This Trop Rock "thing"

Many of you have wondered about all the Facebook posts I make about "Trop Rock", etc.  Here's the history.

Most of you know my history, that I was a band director, member of the Ohio State Marching Band, etc.  Connie always enjoyed live music.  One of our first dates was to Hara Arena and the Marshall Tucker Band Concert.

We've had XM Radio since sometime in the 1990's.  Then, they merged with Sirius Radio, and we got Radio Margaritaville.  We'd been listening to it on the laptop for a few years, but this was huge.  Once we became full time RV'ers, we always had a way to listen to SiriusXM.  Around 1p or so, Radio Margaritaville would always come on.  It was JD Spradlin's time slot usually, except for Fridays when Steve Huntington and Greg Dumas would do this Happy Hour show at 5p ET from New Orleans.  That was always a must listen.

Connie got diagnosed in 2013, so the trip from Ohio to Texas (and back) was about the only traveling we could do.  In the fall of 2014, there was this Music Festival in Panama City Beach, FL (called "Chasing the Sun") that was going to feature Peter Mayer (lead guitarist) on Friday, Nadirah Shakoor (backup vocals) on Saturday and Mac McAnally (guitar player) on Sunday.  They were all members of Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.  How cool!

There were a bunch of other acts, we figured to all be Buffett cover bands, OK.  We'll deal with that.  Should be a good party.

On Friday, this band called the Boat Drunks come on.  Man they were good.  Not only doing original music, but all these people knew the music.  How could that be?  I'd never heard of them, let alone their music.  Come to find out, "they were a thing" at Meeting of the Minds in Key West.

Another group that caught my attention was "Jerry Diaz and Hannah's Reef".  He said he was from Texas.  Wait. Did he just say he played in Port Aransas, TX?  We'll have to look him up.  Kind of liked his group.

That's how it all began.  We were going on a cruise out of Galveston later that fall, and stayed the night before in Kemah, TX because this Diaz guy was playing at this joint called T-Bone Tom's.  Came to learn it was "the" place for Trop Rock in Texas.  We always started catching the Boat Drunks at different venues they played.

A couple years later, Radio Margaritaville started playing this song "Coast" by The Detentions.  Connie was sure it was about Port A.  I wasn't sure.  Could be anywhere.  That February, we found out about the Pirates & Poets Songwriters Invitational was going to be held in Port A.  One of the Detentions was playing in it, Jerry Diaz was playing at Shorty's.  Let's do it.

Never been a good audience member.  Always too critical.  I listen to things differently.  I'm much more comfortable hanging back stage and shooting the shit with other performers.  All of sudden, I'm having to be a fan boy and mingle as an audience member with the performers.  All I wanted to know from this Sullivan guy was if Coast was written about Port A?  I finally got the nerve up to introduce myself as a fellow teacher during intermission.  He couldn't have been nicer.  Then I asked about "Coast".  He looked at me like I was idiot.  "Of course, it was."  Then, I felt like an idiot and got the hell out of the conversation.

Needed to delve deeper into these artists and this genre.  Subscribed to a few things.  Downloaded lots of music via Apple Music.

Since then, we've gone to Trop Rock festivals in a few different cities.  One of them was Pardi Gras in New Orleans, hosted by Jerry Diaz and his wife, Mary.  There, I met Eric Babin (and later on his wife Gina) who broadcasts these shows live on RadioTropRock.com.  Game changer.  Events we never would have known about we were listening to.

So now, as my wife literally can't travel, we can hear many of these artists, many of whom (including the Detentions) we've become friends with over the last few years.  I know Eric and Gina think they provide a great job of serving the fans of Trop Rock.  Not sure they know the joy they bring the shut ins who really enjoy this genre of music and can't get to the shows they would like to go to.

Days on the road

We traveled to our home town of Wilmington (OH) Monday late afternoon, and stayed through Wednesday morning.  Visited with Connie's dad (forgot to take pictures!!!) and also stopped by an old friend from HS that opened a new shop, the Wooden Moose.

Wednesday and Thursday were total travel days. 

Wednesday, we boondocked in a WalMart parking lot in Normal, IL  There was a Pizza Hut across the street for dinner, and (bonus) a bakery inside the WM for fresh donuts!

Thursday, we boondocked at the Isle Casino in Waterloo, IA.  They had a nice restaurant (one of four), The Brew Brothers, inside that had local craft beers, and some pub grub. 

I had some loaded fries (pulled pork, BBQ and cheese sauce) that were fantastic.  Couldn't finish it, but they were so good.  Not sure why else people go to casinos if not for the food and drinks?



Friday we rolled into Sioux Falls, SD and the Sioux Falls KOA.  Had an appointment at 5p to renew our driver's license that we just barely made due to some construction.  Our Google GPS taking us to a closed exit (thinking it was open) then having to follow a detour back to an open exit (that was what Google thought was closed).  Let me tell you, we zipped in and out of the DMV in 32 minutes.  They were the nicest DMV workers I've ever encountered.  What a pleasant experience.

After the licenses, we went downtown to a "First Friday" event put on by Downtown Sioux Falls and met our new BDM (business development manager) for Sandals (Adults Only All Inclusive Resorts) and Beaches (Caribbean All inclusive resorts for families), Monica Huether.  Great weather and company.  Talked a lot about our business, our backgrounds, ways Sandals and Beaches is growing and thoughts for expanding our niches.

Really enjoyed the small town feel of the event.  Also got introduced to Monica's friend, Julio Espino.  Great story.  Came to Sioux Falls as an engineer, noticed there wasn't an authentic Mexican restaurant in town, so he started it.  The restaurant did well, but people started wanting his salsa.  So, he started marketing his Inca salsa and sold the restaurant to his sister.  He's getting outlets at Hy-Vee, Wal Marts and working on expanding elsewhere (including H-E-B in Texas).  Fascinating conversation on the ins and outs of his business.  Was nice enough to give us some samples, looking forward to trying them.

Need a day of rest, and what better way than to watch College Football.  Weather is supposed to get crappy, so that will make it even easier to hang in the rig.

Fall Schedule Back to Texas Finalized

Have gotten pretty settled on our schedule back to Texas.  Leaving a little play at the end in case we want to wander around before settling back at Copano Bay RV Resort in Rockport.

09/01 – 09/02           Caesar Creek

09/02 - 09/03           Lake Cumberland, KY

09/03 – 09/05          Chattanooga, TN

09/05 – 09/08         Atlanta, GA

09/08 – 09/09         Columbus, GA

09/09 – 09/16         Panama City Beach, FL (Music Festival)

09/16 – 10/07         Gulf Shores, AL

10/07 – 10/08         Hattiesburg, MS

10/08 – 10/09         Vicksburg, MS

10/09 – 10/10         Shreveport, LA

10/10 – 10/14         Bullard, TX (Heartland Rally #1)

10/14 – 10/20         Montgomery, TX  (Heartland Rally #2)

10/20         Arrive in Rockport, TX (Copano Bay)

Will try to keep the blog updated on the travels south.  Hope to see some of you along the way!

Thanks for reading!

Connie gets a 2nd month vacation!

Got the call yesterday from our Ashtabula Doctor, that Connie isn't going to have to be seen until late October and can keep on the same pill regimen for a treatment.  Whoo-hoo!

That means we don't HAVE to be anywhere medical for almost two months!

So we looked at a bunch of different options and have come up with the following itinerary (you can click the links to see where we're staying):

Monday, September 1st:  Leaving Ashtabula and heading to Wilmington
Tuesday, September 2nd:  Leaving Wilmington and heading to Lake Cumberland.
Wednesday, September 3rd:  Leaving Lake Cumberland and heading to Chattanooga
Friday, September 5th:  Leaving Chattanooga and heading to Atlanta
Monday, September 8th:  Leaving Atlanta and heading to Columbus, GA
Tuesday, September 9th:  Leaving Columbus, GA and heading to Panama City Beach, FL
Tuesday, September 16th:  Leaving Panama City Beach and heading to Foley, AL (Gulf Shores).

Its college football season, so we have a "no travel Saturday" rule in effect.  We'll be able to visit with the Ohio State Alumni of Atlanta at their game watch on the 6th for the night game against Virginia Tech.  Stoked about that.

Secondly, we were looking at some of our favorite performers and started seeing "Panama Beach" show up a bunch.  Turns out there's a "Chasing the Sun Music Festival" there starting on Friday the 12th.  Uber cool!  You can read about it by clicking this link.  Going to be a blast!

Connie and I are super excited!  Check back often as we'll be updating along the way.