“Do you want to go see Old Dominion play in Key west?”

Enjoying a warm evening with a cool breeze under the patio in our backyard when Brigid popped the question. “They’re playing a make-up show in March and tickets are available.”

We had last and first been to the Keys in June of ‘22, staying in Key Largo at the Key Lime Sailing Club for sailing school. A quick drive down to Key West between the visiting cruise ships to try and take in the city at high noon in 98% humidity on foot was a horrible idea. But we were there and determined to get our picture, if nothing else, at the famous southernmost point buoy.

Having wanted to go back and do Key West properly, I more than enthusiastically jumped at the chance. $200 later and we scored a pair of resale GA lawn tickets for the Saturday night concert.

That was July 28th, 2023. We still had to finish planning Australia, a few other short excursions, along with holidays, graduations, funerals, birthdays, Christmas… you get the point.

2:30 am alarms I am not a fan of, but we had a plan and until the magical funds appear allowing us to burn a day on the East coast, Red Eye flights are the only way we know. Getting a few winks before switching planes in Houston, I woke to see our next flight might be delayed 5 hours. Such is travel these days. Luckily we took off on time, but weather in Miami was shaping up to down planes, as we have also become accustomed to.

Wheels down Miami, landing in a torrential downpour, we grabbed the keys to the rental car, the most unsexy of rentals, the Nissan Sentra, and proceeded to creep down A1A with lightning, sheet rain and the best drivers Florida has to offer on a Friday at 3:00 in the afternoon.

The rain let up enough to stop for some food in Key Largo and then promptly returned until hitting the Publix in Marathon key. From then on it got worse. Brigid saw a Twitter update that the night's concert was called due to rain, lightning and… TORNADO WATCH? Lucky for us, we were staying at Leo’s RV resort in a waterfront trailer, so what could possibly go wrong?

Florida, you definitely know how to put on a good thunderstorm. Around 8 am Saturday morning I took a stroll during a brief break in the weather to get the e-bikes from the front office that we had delivered and then returned to our casa to wait out the rain which was scheduled to stop around 3 pm. And it did.

A 4 mile, half hour bike ride was all it took to get to the venue, the Coffee Butler Amphitheater in Key West, Fl. Strapping our folding beach chairs to the racks on the back of our e-bikes, we headed out filled with excitement as the weather promised to behave for the rest of the night.

We pulled up about 10 minutes after the doors opened, locked our bikes to a tree, joined the security and bag check queue, then surveyed the grounds to find the best vantage point for the night. You could tell the locals had already grabbed the premium views so rather than try our luck, we scaled the back berm where a couple informed us we had found the best spot to see it all. The previous week they had seen the 4 Tops and prior to that, ZZ Top. We promised not to be too rowdy and they chuckled, informing us that we had yet to meet their friends. Rowdy? No, but they were able to consume a quantity of wine that was in-line with what one would expect from a Keys resident. A couple boxes of Wagyu sliders chased with some Jameson & Ginger, paired with a couple LandShark ales and it was show time!

Quick back story. Until about 2022, neither of us had any desire to be a part of what we were now in the middle of. Country music was never on our RADAR. Brigid had listened to country music in the late 90’s and John begrudgingly had to listen while working summer high school jobs. Having been introduced to Kenny Chesney through his No Shoes Radio, we found that coastal and Caribbean country are our vibe. The patrons to each side were in amazement when hearing that this was our first “country music” concert. We were grinning (like?) idiots.

Greylan James was first to take the stage and kicked off the party right. Listening to him tell a few stories about his grandfather and then casually mentioning he helped write Happy Is for Kenny Chesney as he breaks into the first verse. Then hearing Old Man for the first time. Wow!

Next up was Kassi Ashton who’s style isn’t exactly what we are into but sure has one heck of a voice and very distinctive. The variety throughout the night made us constantly question if we were actually at a country music concert.

Frank Ray sure knows how to pump up the crowd. Using the entire stage as their canvas, the crowd really started to move and then, what am I hearing? D'esposito? This is getting wild. Or is it the 3rd or 4th round of drinks? Hearing ‘Country’d Look Good on You’ live was both moving and amazing.

Now for the main event, OD, Old Dominion, The Boys…

Non-stop energy from the moment they hit the stage. They came to give it their all to make up for last year and did not disappoint. They delivered and then took it up a notch, bringing the house down. From songs we hadn’t heard that became instant favorites to holding back tears as they played Brig’s favorite song from their catalog, Hawai’i. The music, the songs, the weather, the crowd work: ‘Let me see your hotel key. Oh that's a good place.’ .

A Gender Reveal? (look it up, it was fun)

The most fitting song of the night was when they asked the 4,000 of us to join and sing Margaritaville. A great tribute to Jimmy Buffet, who introduced a majority of those I know to the Keys.

Grabbing our (been there done that) T-shirts and hats, we joined the throng of other pumped fans heading towards Duval and other party spots in Key West. The bikes were perfect answer to transportation. Midnight riding through the sleeping neighborhoods on our way back to Leo’s is a feeling that can only be experienced. Weaving in and out of streets, the oceanair greeting you around a corner. Greeting, joining and then departing from other midnight riders and revelers felt surreal.

Day 2 was dedicated to finding a beach or as close to it as we could. Fueling up next door with some libations and a bit of food before heading out, we found a spot then rented some innertubes and an umbrella. Floating in an inflatable tube in the Keys is just what the doctor ordered. Juan Taco made a quick run to the store across the way for some, eh-hem, ‘cold pops’. ‘About floating around and downing ‘8 cold pops’ later’ (that's totally a legit way we tell time, btw), sunset was approaching and we needed to get some dinner, but riding back to our pad would bring more entertainment.

Pro tip. If you want to see how much fun you’re having riding bikes buzzed, strap a 360 camera to your bike. We’re rolling with laughter now, watching and listening to ourselves as we cruise along without a care in the world.

Day 3 we made the obligatory trip to Sloppy Joes for Pina Coladas and lunch. Great burgers and entertainment. The guy singing happened to be the same singer we saw 2 years earlier, Tim Hollohan. Got a chance to chat with him during a break in his set, shared some smiles and look forward to seeing him again.

Having cooled off with a few rounds of rum based drinks and ‘Only available in Key West Beers’ we hit the road and caused chaos, riding the streets while filming more of it on the Insat360 cam.

For years we had believed that being youthful and fun were in our rearview. Memories of another life that would never be seen again. This trip was a big push forward in our realization that we need to spread the word about marriage, fun and reconnection after the empty nest.

Book the trip that doesn’t make fiscal sense right now. Maybe it’s a big one.

Maybe it’s a quick weekend 2,700 miles away for a concert from a band you only know a handful of songs from.

Get out and adventure.

If I could buy a house on Memory Lane
I'd put my money down and I'd sign my name
On that little corner lot where it don't ever rain
And baby, me and you, we'd never fade, never fade...