CCMF 2017: Part 1
I'm sorry this has taken so long for me to put up but I am so, so excited to share with all of you about our Carolina Country Music Festival experience and everything we did in Myrtle! It was a great trip spent with my mom, her boyfriend Todd, his daughter Lilly and her friend Alyssa, Hailey, my best friend Kaitlyn, and I. I'm so excited about it that I have to split it up in two parts just to be able to actually tell you everything about it! So lets dive on in shall we!
Day 1: Thursday, June 8th
Daily Activities
We started off our trip the only way you can- go straight to Margaritaville to get some delicious food. Not only is the food amazing, so is the experience, music, and the overall look of the restaurant. Thursday night was the first night of the concerts but was only for people who bought their tickets before a certain date. So it just ended up being the 5 girls (Hailey, Kaitlyn, Lilly, Alyssa, and I). But that meant we could get closer to the stage instead of where we were normally allowed to go since we were just General Admission. That night taking the stage was Brett Young as the headliner, along with Montgomery Gentry and Trent Tomlinson. Afterwards we headed back to our hotel and joined my mom and Todd by the fire pit to listen to a little live music. All in all not a bad night and turned out to be the most fun night because I actually saw my mom have fun for the first time in a while!
About Performances
I like to call these performances the warm-up show because it was getting all of us ready to go for the rest of the weekend. The fact that we were able to get so close made me happy but so did seeing Brett Young-- 'cause he ain't bad looking. The other thing I liked was that they had smaller artists that you may have never heard about perform, like Darrel Harwood and Trent Tomlinson.
Day 2: Friday, June 9th
Daily Activities
There is no better way to start the day but some home cooked breakfast-- no wait scratch that! It's sitting by the pool and beach and enjoying a gorgeous day. Which is exactly what we did! We all came back to the room at separate times to get ready but we were all so excited to finally all get to go together for our first real night of the festival. On this particular night, the headliner was Darius Rucker (who my mom still alls Hootie!) along with Billy Currington, Kip Moore, Parmalee, and Luke Combs... so essentially a great night of country music!
After we heard Parmalee perform, we headed out of the festival and down the boardwalk to the 8th Ave. Tiki Bar and Grill to grab some food and sit outside by the water for a little bit. It was a gorgeous night and there was a little bit of a breeze so it kept us cool. After that we headed down the opposite end of the boardwalk to the Sling Shot where everybody did it except for me because there was no way I was participating in that with my fear of heights but I did conquer my fears a little bit when we went up on the SkyWheel after the Sling Shot. It was the perfect time for the SkyWheel because the sun was setting and it was gorgeous.
After feeling like I was almost gonna die all the way up there, we headed back to the festival and I have to tell ya it was pretty fun... for me at least. I don't really care if people in my group decide to sit down on the floor while the performances are out because you can always count on the fact that I will be standing up singing and dancing.
About Performances
Now I had already seen Darius Rucker in concert but I was still excited because I had never seen Billy Currington, Parmalee, or Luke Combs. And I have to tell you at the end of the night my favorite performance was Billy Currington! He was just such a great live performer and I loved every one of the songs he performed. Now Darius is one of my mom's favorites and he of course always includes a couple of his songs from his days back in Hootie and the Blowfish which always makes my mom happy! All in all a great night of performances!
View from the top of the SkyWheel of the festival!
BILLY CURRINGTON!!
Day 3: Saturday, June 10th
Daily Activities
Unfortunately this was Kaitlyn, Hailey, and I's last day there so we did the most logical thing to do on your last day-- sit by the beach and pool! But what made it better was that for lunch that day we of course went back to Margaritaville and it was such a beautiful day that we of course had to sit outside. When we finished our delicious lunch we headed back to the hotel to relax and have a little quiet time because we all knew we would be out late that night. And in my eyes this was the biggest night thus far because the headliner was the one, the only, KENNY CHESNEY, along with Lee Brice, Granger Smith, Love & Theft, and Chris Lane. When we got in there Hailey, Lilly, and Alyssa did the zip-line that they had featured going through the festival which was pretty cool.
About Performances
This was by far the coolest night and for me the most exciting night because I had always wanted to see Kenny Chesney in concert and was finally getting the chance to and of course it turned out to be one heck of a party! I was also so excited because I was getting to see Lee Brice again and he has some of the most beautiful songs out there along with some great party songs. All in all a really fantastic night!
KENNY CHESNEY!!
Festival Set Up
Now you may think that this place is just complete chaos and that there is no chance that you are going to be able to find anything to eat or drink.... but you are wrong! They have a handy dandy map that you can find on their website and even on the mobile app that is super handy! Now every year they do change the flow and placement of it all but they always make it so you are able to get to where you are looking to go. They even have tons of food trucks in one area so you can get food as well as bathrooms on both sides of the festival--- and I do mean tons of bathrooms! There are even a few clothing vendors that are inside like Guy Harvey and even CCMF apparel.
Activities at the Festival
There is no doubt that there is a ton to do once you get inside the festival, the biggest thing being the zip line that actually runs you through part of the festival! They also have different photo opportunities-- what I mean by this is something that you can stand in front or behind of, sit on, or something to take your picture. This year was a big red chair that had the Carolina Country Music Festival logo on it which I LOVED and got so many pictures on (if you couldn't tell already!). The different food and clothing vendors will even have games going on and chances for you to win some cool stuff!
Look for CCMF Part 2 to come out later this week and some other great content that is coming soon! I loved sharing this with all of you because this is definitely one of the highlights of my summer!
Love, D
