Life is Better in Boots Archives - Boots Bows & Beaches

Floating Festival | Carolina Country Music Cruise

November 25, 2019

If you love cruising and can’t get enough country music, The Carolina Country Music Cruise will hands down be the vacation of your dreams. The very first CCMC is in the books and the 3,000 cruisers enjoyed sun, surf, sand and non-stop country music for five days while sailing through the Atlantic on the Carnival Sunshine.

Carolina Country Music Cruise

I was lucky enough to be able to set sail on the very first Carolina Country Music Cruise and have finally recovered from 5 days of nonstop partying to write about my experience! Let me set the scene for you! Imagine the sun is setting in Nassau, Bahamas after the Carnival Sunshine has been in port all day. You are on the Lido Deck watching a gorgeous sunset and one of your favorite country artists is right in front of you singing live while another is waiting to perform after him. It was a dream really.

This amazing voyage of sea and sand featured some of country music’s most amazing artists on one ship for five days. There were more live shows than you could possibly attend, beer pong, gambling, contests, corn hole, and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol! But more than all of that, fun, friends and tons of memories!

Carnival Sunshine

The Carnival Sunshine was where it all went down. Leaving from Charleston, SC on a very cold and rainy Saturday didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s excitement for what was to come that’s for sure. The party started as soon as we boarded the ship, country music playing, enjoying the drink of the day “Let’s Get Ship Faced” and mingling with new and old friends! Vacation has officially begun!

Because this was a themed cruise, the pool deck was transformed into the main outdoor stage. There were still two hot tubs on the main deck and another hot tub and pool on the Serenity deck as well. Since this was a Carnival cruise there were some similar activities that you would find on a normal cruise. However, live country music entertainment took over all of the shows and entertainment, which was expected. That’s what we were all there for right?

The ship still offered all of their dining options— like Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, and JiJi Asian Kitchen. Let’s not forget the many bars on the ship as well: RedFrog Pub, BlueIguana Tequila Bar, SkyBox Sports Bar and Alchemy Bar… plus the Havana Bar! Believe me, there was plenty to eat and drink on this ship that’s for sure!

The Concerts

I loved the intimacy of the concerts. The cruise venues are much smaller than your big stadium shows. I loved that I could watch a concert while relaxing in the hot tub, pool, a cabana on the Serenity deck, or a comfy seat in The Liquid Lounge. It was a total thrill to be so up close and personal to immensely talented artists, who go above and beyond to connect with their fans.

Not only did this cruise have some amazing country music singers but they also had songwriters on as well. Every day from 6-8 pm songwriters took turns explaining the creative process behind creating #1 hits. My only disappointment was that I didn’t make it to see them every night because “Southern Rounds” as they called it, was the highlight of this cruise by far!

Artist Interaction

It was definitely not uncommon to be riding in the elevator with an artist or sitting by the pool beside a member of a band. The truth is you really never knew who and when you were going to bump into them. They were enjoying their vacation and doing the same things we were when they weren’t performing.

The interaction with the artists was probably my favorite part of the cruise. I ran into Dylan Scott at the Lido deck bar and Colt Ford while walking to dinner. I hated bothering them but they were both so cool and had no problem with me fangirling over them for a minute and then taking a picture with me.

CCMF or CCMC?

Ya’ll know I’m a huge CCMF fan, we love the festival and look forward to it every year. But If you want to relax in a festival environment with all your luxuries— like a hot shower, pool, restrooms, and food at your fingertips this is the perfect vacation for you. Drink as much as you want, 24/7 concerts, nobody has to drive home, and the gorgeous views? It doesn’t get much better in my opinion!

I am so thankful that Jeff and I got to be on this cruise and experience it firsthand.

Bringing Country To The Caribbean | CCMC

November 3, 2019

I’m sure as most of you know we are huge country music fans. The Carolina Country Music Fest that takes over our town every June is hands down one of our favorite weekends of the year.

When we first learned about the Carolina Country Music Cruise (CCMC) Jeff and I were sold….cruising with some of our favorite country artists in the middle of the ocean? What could possibly be better? We originally were all in, then Jeff broke his collar bone and we realized the cruise was during school/work (which I knew was going to be pretty much impossible to get off for) it seemed it just wasn’t in our favor to go. We kind of scraped the idea and were just counting down the days until CCMF 2020.

CCMC Yes Please!

Then one day I opened up my DM’s on Instagram and got the most amazing news, I had been invited to attend the cruise with a guest! Say what?!?! After some behind the scenes work and getting all our “ducks in a row” we took the plunge and were set to go on the first annual Carolina Country Music Cruise leaving from Charleston on the Carnival Sunshine on November 16th! By the way @ccmfcruise you can slide into my DM’s anytime!

The CCMC is pretty much the vacation of our dreams especially for those of us who love cruising and can’t get enough country music! We have been on a few cruises but of course, none that involved country music artists! I mean is it possible I could be in an elevator with an artist or sitting by the pool with the band?! How does this work? I mean the truth is, if we are all on the same ship together, it has to be pretty common to have some interaction, right? Are these two just going to be walking around the ship?! I hope they don’t mind me totally fangirling over them. I’ll try to play it cool I promise!

The Ship

The Carnival Sunshine will be transformed with different country music-related events and major shows featuring popular stars from today’s country music industry. The cruise will be just for those interested in country music and it won’t be a regular voyage which the Carnival ship usually sails.

In addition to a stacked lineup of country artists, the cruise offers nine bars, 27 dining options, pools, whirlpools, and waterslides!

Theme Nights

If you are familiar with CCMF you know they love theme days, and I love shopping and picking out outfits for them as well. US of A Day is always so much fun during CCMF, and the CCMC is following suit with Theme Nights on the Cruise.

The first theme night is Rhinestone Cowboy on Sunday, Nov 17. That’s the night everyone gets fancy for dinner. Think Captains Dinner turned Country. I’m packing my blinged out boots from Wild West Boot Store, I have a few options for dresses from Idyllwind and also found some dresses from Southern Fried Chics that would be perfect as well! My husband is packing his cowboy boots, hat and a shirt that just screams Rhinestone Cowboy all from Country Outfitters!

The second theme night is ‘MERICA on Monday, Nov 18. This is a tradition at CCMF that I was referring to so I knew they weren’t going to leave this Americana themed night out! My husband and I got our outfits from Shinesty and I cannot WAIT to show y’all! Here are some of my past CCMF American Themed outfits as well!

The final theme night is Lei’d Back on Wednesday, Nov 20. Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts are going to be taking over the ship! My husband found Hawaiian shirts from Goodwill y’all! And I found my outfit on Amazon for under $20! Here are some ideas from Amazon!

Don’t forget the lei’s!!

What else to pack?

Go ahead and bring your favorite cruise wear like bathing suits, coverups, cocktail dress, hat, sunscreen, and flip flops! You never know who you may bump into while walking around the ship, so make sure you have a camera or your phone available as well!

One of my favorite shirt companies Hippie Runner has some fun cruise-related shirts as well that you might wanna check out! She even has some fun country music-themed tees too!

We are officially 11 days away from a non-stop country music party on the high seas! Mixing country music stars, music, a world-class ship and service and of course the greatest community of fans imaginable! And yes you can still book today! Use code: JAMIE to save 10%!

C’mon, y’all what are you waiting for?!

For more information, visit ccmfcruise.com.

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Social Media Vs. Reality | Concert Style

September 27, 2019

Yes, my social media is a highlight reel. I know you are totally shocked right?

Social Media Vs. Reality

Remember it isn’t ALL real life. I woke up this morning to get ready for work to see I have a comment on a blog post from when we went to see Scotty McCreery at House of Blues last year. It really got me thinking about social media vs. reality.

“These aren’t real pictures meant to excitedly get close to people who have created art you care deeply about. They are photos meant to show you do VIP things, get close to the talent and to make people think you are living a life more glamorous or exciting.”

Real Life

I don’t know about you but these pictures couldn’t be any more “real” than they are. All I can see is a girl who is extremely happy with a giant genuine smile!

Highlight Reel

“Your daughter isn’t feeling some real moments. She is coming in on free passes, strolling up to meet and greets, getting pics with the talent, merch, getting on stage.”

Free passes, one time. And this was our view FYI.

The rest of the images in that particular blog post involved me going through the crowd to take them, getting pushed and shoved the whole way I might add. We have paid for, won and stood in lines or at the stage for hours like everyone else. We have bought merch from our favorite artists EVERY single show. Do you think Chase Rice pulled my daughter on stage because he knew who we were? Seriously? My daughter had the time of her life that night, sang along to every song with him and was so happy to be there, and THAT is why he brought her on stage. I didn’t even have this blog when that happened so yeah no ‘VIP” treatment there.

Experience

“I would rather get a different take on your experiences at shows. So far it seems to me that a big focus for you is the photo aspect and making sure the shirts stand out and it’s all to gain a little more traction on social media and send more traffic here and I get it.”

You want a different take well here ya go. Real-life. The artists have no clue who my daughter and I are. When we get in the audience we are the same. Even with “Ultimate” VIP at CCMF that we WON we were still the same as everyone else. They didn’t know we won anything and if you sir knew anything about concerts/artists you would know that.

Real-Life

“Deep down you know good and well those song lyrics on the shirts for “Ball Cap” wasn’t done organically. It was a way to seek to stand out more and to then maybe draw more attention from Dylan Scott and then hope to draw more attention online as the other mommies comment how “stinkin cute those shirts are while being secretly jealous they aren’t doing the same things.”

The show with Dylan Scott and “Ball Cap” shirts. Are you referring to the one I drove 10 hours to spend the weekend with my best friend after losing my grandfather and our 10-month-old Great Dane? That is real-life. Real-life issues and I chose a concert with my best friend, my daughter, and her son as a way to heal. We paid by the way just in case you were curious, paid for tickets, gas, hotel room, even “the stinkin’ cute shirts.” We bought our meet and greets like everyone else who had them and the kids were counting down to see him! All 3 of them were so pumped!

Am I taking photos of us standing in the sun for hours? Nope. What I post at concerts is pretty much as real as it’s going to get. Honestly, if we even get good pictures and videos we just get lucky. Our phones are usually dead by the end of the night so you truly have NO clue what concert life is like for us. We don’t try to get a certain place for anything but the experience. There are no ushers taking us to our spot. We have to stand there for hours like everyone else. I wish I had it like that though. After waiting that long to see the artists of course we are going to take pictures up that close! Who wouldn’t?!