Kenny Chesney: Going Coastal 2011

June 15, 2011

This past weekend was quite eventful; it was a weekend in the making for many, many months. I joined my cousin Jenna, my Aunt Lynn, my mom, and her friends Deb and Sarah for a road-trip to Green Bay. We all had a very important date with Kenny Chesney.

If you've read my blog at all, you know that I don't especially love early mornings. Not even my beloved Badger games can get me out of bed without grumbles and complaints, so setting my alarm for 7 am last Saturday was certainly not exciting. We left my cousin's about ninety minutes later and I was finally starting to wake up. We were in Green Bay by 11:15 after a much-needed coffee stop and a few bathroom breaks (multiple stops on a road trip is not something I am entirely used to..BR, take note).

Having made hotel reservations seven months ago and having received conformation phone calls and emails, we expected check-in to be quick. That would have been nice, but instead it took over two hours. The hotel did not have our reservation, nor could the company we booked through find an acceptable means of confirming the reservations. They faxed over documents, but the hotel still had no record of us...eventually the hotel manager had to release some extra-secret rooms in the already-booked hotel. We would have left and gone elsewhere had the entire city and surrounding county not been booked. So after a very long wait and a good number of drinks in the hotel lobby, we got onto having fun.

My iPod and its piddly country play list got put to the test as we prepared for the concert. We decided that we didn't want to head over to Lambeau Field too early and wanted to adequately quench our thirst at our hotel using our well-stocked coolers. Eventually we changed, took the necessary pre-concert pictures and called a shuttle service to come pick us up. We had more drinks in our possession in the shuttle than I think I've ever had in my possession before....tucked away in plastic bags, purses, socks and shoes were the supplies we'd need to begin our tailgate and carry us through the concert.

We avoided much of the rush at the entrance by taking our time to head in. We met up with some others in the parking lot and listened to the Billy Currington concert from there. When it was time to head in, bathroom breaks were necessary, what with our liquid meals and all, and I can safely say that I have never seen lines like those before (see picture below). Despite the lines, we made it to our seats in time for Zac Brown Band; after that, it was time for Kenny Chesney.

I've been to my share of Kenny concerts, and this was certainly one of the best. The show was non-stop fun. We sang and danced until we barely had voices. Mike McCarthy even made an appearance with the trophy during "The Boys of Fall". The encore was phenomenal, and I am so glad that I was at the show.

After a 2 1/2 hour set, the show was over and we had to gather ourselves, muster up some sobriety and make the trek back to our hotel (we decided to walk). By about 12:30, we were at Denny's for our first and only meal of the day...oops. By 2:30, we had food and were back to the hotel preparing for bed. Somewhere in between that time, our waitress began to cry, our food became cold waiting to reach us, and more than one of us nearly fell asleep in our Moons over My Hammy.

The next morning, we were up at a relatively decent hour. We were on the road by 11 and made a stop in Appleton to visit my brother, who was working. I got to end my weekend with the Runnells family, who was celebrating cousin Annie's high school graduation. Congrats, Annie!! It was a great weekend from start to finish and a great distraction from all of the stress in my life these days.

Thanks, ladies, for a great time!