A Night with "Royalty"

This weekend, Tracy and I took a little belated anniversary trip. We headed to Birmingham on Friday to see Queen Reba and King George, aka Reba McEntire and George Strait, in concert. We have seen Reba in concert twice before, but this was our first time to see George. We had tickets to one of his concerts a few years ago, but Matthew and I both caught the flu that week and we had to sell our tickets.

My cousins Tricia and Wanda are big country music fans, and they met us in Birmingham to go to the show. It was kind of a surprise trip for Wanda; Tricia just told her about it a week ago, and she was estatic! She is an absolute HOOT, so it was treat for us too! We started out with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, and then headed for the concert. This was our first time to eat at Cheesecake Factory and all I can say is YUUU-UUUMMM! Delish! When we go out of town, we try to eat at places we don't have at home!

LeeAnn Womack opened the show

Can you believe the heels on these shoes? There is no way I could perform in them!

Next up was Reba!

The red "Fancy" dress...she always wears a red dress to perform "Fancy", and yes, she came to the stage in the yellow taxicab! And don't you love these shoes?

Would you take a look at the size of the rock she's wearing?

King George!

No flashy stage set, no flying around the arena , he just picks his guitar and sings....now THAT'S talent!

Goodnight, George...

After the show, we headed back to The Cheesecake Factory for dessert!

I had a peanut butter, Butterfinger, Reese's Cup cheesecake.



Strawberry cheesecake



Red velvet cheesecake


And finally, the best dessert of the evening (and it wasn't even cheesecake)...
Lemoncello Creme TorteFrom the CF menu: Layers of Vanilla Cake and Lemon Mascarpone Cream Topped with Streuseland Served with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

We closed them down at 12:30 a.m., and said our goodbyes to Tricia and Wanda. I can't begin to tell you how long it's been since I was out that late!!! I am sooo not a night owl! In fact, I'm usually asleep on the couch by 8:30! The next morning, we slept in, then did a little shopping before heading home. It was the perfect weekend....a fantastic concert, hanging out with relatives we don't get to see nearly often enough, and yet some alone time for Tracy and me.
If there is one thing I learned this weekend, it is that now I am truly a camera snob. On the Ticketmaster web site when I bought the tickets, there was a notice that said "No professional cameras". Well, at a previous event, I was told that if the camera had a detachable lens, they considered it "professional". So, I didn't even attempt to take my good camera; I took my mom's point and shoot instead. I didn't get any concert photos worth anything. All these are from Tricia's camera, still a point and shoot, but a nicer one than Mama's. It has a good zoom on it, but you can tell the photos get pretty grainy when you're really zoomed in. I found myself getting really frustrated with my inability to get any good shots, and even on those close-ups in the restaurant, getting frustrated with the inability to control the flash, etc. However, I'm glad I at least have access to some photos, and I have a ton of memories in my mind!

Busy week this week....open house/family night tomorrow at school, then a steak dinner fundraiser on Friday night. Hope your week is great!