It has been a little over a week since my return from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man Cruise 2010. It’s taken me that long to recover. 4 days of music on open water (minus the 8 hours we spent on Cozumel). One of the most defining comments I heard on the boat describes the whole cruise. “Nowhere else will you see this many drunk rednecks and no fights.” I felt sorry for the Carnival crew as they are probably more used to serving calmer and non-riotous customers. By the last evening, I noticed the staff behind the bar was singing and dancing with the music of the late night “super-band” of Scott Munn, Francisco Vidal, Zach Daniels from “Oakhurst”, Heather Luttrell, Walter Ray, and Paul McDonald from “Hightide Blues”. I’m pretty sure they were just celebrating the fact that all of us crazies were getting off the boat the next morning, but it was at least good to see them loosening up. :)
So where to begin. Well, I had been trying to find the funding to go on a Sixthman cruise since the first Rock Boat back in 2000. Last year, along with Heather’s convincing, I was able to talk my GF into booking. Little did we know what was in store for us over those 4 days. As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve become pretty good friends with Heather Luttrell and her band which consists of Ralph Luttrell (her father), Charlie Wooten, and Hoffa. John McKnight sat in as drummer for Hoffa since he couldn’t make it. Our trip began bright and early Wed morning before sendoff as Heather and boys picked us up in a rattletrap 1991 Ford passenger van borrowed from a friend. Now when I say rattletrap, did this thing ever rattle. You had to slam the doors with the force of a small elephant just to get them to securely close. At it’s top speed of 65mph, when you open or close all the windows, the roof would make a popping sound as the aerodynamics and pressure changed around it. I still think there was an automatic airfoil (like on the Porsche or Audi cars) up there just readjusting. ;) Anyway, about an hour into our trip, the poor thing blew a tire. An hour and a half, a call to AAA (since we couldn’t find the jack), and a stop at the nearest Wal-Mart for 2 new tires (the spare was bald), we were back on the road. Aside from John’s hysterical sense of humor and constant jokes, the rest of the 6 hours went by pretty uneventful as most of us caught up on our sleep. Sixthman sponsored a “send-off” party at a bar in Tampa, which we attended. We had never been on a cruise before, so we didn’t really meet a whole lot of people there. The beer was cheaper than what I’m used to paying, so I was happy.
The next morning, we all piled down into the lobby of the hotel with the other bands for our VIP shuttle to the port. Now Heather had worked it out with Sixthman about a month before the trip that my GF and I would be boarding as her “staff”. We just thought that just meant we got to avoid all the lines getting on and off the boat and that was it. I will say, avoiding that waiting line was one of the biggest treats I could ever be thankful for. I later heard there was up to a 2 hour wait in that thing. After boarding, Heather and Ralph dragged us to the nearest bar on the deck for their traditional “frozen fruity rum drink”. Afterwards we split off to our cabins to claim our luggage. At this point, we pretty much assumed we probably wouldn’t see Heather again except at her shows, which we were fine with. So after 2 hours of orientating ourselves with the layout of the boat and music stages, we headed to the nearest bar for drinks and listened to Molly Hatchet performing on the deck stage. Amazingly enough, even with 2200 people on the Carnival Inspiration, there was so much room. In some sections, you would hardly see anyone. I will say, the deck did stay pretty packed, but there was still plenty of room to move around without having to bump into people. On our way to the next show Heather flagged us down. As she handed us our “Artist” passes, she added, “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.” If you’ve ever been on a cruise, you know how it works. The food is 24/7 (or 24/4, in our case). I did discover that the bars close at midnight with one remaining open until 4am, however. This pretty much was the case for the rest of the trip. Our day would begin once we finally got up (usually from me waking up around 10a or 11a). I’d beeline for the nearest coffee pot, we’d grab a small breakfast (or whatever they were serving), then head off for our hair-of-the-dog. I finally learned that a bloody mary breakfast really works. After a couple of hours, Heather would find us or we’d find her. We’d travel around between shows together for the rest of the afternoon and evening except when she had to perform (which we’d watch from the crowd). Now by travel, I mean at a snail’s pace. It would take her 45 minutes just to go 100 yards. I found it quite entertaining to watch her get stopped by people asking for pictures, autographs, and some regular conversation. Heather obliged them all, of which I am very proud of her. She really appreciates her fans. I’ve also never seen her revered in this sense before. She and Ralph are “gods on the water,” and it showed in both of them. They both performed with enthusiasm I have never seen from either of them in their regular hometown performances.
I feel like I’m writing a novel here. Since this is getting retartedly long for a blog, I’m breaking it up into multiple posts. Come back tomorrow for the power of the Artist Pass, the banj-ho, partying like a rock start, and scootering Cozumel, along with the grand finale.
l8rz
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