Tulsa Mayfest

Here's one more blog post that I should have completed many, many moons ago, but since things were so busy with house shopping and packing and moving during the spring/summer, I just never could find the time to edit all the pictures from the weekend. When I was working on our Christmas letter for 2009 and thinking about all that we did during the year, it hit me that I'd never actually blogged about our trip to Tulsa!

It was a very quick weekend vacation, but one that was so needed at the time. We were just so overwhelmed with house hunting and trying to get ready to sell our house we just wanted to get away from it all just for a couple of days. It worked out perfectly that my favorite band just happened to be playing at a music/arts festival in Tulsa right in the midst of all our house craziness!

We took off on Saturday morning and made the drive south on Highway 169, and taking the scenic route was so incredibly relaxing! The pastures were all so green and lush, the skies were beautiful blue and the air was unseasonably cool. After an enjoyable drive of about 4 hours we arrived at our hotel, right near downtown, where Mayfest was held. Our friend Jason and his girlfriend Tracy met us there, and we headed to the festival, walked through the artist booths, ate horrible fair food and listened to a few bands along the way.

We started moving towards the main stage as the Old 97's showtime neared. There was a pretty big crowd watching the band before them, but as soon as that group finished their set, the crowd started to thin out pretty quickly. We jumped at the opportunity and quickly filled into the front row, which was actually (unfortunately) at least 30 feet from the stage because of a barrier. Regardless, we snagged our four chairs and then moved them up right against the barricade, just to make sure no one else would be able to stand in front of us once the show started. We were determined to be in the front row, even if the front row was 30 feet away from the stage!

The show was excellent, but that pretty much goes without saying when it comes to the Old 97's. Despite the fact that it was downright cold in Tulsa that night, the 97's went all out and put on a terrific show on the outdoor stage. While they didn't play one of my favs (Nightclub), they did play The One, which I'd never heard in concert before. It was a bummer that we were so far from the stage, because that meant my pictures turned out pretty awful, but we still had a great time jumping around and singing at the show!

We regained our hearing on the way back to the hotel, and after a good night's sleep, we headed back over to the festival in the morning and browsed through the art again before heading to a local restaurant for lunch. After a great meal with our friends we hit the road and headed home, taking a different route back just for a change of scenery. The drive home was almost as relaxing as the drive down!

It was really a terrific weekend overall, despite the fact that my pictures of the show turned out so terrible! Most of the shots are so over-exposed they make the guys in the band look like ghosts. If only I'd taken my good camera they would have been a little better. Regardless, here are the pictures from the weekend if you're interested! There are also a few videos if you go directly to my Picasa page!