“Goosebumps, Good Times and Gertrude’s”

Hi y’all, thank you for the opportunity to share my Kenny journey. I am a bit of a late comer to this Kenny family… AKA No Shoes Nation. My daughters introduced me interested in Country music, but I didn’t really have a favorite. I rarely went to concerts. My first concert was Foghat and 38 Special in the late 70’s. Not a spring chicken here. My first Country concert was Toby Keith in Virginia Beach. That was pretty cool. Fast forward, my next Country concert was Kenny Chesney at Blossom outside Cleveland with Toni who later became my wife. I had goosebumps listening to Kenny that night. It was incredible the energy inside that venue. I knew that was going to be the beginning of a journey as Toni was already hooked and I was right behind her.

We then started seeking out Kenny concerts. We saw him at FedEx field, Vegas, Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia and the list goes on and on. We decided that we wanted to see him in a different place each year. Our first trip to Nashville was to the tour opening on Kenny’s birthday. We traveled to Auburn for another tour opener and met some wonderful friends who we continue to meet for Kenney concerts (Leah, Shanna, and Lanie). This was our first time to the Sandbar and we were hooked. One of our favorite venues was Tuscaloosa where we have seen Kenny twice with our Alabama Kenny crew. Small venue and you can get up close.

Unfortunately Toni developed stage 3 melanoma cancer. However, Kenny became an inspiration to her. Kenny was her therapist and helped her make it through a year of immunotherapy. She would listen to him while she received her treatments. I knew at this point, when Toni said she wanted to see Kenny, it was an absolute YES! We saw Kenny at Myrtle Beach at CCMF at the end of her treatments. She struggled a bit, but the energy of No Shoes Nation pulled her through.

We had joined the Welcome to the Sandbar group on Facebook and loved the car video posts, updates, pictures, and videos. We finally had the opportunity to meet Connie and Michele at Tortuga in Ft. Lauderdale at the Wheeland Brothers performance. Kimber Blanford Reid was also one of the first Sandbar fans we met. We later met her in Miami and flew together to St. Thomas.

We found out about the trip to St. John and knew we had to be part of that. That has got to be the best trip we have ever been on. We met so many wonderful friends and had so many wonderful experiences. I was amazed at how many unsolicited wonderful stories of Kenny were shared. The trip over to Jost Van Dyke was the highlight. Such a beautiful place. I can understand how so many songs have originated in the islands. I still remember Mark (Connie’s husband) holding my arm while I am pouring a Painkiller at Gertrudes. LOL. This contributed to drinking Jaegermeister out of the bottle on the boat on the way back.

We felt so luck to be there for the anniversary of Woody’s. The whole Sandbar crew on stage singing When I See This Bar. A memory I will never forget.

We so look forward to future concerts, trips, zoom calls, and more memories. I am so happy to call y’all my friends!