Wow - has it really been since October that I last updated my blog?!? That’s how busy it has been for me at work over the last few months. I mean, I know I can go for a while in-between posts, but that is just crazy. I didn’t even get a chance to write two of my staples – the what I am thankful for post and my pre rock boat excitement post. I will make up for my thanksgiving post later and right now I will give you a post rock boat entry instead of what usually comes before.
To backtrack (for those of you that don’t know) – I am a rock boat veteran. I went on my first boat alone in 2004 and I have been going ever since. For some reason or other (roommate issues, guy stuff, etc) I have had a case of tears and moments of unhappiness on each and every boat – until now. It’s no coincidence that this happened this year – 2010 for me was a new beginning and a very happy one at that. I let go of my past, cleared my demons, and created a new and wonderful life for myself that opened the door to an unending stream of happiness. This made way for me to have what I can safely say was my best and most favorite rock boat yet. Of course there were a few things I would have loved to change (Krissie’s absence and my pre boat weight gain), but I had an amazing time with the understanding that everything can’t be 100% perfect, and I made the best of it all.
The best way for me to describe why it was so perfect is to create a list of my favorite moments. I know a lot of these won’t be understood by anyone but me or the people involved, but blogging them here is the best way I can think of to keep these memories alive and remembered for myself. I hope some of you can understand them and laugh and smile along with me. And to those of you that don’t – maybe it’s some incentive to join us on the cruise next year. I haven’t decided if I’m returning yet but I learned long ago – never say never. Like I said at breakfast on the last day – it will only take five simple words to get me back on – I’m pretty sure you can easily figure those out.
My Rock Boat XI Favorite Moments (in no particular order except for the first two!)
1. Will Hoge singing “Woman, Be Strong” in the Paris Lounge. I have seen Will Hoge many times since I first saw him on the boat in 2004. If I actually sat down and counted he would probably be in my top 20 of most seen artists. With that said this is not the first time I have seen him sing this song but my god it was by far the best. The emotion that he put into this song in the Paris Lounge was like nothing I have seen before. You could hear a pin drop while at the same time the fists of everyone in attendance were flying. It was a rock and roll moment like I have never seen before. Kudos, Will Hoge. You truly are a rock and roll god.
2. I know I’m insanely biased, but I think everyone on the lido deck at midnight on Saturday, January 9th would agree with me – Goose’s Guilty Pleasures was one of the best rock boat shows EVER. It might not have been a show of original music, but damn was it some of the best performances/jams I have ever seen in my seven time rock boat career. Goose kicked off the night with New Kids on The Block (joined by Matt Wertz) and the artists poured on stage song after song to sing 70s/80s/90s hits that everyone knows the words to but doesn’t want to admit. The entire show was phenomenal but my highlights were Goose solo on “Genie in a Bottle”, Sam Thacker Rick-rolling us with “Never Gonna Give You Up”, and the amazing Antigone Rising doing “99 Red Balloons” half of in it Nena’s original tongue as “99 Luft Balloons”.
3. Forgive me for taking this long to mention this but it really deserves the top spot – my friends. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say this but every single friend I have on the boat is because of the boat. They are all people I met either on the cruise or through someone I met on the cruise and I love each and every one of them in their own little way and the trip just wouldn’t be complete without them. The amount of times I was doubled over with laughter outweighed the times I wasn’t. Just ask Lee, Cory, or Jen who supplied a good chunk of the laughs. It isn’t just the laughter but it’s being with people who understand in you one way or another. Whether they know that you get sick of people after a while and just need to disappear, or they know what the band means to you, or they simply know how to have fun, these are the people who make The Rock Boat so special to me. Thank you to each and every one of you that I spent time with onboard - Special shout outs to my Charlotte people, the Chicago crew (the newly expanded one!), the Tri-State area folks, Cory, Erinn, Deidra, Mandy and my very tolerant while intolerable roomie Jen. I love you all and thank you for making this trip so amazing. I hope we all see each other next year or even better sometime before that.
4. I love to gamble but I don’t usually do it all that much on the boat cause I know I’m going to spend a ton of money elsewhere (um, the bar), but this year I said screw it and plopped myself down at the roulette table. Okay, it wasn’t that simple. My wonderful friend Lee was playing and I joined him and his only guy friend on the boat, J. Whiskey, for what would be one of my favorite rounds of roulette ever. It got to the point where J.Whiskey was literally throwing chips down and playing whatever numbers they landed on – he even won with this method a few times. We also had the bass player from NEEDTOBREATHE running back and forth between roulette tables playing his same numbers in multiple spots. Yes, this all happened and it’s really just another random night on the rock boat. Sadly, I didn’t win, but I had the best time closing down the casino with these boys. (Who knew the casino actually closed?! Well, it does at 6:30am and I found that out first hand that night…um, morning.)
5. Tim Brantley - you rocked my world. Enough said.
6. Super Fun and I had the pleasure of spending a good chuck of time with the absolutely wonderful Erinn and Cory. We had so many side-splitting moments but hands down my favorite one came in the buffet area after we got back from Costa Maya. Jen is a giant loudmouth that will talk to anyone and also embarrass anyone but the one person she gets shy around is Matt Wertz. The curls of his hair have some weird power over her and she turns into a quiet little schoolgirl. So when Matt Wertz approached the pizza area right near where we were sitting, Cory decided to flip the script on Jen and give her a taste of her own medicine. Jen is hiding in the booth and the next thing I hear is “Hey Matt Wertz, how do you like the chicken strips?” Wonderful, little Cory decided now was the best time to hear Matt’s take on the food. I literally thought I was going to wet myself the moment Matt turned around to talk to Cory – I could not stop laughing. Bravo Cory. I will love you forever for this unforgettable moment. Not only for making me laugh so hard but for also embarrassing the hell out of Jen. Karma is a bitch.
7. Matt Duke and Antigone Rising – I knew both artists back in the day, but they have both come such a long way since I first checked them out. Their sets on the boat proved that artists can evolve so much over time and are worth second chances. You both rocked it out and I believe gained a whole bunch of new fans while on the boat. Speaking of Matt Duke gaining fans…
8. The boat was full of firsts for me. No tears, I remember everything (except for late night pre-party but that doesn’t count), I paced myself better than I ever have before, I took off my cover up and went in the pool in Mexico, and last but not least I got myself on a first name basis with an artist on the boat. This is a big deal because A) I never do this B) it was Goose (or Kit as I know prefer to call him). I don’t usually interact with the bands because I usually always say or do something stupid so I just keep my ‘fandom’ at a distance. Well not this time and damn it was worth it. He couldn’t have been nicer and we had a few fun conversations one of them being about Matt Duke. Not going to lie, it’s kinda nice walking down the hallway of the boat and having your favorite bass player stop to wave and say hi. I know this sounds kinda fangirl-ish but I don’t care – it made my boat.
9. Another great and very ego boosting moment came during my time playing roulette when I had this rather adorable gentlemen hit on me. It was very flattering and nice until someone said something to him about his show being a great one to which I exclaimed “so what band are you in?” Apparently, he didn’t like that too much and decided to stop talking to me. Oops – I guess I bruised his rock star ego. Hell, there are a lot of bands on this boat, I can’t know them all! Ironically, he was from what most would consider the biggest (as in pop star status) band on the boat. My bad, but thanks name-which-rhymes-with-Moe for telling me how I cute I am. It really made my night.
10. Matt Wertz makes me happy and his new music makes me even happier. New album this spring. Get excited. With the preview we got I know I am.
There are so many other moments to highlight (Ingram Hill, Costa Maya, the Promenade, Lee’s son), but I think I’ll leave it at ten. Can’t wait to see what the boat brings next year. Oh wait, I haven’t decided if I’m going yet… 
Love your re-cap. Love your face. Loved getting to spend so much more time together this year. It was truly one of the best parts of TRB for me. Can’t wait to do it all again NEXT YEAR!!
(chicken strips-nom nom nom)