Originally, I was going to write this as one huge blog entry, but the more I get into this Rock Boat business, the more I realized that my blog review write-ups would get bigger and bigger. So instead of giving you the whole enchilada in one shot, I'm gonna give you smaller pieces so that you can digest it all. Not that you can digest the full Rock Boat experience...unless you've actually been on The Rock Boat yourself. So here we go.
Planning for this began around February when I booked a quad interior cabin on the cheap. For The Rock Boat, I could care less what kind of cabin I'm in, so long as I'm on The Boat. I mean, I'm not on The Rock Boat to be in my cabin and sleep. I'm there to ROCK OUT all day and all night. I'll admit, being in an interior cabin does make it a bit difficult in terms of not being able to tell what time of day it is (unless you had a watch close by), it does force me to go out and see what's going on. Anyway, after doing some wheeling and dealing throughout the year, I had a pretty kickass cabin lineup. Joining me would be:
Manda and Claire. This was Manda's second Rock Boat, and Claire was a Rock Boat Virgin. I've known Manda for some time by way of another friend of ours and I was more than happy to take her in when she asked to take one of my vacant spots. Claire and I go back...WAAAAAAAAAY BACK...to our days of drooling over Michelle Branch. She was supposed to be on TRB-VIII, but life got in the way (yep, had to throw in a Sister Hazel reference).
And last but not least...
Miriam. When I advertised my last vacant spot, she jumped on the opportunity to hop on! A big fan of Ernie Halter and Curtis Peoples, she wasted no time in taking up the last spot.
All throughout the year, I told everyone I knew about The Rock Boat, especially my bosses, as they had to be aware of me taking my vacation. In the days before I was to leave for Miami for the Pre-Party, I came down with a fever and flu-like symptoms (I got my flu shot, so therefore, I couldn't have gotten the flu...right?). I went into work feeling like crap and had to keep pumping advil into my system to look alive and at least alert. But I did take a day off w/ two days left before my flight just to rest, to almost no avail. My boss wasn't too happy w/ that, and thought I was feigning illness to avoid work, but whatever. I couldn't be stopped from leaving the freezing cold to enjoy the warmth of the Caribbean.
Anyhoo...I left that Friday, somewhat reeling from the fever, excited for what would be the greatest Rock Boat yet.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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