Days 517-521 Cruisin' with a bunch of rednecks!

Len and I caught a night flight out of New Jersey on Saturday, February 6th.  We got back to our home in Ortona well after midnight, grabbed a short sleep, dumped one suitcase of winter clothes and repacked it with summer clothes, and jumped in the truck to drive to Miami.  We had a cruise ship to catch!

This was Len's first cruise adventure, and it was
fitting on NCL.  Len's father's family immigrated
from Norway- in fact, several relatives still live there.

This was no ordinary cruise; it was the Outlaw
Country Cruise, sailing to Grand Cayman.

I have sailed on the Norwegian Pearl before. We decided to
take a walk about and get oriented to the boat while the
other passengers boarded.  It always makes me happy to see
'sticks' up in the air :)  We plan to look at an ODay 40 when
we get back to port on 2/11.  I have an appt. with the owner.

It was chilly the day we left- low 60's and a
cold north breeze.  At least the sun was shining!

So the Outlaw Country Cruise was really a music festival on a
boat.  Most of the bands I have never even heard of, but there
are a few that Len and I listen to like Roger Alan Wade and
Steve Earle. Blackberry Smoke was the headliner. During the
sail away party, Sarah Gayle Meech was playing, and she
was really quite good; I loved her voice.

Soon the skyline of Miami was to our stern.

Let the people watching begin!

Oh the tats....and the beards...so many beards.

...and pony tails longer than mine... Work Sucks, Let's Ride!

When the people watching became uninteresting,
I watched the water instead :)

The first venue we went to was Roger Alan Wade.
We listen to him a lot while we're working on the house,
or riding around in the truck.

It's time for the Chicken Song! 
Click here: Chicken wakes up to a new world every day!
I highly recommend starting your day with coffee and the Chicken Song :)

Lovin' you's like fryin' bacon nekkid;

you tempt me darlin' then you torture me!

When we weren't listening to bands like Dan Baird & Homemade Sin...

Preacher Stone, Shooter Jennings (Waylon's son) and Waymore's Outlaws...

Black Oak Arkansas was singing Jim Dandy to the Rescue, with James
 "Jim Dandy" Mangrum still rocking it out on the stage at 70 years old...

We listened to Blackberry Smoke...

Bobby Bare Sr., and Bobby Bare Jr.

I discovered Jesse Dayton whom I loved- 

especially the guy on stand up bass :-) I saw them twice!

There was music all over the boat...even passengers brought
their own instruments and had pick up jams.

Len finally pulled out his guitar and entertained a bit on the
tender ride to Grand Cayman :)  It was really a cool event though,
because we were all 'confined' to the boat, you could be having a
midnight pizza and a few tables over Steve Earle was doing the same.
Just us and 2600 of our closest redneck outlaw friends!!!
Seriously though, they were the nicest, coolest people :)

There was a speed artist on board, Dave Santia, that would
complete an entire portrait of a country artist to a song.  He did
Johnny Cash's portrait to Folsom Prison Blues. Very Cool.
The paintings were sold at silent auction the final day.

They had a best beard contest, you could go
bowling with Nikki Lane, have beers and bingo
with Dale Watson, attend a guitar clinic with
Jimmy Galloway, get a tattoo (I did not), or
have your vows renewed with Richard Turner
of Blackberry Smoke (negatory there, too),
yet my favorite was Hillbilly Horseshoes, lol!!!

The sunset after a day at Grand Cayman was spectacular.

And the sail away party from Grand Cayman was
a night I won't soon forget! Though I am sure many did :-)

We partied with LuAnn and Wade, and her brother, Stick, from VA.

I took a fireball shot from some old dude in a stove pipe hat
who called himself "Hell Raiser." lol.  But what got us in
trouble was all of the free tequila shots! Cabo tequila was
passing out free shots, and we all had a few too many Caboritas!

...and when THAT happens, Dr. Len started talking philosophy
with our new friend, Wade. Now Wade is so burnt from being a
stoner, he has short term memory loss.  It was hysterical! He would
 be mid sentence and just stop talking and stare bug eyed into the
distance.  Stick or LuAnn would prompt him, and he'd be off
and running again, talking about God only knows what.
By the time Len got through with him, Wade's brain was in
a box, a white horse was not a horse, and he had no hands!
(a little philosophy humor- look it up!)

The last night on board, four artists did a Guitar Pull
in the main theatre, which I enjoyed the most.  It
was like attending a listening cafe in Nashville.
Ray Wylie Hubbard, Lucinda Williams, Steve
Earle, and Paul Thorn all took a turn telling a
story of one of their songs, then playing it.  It was
awesome! I didn't even mind hearing Ray Wylie
Hubbard do "Snake Farm" for the fourth time....
"SNAKE FARM! It just sounds nasty. SNAKE
FARM! It purty much is. SNAKE FARM! It's
a reptile house. SNAKE FARM! Wooooo!"
I can't make this s**t up: Sing Along to SNAKE FARM!

I really liked Paul Thorn's "Pimps and Preachers".

Here's an accoustic version: Pimps and Preachers

Steve Earle was awesome- too bad
Townes van Zandt, his idol whom he
be came acquainted with in Nashville
in the mid-70's, is no longer living.
Len and I love Townes, and Len
covers him so well. The night would
have been complete if those two
shared the stage :-)

I think Len would agree, besides the Guitar Pull,

we really loved seeing Roger Alan Wade.  We 

listen to his album "All Likkered Up" when we're

working on the house- it's great music for pounding

nails, finishing drywall, or painting walls!

"If you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough,

when you get knocked down you gotta get back up!"

You can't help but sing along to "She's Gone

Back to Whorin'"  LOL.  If you haven't had 

enough yet and need a good chuckle.  Go to You

Tube and check out "Too Fat to Fly", "D-R-U-N-K"

"All Likkered Up", "Party in my Pants" 

or another hysterical song: Butt Ugly Slutt

I can't say I'll join Sirius XM radio for next year's Outlaw Country Cruise, but

we had one helluva time on this one!  Chalk it up to another new adventure :)

G'nite, y'all!

PS.  As for that ODay 40 sailboat back in Miami...Len and I met with the owners, took her out for a sea trial and I was THIS CLOSE to making an offer. Then I read the survey report and the mast is 57' high without a windex or weather station on top.  The tallest bridge to our place is 55'.  Must keep shopping. Dang it. I will say it felt AWESOME to be back at the helm again, though :)))))