Lyle Lovett and His Large Band!

"If I had a boat,
I'd go out on the ocean.
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat.
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony, on my boat." Lyle Lovett

I didn't get the boat or the pony, but I did get Lyle and the ocean. Hubster has out done himself, first with a Lyle Lovett concert in Asheville last night and then a three-night vacation in Wilmington. This is a quick post (ha! me, quick?), with no pics, because we're leaving in a few minutes, but I wanted to update those who were curious about our goings-on.
Had a BLAST in Asheville. Fantastic dinner at a place called The Lobster Trap (where we, in fact, ate lobster), then walked to the concert to see one of my all-time favorite performers and his large band. If you've never been to a Lyle concert, I don't think I can describe the enthusiasm and overall good-feeling in the air. Everyone is just happy to be there, happy to hear him sing, happy to hear the band play, and really happy to hear Lyle talk. He's a funny man. We heard:
"Church,"
"My Baby Don't Tolerate,"
"Cute as a Bug,"
"In My Own Mind" (quickly moving into my top-five Lyle list, particularly in the line where he sings "Bedroom door creakin'/hardwood floor squeakin'/she's standin' in the kitchen/I thought she was still sleepin'/Kiss her on the forehead/Ask her how she slept/ She says 'honey it's so early/ we probably shouldn't speak yet'" Love it.),
"That's Right You're Not From Texas (But Texas Wants You Anyway)", which sends Hubster into fits of Texan pride, and, as always,
"If I Had A Boat" (great moment when some fella in the audience yelled "Play 'If I Had a Boat'!" and Lyle said, in his polite, unassuming way, "Do you mind if we work up to it?").

Hubster counted 14 members of the band and there were four back-up singers (one fabulous black woman and three fabulous black men all in three-piece suits- I cannot describe the amazing sounds these four made). Best moment for me was Lyle and his fiddler, Jeff White, doing "Walk Through the Bottomland"- the tenderness in this song brings me to tears every time.

Made the trip home from Asheville last night. Hubster drove, but doing my valiant best to help, I drank a Red Bull (which always tastes like a combination of pink bubblegum and cherry cough syrup to me- that's right, it's just that darned good) to keep myself up.

Now we're packed and in a few minutes walking out the door to drive to Wilmington. I should have Internet and plan to post while we're gone. Apparently we're staying at the Hilton in downtown, with a view of the river, and only 15 minutes to the beach.

Think, after all this, the Birthday Monster that is me will be satiated. Hubster has done very, very well.