Thursday - 31 Dec/15

Taking it easy today - saving our energy so we can stay up and dance until Midnight! (grin)

The usual TV stuff throughout the day.

I spent a few hours looking for and ordering tickets online for events in The Villages and elsewhere in the area. The Villages has quite a line-up of shows in a variety of it's venues.

Unfortunately, a few we were interested in attending were already sold out or only had single seats available. (America, Johnny Mathis, Alter Eagles)

A few we had already seen in Concert. (Engelbert Humperdinck, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Jim Stafford, Andre-Phillipe Gagnon, Soji Tanuchi).

We will not see Loretta Lynn in concert because we will probably be at home on that concert date. We did; however, eat at her original restaurant near Bucksnort, TN. I forget what I ate; however I remember Charlotte had Hog Jowls w/Collard Greens.

We passed on a few tribute shows that we have already seen the original stars in concert.(Rod Stewart) or seen previously as tributes (Buddy Holly, Frankie Valli (saw the Original "The Jersey Boys" in Las Vegas), The Beatles) Curiously, more than one tribute show for "The Beatles" and "Frankie Vallie" were available by different groups this season in The Villages.

The Villages actually has it's own Philharmonic, which we passed on. We skipped the ballet and play offerings as well as a few "Tenors" concerts. Nashville, TN and Branson, MO have been regular stops on the way home so we avoided any Country and Western groups as well.

We did manage to get tickets for Johnny Rivers, Rocky's Lady Legends (w/Shirley Alton Reeves - Lead Singer of The Shirelles, "Little" Peggy March, The Crystals, etc.) and a tribute concert with Fire and Rain Band (James Taylor) and The Boxers (Simon and Garfunkle). That should keep us out of trouble for a while.


The dance tonight in the Rec Hall starts at 9 pm rather than the usual 7 pm because it is New Year's Eve. The park provides draft beer and soda at the more important events. Most folks will BYOB and snacks.

The Rec Hall was packed with overflow in the adjoining Library/Card Room.

Music was provided by Chris Diamond "Florida's Favorite One Man Show".

His buddy "Elvis" was taking video of the show. Thank You! Thank You Very Much!

We sat with some John and Becky, great folks from Iowa. They were not from Winterset the only area of Iowa we are familiar with; however they did know about  John Wayne's Birthplace, Fons and Porter (PBS Crafters) and The Bridges of Madison County (in the Clint Eastwood Movie of the same name). I bet the are cheering for Iowa (vs Stanford) in the Rose Bowl Game tomorrow. Just a stretch. (grin)

The music stopped just before midnight. The large screen at the back of the stage was pulled down and the "Times Square Ball Drop" was projected. All in the Rec Hall stood and accompanied the traditional countdown bringing in the new year with a cheer.

New Year wishes all around!

Back in the RV by 12:05 a.m. We haven't been up this late since - well, probably last New Year's Eve. We were in bed by 12:10 and asleep almost immediately.