Before I get sidetracked again (I've had a lot of stuff to catch up on since I got back), here's my review of the fan club party, the Opry, and the celebrity softball game. I know, it's long, lol.
On Monday afternoon, my dad (who is also a fan of Carrie's) and I left for Chicago's Midway Airport, and about an hour after we got there we were on our way to Nashville for the first time. The flight took around an hour, and after we arrived we took a cab to the Radisson Hotel at Opryland and checked in. Later that night, we had dinner at Applebee's, and fittingly they played "Last Name" on the radio. After an early breakfast the next morning, the fun began when my chauffeur (Jeff
) arrived along with Reggie (Kakarot) to pick me up, and we drove over to the Grand Ole Opry House for the fan club party. There were quite a few people already there, so Reggie (and his giant bag with attachments for his giant camera and gifts for Carrie) and Jeff and I got in line. It was nice to see Robin, Denise, Judy, and Chuck again, and to meet Ron (thaifood) for the first time. I'm not great with names, so if I forgot you or messed up your name, I apologize in advance lol. Around 10am, they started to let us in the building, and once inside, we all got a little bag with popcorn, cotton candy, a bag of M&Ms, and a raffle ticket. And then we got in line again. While in line, I met a fan club member from Chicago, Rochelle I believe, and we chatted about the Cubs for a bit. Eventually we started to file in, and Jeff, Reggie, and I wound up around 11th or 12th row center. Around 11:30am, the curtain went up and revealed... Matt, lol. He entertained us for a little bit, asking us who came the longest way to get to the party (someone from the Netherlands I think) and who has been to the most shows this year (I think it was Robin). After ten minutes or so, Carrie finally came out and did about a 45-minute acoustic set that included "You Won't Find This" for the first time live, "The Night Before (Life Goes On)", "Crazy Dreams", "The More Boys I Meet", "Go Your Own Way", "Don't Forget To Remember Me", and "Jesus, Take the Wheel". As the band started "Crazy Dreams", some guy (a stagehand I guess?) ran across the stage behind Carrie, and she got a kick out of it lol (you can see it in the second pic below). During the concert, she told us some funny stories like the time she had her zipper down for part of a recent concert and how someone gave her a bat that's supposed to be illegal in some softball leagues to use in the celebrity softball game lol. She finished with "Last Name", and then it was time for a Q&A session. While answering one of the questions (something like how she is adjusting to her life now), Carrie brought her mom out on stage, that was very cute. After the Q&A, Carrie and Matt raffled off some stuff like one-year fan club memberships, autographed CDs, an autographed guitar, meet and greet passes, and the grand prize was an all-expenses paid trip, m&g passes, and tickets to her show in New Orleans I think. Carrie thanked us for coming, told us not to melt in the Nashville heat, and the party was over. On our way out, we each got a fan club party T-shirt and an autographed version of Carrie's Opry induction hatch!
After Jeff picked up his Opry tickets and I picked up my dad's ticket from the ticket office (and Reggie took more pics lol), we headed over to Opry Mills Mall where we met up with my dad and had lunch. We then headed back to our respective hotels to relax a bit before the Opry show that night. After a quick dinner at Applebee's, my dad and I caught the 6:30pm shuttle from the Radisson to the Grand Ole Opry House. It took a while to get there (the shuttle driver will pick up anybody and everybody lol), but we arrived a few minutes before the 7pm show began. The first hour included Bill Anderson and John Conlee. At 8pm, the GAC cameras started to roll, the curtain went up, and Carrie came out and performed "Flat on the Floor". As the show went on, she also did "I Know You Won't", "Last Name", and "The More Boys I Meet". Montgomery Gentry, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Luke Bryan also performed. It was awesome to be at a sold-out show, and it was cool to see the camera guys from GAC constantly moving around the stage, stuff you don't see on TV lol.
The next morning, my dad and I packed our bags and went with Jeff and Reggie to Greer Stadium for the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Challenge. After we got there, I waited along with a group of people down near the field for autographs. It wasn't until later that I realized we were near the After Midnite team's dugout, and sure enough Carrie eventually popped up on the other side of the field (the third base side) to sign. While waiting, I met another fan club member, a track and field coach who drove down from Maine and happened to be using the exact same camera as I was. I did get the autographs of a couple of Tennessee Titans players (Kyle Vanden Bosch and Cortland Finnegan) and Ozzie, the mascot of the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team lol. Then everyone got together to sing the national anthem, and Carrie led off the game for the Opry Live team by walking on four pitches (Jo Dee Messina was the pitcher). In her second at bat, she would've made an out, but After Midnite 1st baseman Chuck Wicks intentionally dropped the ball as Carrie got to the base lol. There was a hilarious moment when Hollywood Yates ("Wolf" from American Gladiators) didn't like being called "out" at 1st base by umpire Two Foot Fred and picked him up and carried him around the bases. There was also a very close play at the plate where Yates slid into home just before an attempted tag by GAC's Storme Warren, who was wearing a little pink glove lol. You can see pics of those two moments in my Photobucket below. During one of the half-innings, Carrie came over to the first base side of the field to sign, and I got down there as quickly as I could. I thought the area would fill up pretty quick, but I managed to get close enough to stick my hand over the railing, and Carrie signed my Country Weekly! She batted one more time in the fifth and final inning, and she hit a single I think. However, her team couldn't pitch or field or hit very well, and After Midnite won 8-1. After the game, Reggie took another bunch of pics (he takes pics like they're going out of style
), and then Jeff drove all of us to the airport so that my dad and I could catch our return flight. We said our goodbyes, and within a few hours my dad and I were back home in Chicago.
All in all, it was an amazing experience! The people down in Nashville were very nice, and the service at the Radisson and the Applebees there was great. To be able to go inside the historic Grand Ole Opry House, a place that I thought I'd only be able to see on TV, was a big honor. Getting to hang out with Jeff and Reggie for a couple days was a lot of fun, and it was nice to see some familiar faces and some new ones. I was there for less than three days, but the memories will last a lifetime.
I'm pretty sure I'll be back there sometime.
Matt asked us not to record or post any videos from the party, but I do have pics. I also have Opry pics and pics/videos from the softball game. You can see the rest of my pics in my Photobucket, please ask if you'd like to use any of them:
blitzer50/Nashville - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
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congrats on everything! esp. your dad being a carrie fan, 
