what do kenny chesney and bemidji, minnesota have in common?

Back in the fall, I heard that my old friend Kenny Chesney would be coming back to town this summer for another stadium tour.  And then when I heard he would be joined by my new friends Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett, it took me half a second to text my sister and mom to see if they wanted to go and OF COURSE THEY DID. 

And then Emily decided to join Americorps and move to the (not so) bustling metropolis of Bemidji, Minnesota.  That's what you get for planning things months in advance.  

Anyway, the Trip Around the Sun Tour rolled into Philadelphia this past Saturday.  The concert was at the football stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, or as the locals call it, The Linc, and why do I suddenly feel like I am writing a report for school?

Between tailgating for the concert, and the Phillies game going on in the ballpark next to the stadium, I knew driving and parking would be challenging.  The train doesn't run all the way down to the sports complex, so to get there my mom and I would have to switch to the subway in Philadelphia to take it down to south Philly and please accept my sincerest apologies for including all of these logistics.

Matt travels to the city every day for work so I asked him his thoughts on mom and me taking the subway.  He said, "You'd be fine taking it there.  Don't take it home after 11 p.m. unless you want to get robbed and/or mugged."

I expect a phone call any day now from the Philadelphia Board of Tourism asking Matt to be the next spokesman for the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.

It turns out my cousin was driving to the concert and said she could drive us home, so that afternoon, mom and I headed out to the train station to make our way down to the stadium.  Actually, it wasn't just my mom and me.  We brought Emily along, and please get ready for a photo series I have so proudly named "You Really Can Be(midji) in Two Places at Once.

Mom took out her phone and said, "Okay, I've never taken a selfie before.  This is going to be my very first one."  And here you have it, folks.  I don't think she would disagree with me that we could not possibly look any worse.  Nowhere to go but up with that selfie game.



We successfully made it to the stadium and sent my dad a text to let him know that all three of us arrived safely.

You can't bring food in, so we got some dinner on the way to our seats.  I'm only including this part because of the insane fact that two hot dogs, two water bottles, and two cups of french fries cost FIFTY TWO AMERICAN DOLLARS.

Luckily Emily was able to enjoy some fries.

And get all settled into her seat.

The first act was Old Dominion.  I LOVE Old Dominion's music, and they came out, sang their songs, and sounded exactly like they do on the radio.

Thomas Rhett was next, and he didn't simply sing.  He performed his little heart out.  He is a real entertainer and was so fun to watch.  I loved his whole performance.  Mom said that Kenny Chesney should be nervous!  Thomas Rhett nearly stole the show.

After Thomas Rhett, we waited a little bit for the sun to set and Kenny Chesney to come out.  Luckily it was a busy night on the river and there were lots of boats to watch.

They also literally rolled out the carpet for Kenny, covering the entire stage in gray rugs.  We figured Kenny Chesney wouldn't wear shoes and therefore, required a carpet, even though wearing shoes would a lot easier and cheaper.  We also knew that if Emily had been there she would have rolled her eyes at that discussion so we took this photo to commemorate the moment.

And then, Kenny came out and had shoes on so we're still not sure what the whole point of the carpet was in the first place.  Kenny pretty much sang non-stop for two straight hours.  He couldn't really speak because even when he tried, the whole stadium just screamed and cheered so you couldn't even hear him.  He came onstage at 8:50, and after what felt like only four or five songs, my mom looked at her watch and told me it was 10:15. 

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

As a grand finale, the Philadelphia Eagles coach and owner and several of the players came out onto the stage with the Superbowl trophy.  The crowd LOST THEIR MINDS.  Kenny sang his song "Boys of Fall" and then announced that the team made a $25,000 donation to his charity for hurricane victims.

Everyone cheered again but Mom was not easily impressed.  She said, "I just paid $52 for two hot dogs, and they could only give $25,000?"  

We met up with my cousin and as we walked to the car, we rehashed the experience.  My cousin and her friend had quite the interesting crew in their section, and my mom said she'd seen a lot of unfortunate bra choices, and I had to agree with her.

As we drove home we talked about music and I told my cousin I still have my very first cassette tape, which she bought for me.  It was a 98 Degrees tape, and I remember playing that it over and over and over on my walkman and boom box, earnestly memorizing the words to The Hardest Thing I'll Ever Have To Do and rewinding the tape with the eraser of my pencil. 

We dropped my mom off at home, and then pulled up to the intersection near the train station where my car was parked.  I told my cousin I'd just hop out and walk over to my car so she could just keep on going home.  She said, "Laura, I am not going to let you 'hop out' of the car at 12:45 at night and walk alone to your car in a dark deserted parking lot."

So, she may not buy me cassette tapes anymore, but 20 years later she's still looking out for me.

At least my taste in music has improved.