Country Music at Its Finest...

So, my plan was to be taking Papa for a ride right about now. That is not happening. Why, you ask? It seems I do have a nail in my left rear tire and cannot drive my car until 2pm today when I will again travel to Frank Shoop for another new tire. Can we say another $150 please? Yuck!! Could have gotten that nail along I-75 where there is construction but I'm thinking it was really in Michigan or Ohio in the road construction there. I'm also pretty sure my car has developed some magnetic properties to attract said nails to said tires. Claude is now sure we must get the $300 worth of value out of these cars before we trade in my car. Amen to that. 

That was the bad part of my day. However, my day ended very, very well. Claude and I drove to Hurstborne Parkway in Louisville and had dinner at City Barbeque. We love eating at the restaurant in Lexington on Richmond Road and were very happy to find one in Louisville. However, their parking lot is not large enough for the amount of seating in the restaurant. Somehow, we thought a Thursday evening might be less crowded. Wrong! We sat in the parking lot. A spot came open and another car literally pulled in past Claude and took the spot. What? When a mom with two little kids and a baby in the oven got out, Claude said he might forgive her. Wait. Wait. Wait. Someone left but their spot was the Drive In Pick-up spot. Wait. Wait. Wait. One car left close to the door. The mighty Jeep made its way to the spot and we had parking...only to learn that the last spot at the end of the lot was available all the time. Silly us. Silly parking lot with only one enter and exit opening. We had allowed plenty of time and totally enjoyed our meal. We both felt it must have been dinner size portions because the amounts of food seemed more that we usually got at lunch in Lexington. 

Our main event for last night was the Vince Gill concert at Whitney Hall in the Kentucky Center in Louisville, Kentucky. 

We opted for the box seats this time. We have only done that once before. That was at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Claude's parents came to visit and we all went to see Zorba the Greek. It was delightful then and just as delightful last night. Nice cushy chairs with plenty of room. Great view. Claude and I have almost totally got to the lowest tier balcony when attending these kinds of events. We really like the view of the stage from up a little higher. The box seats afforded that as well. 

Vince Gill is just great to listen to. Love his voice. His tenor voice is right in my really low alto range making it great fun to sing along. They filled the first half of the program with great music. Lots of oldies and some new ones. He paid a great tribute from his newest album to Merle Haggard.

Someone from the audience kept calling out for Vince to sing a certain song. He kept laughing and saying, "I'm getting to it. It is on the program. I worked really, really hard to make songs people like and I'm going to sing them!" We all laughed.

When it was intermission time, the rest of the band left for their break. Vince Gill stayed on stage with his steel guitar guy and they played and sang a song together. Then the steel guitar guy left and Vince Gill spent the entire intermission entertaining us on his own. He told stories of his father that were hysterical. He lived in Louisville first after he left Oklahoma as an 18 year old young man. So he had lots of Louisville stories. He sang some to us and we totally enjoyed the entire intermission.

Then he told us his daughter just cut her first album and is trying to get it out there. He said he had a surprise for us. He invited her to come with him and she said yes. So the last part of the intermission, she came out, stated her dad wrote a song for her and she wanted to sing it to us. With her dad for her accompaniment, she sang her heart out. It was beautiful. Something about Jenny loves trains, not dolls and frills. Then the band came back from break and she sang 3 originals songs she wrote for her album and one that she did not write but has rearranged. She does have entertainment written all over her. Proud dad and happy daughter. 

Then the band finished the evening. They came back for the encore and played three more songs. A fast one. Then Vince Gill told us his doctor told him that after playing a fast one at the end, he needed to play a slow one. Which he did and then one more fast one. 

Great evening. Concert started at 8pm. We were done at 11pm. Such a great evening. Next we will go to a Black Jacket Symphony concert at Lexington Opera House to hear Beatle's music.