April Trip to Orlando

Here’s a little day-by-day of my trip:

April 1

I drove six and a half hours from Atlanta to Orlando, picked up my brother BJ from our old church, and went to my sister’s new place for her housewarming party.

April 2

I went to the annual Summit Worship BBQ at a house on a lake. We ate great food, played volleyball, and took the jet ski out for a spin. At night, I went to a movie night at Noemy’s house; we played Spicy Uno and watched “Heavyweights.” Afterwards we had a sweet jam session in Noemy’s living room.

April 3

I bummed around the house a bit at The Manor then met my brother John, Lee Anne, Amélie, and in-laws Laura, Mark, and Mrs. Rankin for some delicious pizza downtown at Anthony’s. After dinner I went to Status and saw a bunch a friends I hadn’t seen in awhile. Afterwards, a few of us went to Steak ‘n Shake to hang out. I got a “Strorangeberry” shake… yum.

April 4

I drove out to Lakeland to see John and Lee Anne, and my uber-cute four-month-old niece Amélie. We played with the baby, played “Scrabble Slam,” and went out to Macaroni Grill with Lee Anne, Laura, Mark, and Amélie.

My friend Matt Ventura and I like to go bowling on Monday nights for dollar games, so that night we decided to go to the Semoran Bowling Lanes to check out their new balls! Adam Harris and Keren Perdue also joined us.

April 5

I met up with my friend Ivonne at Independent Bar for some Gritz ‘n Gravy dancing!

April 6

I drove out to RDV Sportsplex around noon to go ice skating with my friend Blair. The guy giving out skates only likes figures skates so he gave me a pair. I’d never tried them before but they took some getting used to. After an hour or so I switched back to hockey skates… still wasn’t quite feeling the figure skates. Afterwards I stopped in at Hunter Vision to say hi to my friend Sara, then headed back to The Manor.

April 7

I drove over to UCF campus to play my old church’s “Your Voice @ UCF” event on Memory Mall. I played “I Found You” on the stage they had set up, melted in the unbearable heat for a few hours, grabbed some free Chick-fil-A at the remodeled on-campus location, then checked out the newly completed Music building on the way to my car. Later on that evening I drove downtown for the 10th annual Florida Music Festival to hang out and check out some live music. On the opening night I saw Yella! and a handful of other bands, ending the night on a high note watching my friend Peter Baldwin perform.

April 8

I went downtown for Day 2 of FMF. Watched Danny Leggett, Easy Star All-Stars, and others.

April 9

I had to get up really early to drop off my car to get fixed. And since it was so early on a Saturday, I didn’t wanna bother anyone to take me back to The Manor, so I walked about 5 miles back to the house. It took me about 2 hours, and it was crazy hot by the time I made it inside. A few of the roommates and I watched part of Episode IV of Star Wars, then around 1pm we had an inaugural songwriter session, playing our songs for each other in rounds and providing feedback on them. There were about 10 of us, and it was a really great time. I had no idea of some of the writing talents of a few of my musician friends here in Orlando. I gave my critiques and gathered some feedback after trying out two new songs “One Step Closer” and “Michelle.”

After a great session, I picked up my car and headed downtown for Day 3 of FMF, as well as the day of my showcase. I got checked in at the venue, a wine place called “Tastings,” walked along Orange Ave for a bit, then headed back to Tastings for my performance at 6:30pm. I had a good 30 people watching me play, a decent amount for such a small, off-the-trail venue, and had the chance to hang out with some of my friends.

After my performance I went to see my friends perform in Stockholm and James Boyd Band, then watched The Lighter Exchange at Backbooth. My friend Alex met up with me downtown, and we shot a few live “Blogotheque”-style videos of me playing at different spots around downtown Orlando. Afterwards, we grabbed some pizza and beer at a New York style pizza place, and headed home.

April 10

After a late night downtown, I got up early to meet everyone for breakfast at Noemy’s, then off to New Smyrna for a perfect beach day. During the drive over, Kelsey and I rode in the “trunk” of Heather’s SUV, worrying that if our butts fell asleep, they would completely throw off their sleep schedules, and we would probably have to take butt sleeping pills later that night. After Kelsey and I went to meet Tiffany at the pool, I took a shower at the Manor and headed downtown for my show at Backbooth. I had a great time playing my set and hanging out with some friends at Jimmy John’s. I walked back to my car about 1a.m. to find CD’s and papers strewn about my front seat, took me a second to realize that my car had been broken into. My friends Sean and Lauren pulled up beside me for me to follow them, and I explained to them that I was confused because I couldn’t figure out what was missing. I later realized that they’d taken my 35mm SLR and one of my CD cases. Were they planning on selling off the CD’s? Who buys CD’s anymore besides me? Next time I buy used CD’s I see myself being like, “Wait a second. These look familiar…” The truly ironic part is that my car was broken into while parked right in front of the police station on Central. Welcome to Orlando.

April 11

Monday was pretty simple: Went to see my grandma Marnie and my niece Amélie in Lakeland, played some Cranium with John, Lee Anne, and a few of their friends, then drove back to Orlando for a poker night with Matt Ventura and a few of his friends.

April 12-14

I dropped off my car to have yet another thing fixed and went to MCO where I ran into Eddie Hickle working at Delta. He escorted me through security at the employee entrance so I was all VIP for a moment there. Caught the nonstop to Grand Rapids for a few days of work. Ate some good food at Chubby’s Bar and Grille, Hop Cat, and one other place I never caught the name of. Some co-workers and I went to a nearby casino to watch our friends Cody and Britnye play some Roulette. That lasted about 20 minutes.

April 15

Flew back into Orlando, then met Kelly and friends for a delicious dinner (amazing cheesecake brownies by Delilah) then headed out for swingdancing at UCF. I hadn’t been in forever and it was so much fun. Went to late night blues afterwards ’til like 4 in the morning and had a chance to practice my French with this guy I met there named François.

April 16

Beach Boys! Met my friend Mike and a few of his friends at Universal to ride the Mummy, watch the Mardi Gras parade, and see the Beach Boys again. At first we were off to the side and couldn’t see or hear very well, but then some people left so we got to go really close to stage left and had a good ole time singing along to classic Beach Boys songs. The only thing that was missing was John Stamos from last year, singing and playing drums and guitar. It was still hilarious though hearing people yell for John Stamos to come on-stage during the concert.

April 17

I stopped in Palm Coast to pick up a CD case and visit with some friends, then drove on up to Jacksonville to hang with my brother BJ and his roommates. We went to see “Your Highness” at Regal, which was less funny and more inappropriate than I’d expected, but at least it was only $5.

April 18

I played some intense Tetris Battle with my brother, then packed up and headed to Atlanta for my open mic at Eddie’s Attic. After some carefully orchestrated speeding on the interstate, I got there just in time to check in for my set. I actually got a bit nervous before I played, waiting anxiously on deck as the artist before played for a packed house. I finally got up and played “I Found You” and “Girl, The Devil Called,” and got some good reactions from the audience. I loved the vibe of Eddie’s Attic as well as the consistent talent of the people performing. Packing up at the end of the night, I ran into my buddy Stephen Shapiro from Orlando, and had no idea that he had performed earlier that night. It’s a small world, music is.

April 19

I got up, spent a few minutes hanging with my friend Valerie before she left to work on projects, then hit the road for the homestretch: Altanta to Nashville. Once home I realized I couldn’t find the spare key sooo I was locked out of my house after a long trip… home sweet homeless, indeed. Eventually, my brother Peter called me back to let me know where it was and all was well.

All things considered, a good trip. Missed you a lot, Orlando, and I can’t wait until we meet again. Until then, be well…

- James