Being Grown Up...

 

Isn't half as fun as growing up

These are the best days of our lives

The only thing that matters is just following your heart

And eventually you'll finally get it right

As you can maybe tell....we had a lot of early 2000's sing-a-longs in the car on our trip!!

Well, well, well. Here I am, finally blogging about my trip! Sheesh. I'm such a laze.

Anyway...this blog will probably be a little picture heavy...so hold on tight tah them britches!

So we drove just a short while on Wednesday night...to Mobile, and hung out with Joe Jonas (not THE Joe Jonas....come onnnnn! I just like to call him that).  Joe Jonas is seriously one of the nicest dudes ever. He brought us to a pretty bangin pizza place (which was similar to Schlitz n Giggles downtown in BR) where they had PBR on tap....nice! They were also having karaoke night...so Will and Joe Jonas threw out some Barenaked Ladies, One Week and Joe Jonas, Will, this dude Steven, and I threw out some Garth Brooks, Friends in Low Places. Fun times. Will and I were going to sing Flagpole Sitta...which I was really excited about, but they were taking too long so we had to leave (honestly we probably shouldn't have gone at all, because this was the beginning of our intense fatigue). Also noteworthy...a couple of dudes sang My Eyes from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog....unfortunately I did not get a chance to give them a high-five.

The next morning we woke up super early to make the 10 hour trek to Lake Worth, Florida. It was very long stuff. But of course we made it fun. We even had a plastic wand, which was used by us all for air-drumming. We rocked out to such things as:

Further Seems Forever

Dashboard Confessional

(to start out, of course)

Brand New

Taking Back Sunday

The All-American Rejects

Justin Bieber

MxPx

Tom Petty

Bon Jovi

Mumford and Sons

Bright Eyes

Underoath

As Cities Burn

Bitch Hog

Demi Lovato

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

The Lonely Island

And many, many more...

We finally arrived in Lake Worth and found a Starbucks to recharge our different technologies and also to get dressed and freshened for the show. So we walked over to Propaganda around when doors opened and when we got there, there was just about no one in the venue. Sweet props for us! So we leaned against the stage...and just generally staked out our spots until the show started. Here's the stage...

This is definitely when the fatigue began to set in. It was dark in there. And you know how it is when you are waiting and anticipating...sleepytime, right?

So anyway...we waited and waited...and then the opening band came on, which was Legends of Rodeo (formerly known as Recess Theory). Here they are...

 

They were pretty fun...kind of a rockin 90's feel. They were on the split EP, From the 27th State with Further many years ago. Next up was Further. I'm just gonna post a few pictures...as most of mine came out like blurry little blobs because Chris didn't stand still very often. And it was very hard to take pictures in a moving crowd of Further fans, who were screaming and pointing their fingers in the air (myself included). These things can be difficult, people. Anyway...here they are... Oh! I'm gonna post some of Brittany's real camera pictures! I forgot about those! Woo! 

Here....we....go!

                                                                                                  

 Caption for the above, anyone....?

 Overall, the show was freaking monumental. When I watch video, I still can't believe I was there. It's crazy waiting so long to see a band..all the time thinking you never will...and then seeing them. It's kind of surreal. I like it. All of the music was completely on point...I think I heard one little hiccup. It was genius. Carrabba mixed up a few lyrics...which, obviously, you could only tell if you knew them :)

After the show...we bought our t-shirts (of course), which were limited edition ones from that night. They literally pressed them in front of us and then handed us the toasty aftermath! It was delightful.

It's actually a purty blue....not green. I love it.

Then we talked to Mr. Carrabba...who was so gracious of him to chat with us for a lot longer than I thought he would. He was extremely pleasant and soft-spoken (just as I remembered) and was very thankful that we drove 14 hours to see the show. I think he even said something like he was glad that we got to experience that particular show. Like I said before...stand up guy. He also informed us that Further has a handful of new songs (wooohooo!), but that who knows when they will come out, seeing as they move at a glacial pace when doing these things. Like I care? All I need to know is that it's there. And that I may one day have it. And so we shook hands, and said our goodbyes...went our separate ways. It was an all around great night.  I wanted to talk to all of the members, but I got the feeling that my compadres were ready to hit the road, so alas, I did not. And can I just pat myself on the back right quick for being the one to initiate conversation with Chris after? I mean...I am by far the shyest person in the group I was traveling with. I make myself so proud sometimes.

So we hit the road....as well as about 10 toll booths. Nice. The interstate in Florida is evil. We drove a few hours to Orlando and quickly stopped at the first hotel we spotted, since we were all about to drop dead. We slept for about 4 hours and then awoke to embark on the next leg of our journey....ROLLER COASTERSSSS!! Unfortunately we didn't get our discount tickets, but we did get to take lots of fun pictures...like these...

Me and stuffed Spidey (doin the splits)

You know...looking at this now, I realize she was probably wanting to take this because of the Spiderman behind me...I just thought she wanted one of me and the stuffed splits Spidey.

 Doctor Doom...Ladies man...wouldn't let us go after this pic!

 Hangin with Spidey. Nbd....

 "Tall Stuff" finally got her kiss!

Awkward moments with Wolverine...

 BFFs 4 Life

GFs 4 Life

Us: "Hey...can we kiss you?"

Captain America: "I don't know....CAN ya?!"

har har har

Next up was The Wizarding World.

Here is me in my Happy Place!

Here is the deliciousness known as Butterbeer...

The park was a great success...although Will was being a grumpy grump! We rode all the good stuff and ate lots of good eats too! Got Fish and Chips at the Three Broomsticks this time ...along with some Pumpkin Fizz. Mmmmmm. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is STILL the most bad-A ride I have ever ridden. I wonder how many times I will have to go on it til that changes...hopefully it never does!

This may be the longest blog I have ever done.

Oh no...it ain't over. 

It's my Travelogue (inspired by The Nicsperiment)

After Islands of Adventure closed, we drove 8 hours back to Mobile where we crashed pretty much immediately. Well...Joe Jonas showed me some funny videos first and strengthened my belief in both Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. The next day we went to eat at Callaghan's and man was it delicious. Bacon Cheeseburgers with chips and homemade French onion dip...and Yuengling on tap to top it off! So yummy. After this, we drove down to a little record store and made a few purchases (since it WAS Record Store Day...or something like that) and then we drove down to Fairhope, which is just the cutest little town. We passed by a graveyard that looked so pretty in the sunlight, so of course I yelled, "Stop! Please, can we stop at that graveyard!!?" And so we did. And yes, I had made at least one Buffy joke by the time we left the graveyard. No one laughed...and I yelled at them for not liking top notch television...then they made me tell it again, and followed it immediately with lots of belly laughter. It was a Confederate graveyard. Here are some documentations...

And then Joe Jonas decided that we needed to see this place. And indeed....we did. I will for sure be contacting this amazing artist if I ever plan to build a house of my own.

That's my kind of house!

We drove back to Baton Rouge after this. 

There was more singing. And more laughing. 

And then there was a big crash...I mean like into my bed...not into another car!

And then it was on to another adventure....

Great trip. 

.....................DARYYYY!!!

Cool. 

Cool, cool, cool.

laurenthevampireslayer signing off of this abnormally long blog...