We went to get something to eat and hung out a bit.
Then Charmaine and I took Sheron to where she was staying out at Opryland and it was back to the room. The next afternoon, we headed to the River stages. Bo Bice was onstage performing when we got there. I can't remember the order of who we saw and I know I'm going to forget some but we saw Trent Wilmon, Ray Scott, Mark Wills, Darryl Worley, a young girl from Australia and Buddy Jewell. (though he wasn't last, I purposely wrote him in as last)
I had picked up some poster board and made a sign that said "New Jersey (heart) Buddy Jewell". Buddy rocked as his daughter watched from the back of the stage! I'm not sure if Buddy saw the poster. I was hoping he would and that it would be shot by the videographer and shown on the big screens so everyone could see how much we love Buddy.
After Buddy sang a few songs, he was joined by Ray, Mark and Trent and they really tore up the place!!
LP Field where the nightly concerts were held
The pedestrian bridge from very far away that takes you to LP Field
We stuck around for a little while more and then we headed to Fuel. Fuel looks a lot smaller than on TV. Chelsea Lena was onstage performing. If there were a way of bottling the talent that was in town during Fan Fair, it would be OUTRAGEOUS!!!! Nothing would have been better than to have somehow magically seen and met all of my friends here and at DR that were down there then. But of course, that was not possible. We got something to eat and then we met up with Lori, Tracy and Taylor (my friends from WI). We hung out a bit and Tracy gave me his CD. Trust me when I say the whole Stefans family is talented including Tyler! Most of the restaurants had an hour and half wait to get seated and Lori, Tracy and Taylor wanted to eat so we said our goodbyes at Joe's Crab Shack and Charmaine and I decided to do some people watching from the steps of the Tatoo place at the corner of 3rd and Broadway (I believe), which is where I met Ford Thurston, very talented guy. Then we headed back to the room in Brentwood.
The following day, we decided that we were getting too worn out to go to the River stages and my back could not take more frying. So we did our laundry and hung in the room a bit. We had plans to see Olivia West perform at the Bluebird Cafe. I hadn't printed out the details and brought them with me because I knew that was one thing we weren't going to miss. I thought I remembered that the show started at 7:30P but something told me to call the Bluebird and I'm glad I did because I learned it was to start at 6:30P. We got directions from the desk clerk and we arrived at about 5:30P to ensure we'd get a seat. We took our seats and I was looking around for Olivia. There was a lady standing at a table talking to another lady and when as she was walking to the bar, a man tried to give her a drink order. She said she wasn't a waitress, she was the entertainment. OMG...Olivia's photos do not do her justice. She is one very pretty lady. I went over and introduced myself and chatted a bit. She introduced me to now friend, Melissa Bauer, singer/songwriter. They sang wonderfully and the band was right on!!!
Before you knew it, the set was over. :( Olivia came over and said that they were going across the street for food and cocktails and asked if we'd like to come hang out. Olivia, Aaron (her husband), Melissa and some of the band mates and friends (hi Miranda!), myself and Charmaine ended up going to a Mexican restaurant, where we were joined by her two adorable little boys. We ate and chatted for quite some time. It was so nice meeting them all. It felt like Olivia and I had known each other for some time. She is one of the sweetest people I've met in a long time and it was facinating listening to her talk about how she got started in the business, etc. After hanging out together for quite some time, we headed back to the Bluebird to get the rental. We took photos together and hugged goodbye.
It was the coolest thing!! Inspite of all the artists I've met in country, there was only one other that I ever got to hang out with and spend that kind of quality time with and that was BlackHawk. I can now truly consider Ms. Olivia (Livi) West a friend and I sincerely hope I get to see her again soon!!
The memories of Fan Fair will live forever. I've been to Nashville about 7 times now and it gets harder and harder to leave. I even told the desk clerk that I could have my dog shipped here and stay.
