We spent almost the entire afternoon in the car, but we’ve finally arrived somewhere:
We are on Amelia Island, a well-kept secret coastal getaway just outside of Jacksonville. I’d never even heard of the place until my friend moved here. And my friend is why we are here. Tomorrow, Chadd, one of my old radio mentors, is getting married.
Chadd helped me get started in broadcasting in Auburn. I worked with him doing high school sportscasts. When he moved on I moved into his spot. And I’d follow him up in a broadcasting job in Birmingham, too. He moved on to nationally syndicated shows and ESPN and now runs a sports talker in Jacksonville. Earlier this week they announced they were becoming the flagship station for Jaguars football. Tomorrow he’s getting married. Some week. Some guy.
We saw them tonight at a little mixer. It was the first time we’d met his bride, though we are friends online — one of those modern conditions of modern life. “Oh, finally, we meet.”
She’s going to be a beautiful bride tomorrow. It is an outdoor wedding, if the rain holds off. There’s a big concern of that. Every forecast is different, the entire week, we’re told, has been a weird weather experience.
This evening was lovely, though. We sat outside on a beachfront patio for dinner. We’d walked in and they asked “Inside or out?” My first thought was “Why would you come to the beach and eat inside?” My second thought was “Why is this woman singing Wagon Wheel? And why is Wagon Wheel suddenly the ‘I have country’ bonafides?”
Outside was louder, but the band was better. And, boy, could this lady sing:
She went from the very reverend Al Green directly into White Stripes and she actually made it work. Not bad for a patio band.
