, it is good to act like a kid every now and then and experience things through child-like excitement!
After a day spent at the Zoo, we were in need of food and air conditioning before going to day 2 of the concert. I swear that the Chipotle we had was the best Chipotle I've ever experienced (which may have been due to the fact that it was the first real meal we had in 2 days). We had some fuel for the remainder of the day and were ready to rock (but not before walking around some stores in the town and having beers at BJ's Brewhouse). It worked out as a perfect pre-concert activity because we were able to spend some time in AC and experience BJ's Brewhouse, a chain we've seen around Florida and have wanted to try since spotting the first one in Tallahassee. It was similar to a Granite City (midwesterners will know this comparison) and had pretty good beer.
Day 2 at the concert was definitely the better line up: Joe Nichols, Easton Corbin, Florida Georgia Line, Miranda Lambert, and headliner Luke Bryan!!! I was SO pumped to see all of them, but mostly Miranda and Luke! Miranda got the main party started with her kick-ass songs and attitude. She is such a badass, even though most of the people around us didn't even recognize her songs. You know that most of the crowd is bandwagon country concert goers when they jump up and dance around to Kesha, but not to Miranda Lambert or old school country covers by Luke Bryan! It just made me laugh and think about how country music has changed since I was growing up (I grew up singing along to classic Loretta Lynn and Reba songs).
But when Luke Bryan came out shakin it in those tight jeans, the crowd went wild. He really got the fans on their feet, dancing with beers in their hands. After a few songs, Luke brought out last night's headliner Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert! They sang a couple classic country songs together, which was absolutely AWESOME! During these songs, I sat back and remembered all of the times I've heard these songs...driving in my Dad's truck, rockin' out on the beach with my family, singing along during karaoke with my Dad, and many other times. That's the thing about a country song... it tends to take you back to a time you'll never forget. So, if you find yourself at a country concert, remember to sit back, take a big sip of your beer, and think back to the first time you heard that song and the way it made you feel months or years ago. The one song that we waited for was "Drink a Beer," which my Dad is in love with and got us hooked on. Luke sat down on a Pier on stage and sang the awesome song before making a toast to all the Dad's on Fathers Day and drinking a beer for someone who has passed (which is what the song is all about). I even took a video of this song and sent it to my Dad! It made his whole day... but, he doesn't know that I waited in line for the last Luke Bryan can koozie (don't tell him though, it happens to be his belated father's day gift). All in all, it was an AWESOME weekend and one that Matt and I will remember! 
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