The Perfect Kickoff

Welcome to our new blog. The purpose of this page is to give you a glimpse of what it's like to be a member of our family. Mary and Scott Thompson live in Oxford, MS with their puppy, Mo.

We have been married for almost two years and have had many adventures in the short time we've been together. The title of this post is labeled "perfect" for a couple reasons. First of all, something you should know about Mary is she is one of the most patriotic people I have ever met. When Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American" comes on, we both reach for the knob on the radio. While I'm reaching to change the channel, she's reaching to crank it up. She loves fireworks, our independence and all the family time involved in 4th of July celebrations. So this 4th of July weekend seemed to be the right time to start documenting our lives together.

Another thing you should know is that Mary is the biggest Willie Nelson fan walking the earth. Mary has seen Willie in concert numerous times and owns quite a bit of his music. Willie is no spring chicken, so we go and see him any time he plays close to home. We want to see him as often as we can while he is able to tour. The weekend of July 4, 2008, Mary and I were honored with another opportunity to see Willie in concert.

The events that lead to this opportunity actually originated in Clarksdale, MS last year. Mary and I went to Clarksdale to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We spent a weekend in November at the Shack-Up Inn . It is a very fun and exciting place for a quick and close getaway!

The first night we were there, we visited an art gallery and then had dinner at Ramon's, as it was recommended by several locals. After an early dinner, we went to Ground Zero Blues Club for some live music. Because of the early dinner, we were REALLY early for a night club. There were only a handful of people in the club. We sat at a table that was a bit wobbly. A gentleman came over and told us that we shouldn't have to tolerate that shaky table, and he ordered a couple people to fix the table. After talking with this gentleman for a bit, we learned that he was one of the owners of the club.

His name is Bill Luckett, and he co-owns Ground Zero with Morgan Freeman. He and his wife Francine invited us to join them at their table. We spent the rest of the night talking and dancing with them. Bill has a poster of Willie Nelson hanging in Ground Zero, which Mary immediately noticed. It's an advertisement for BioWillie Diesel Fuel. Bill was explaining to us that he is an investor in a company that produces this alternative fuel. I told Bill that Mary was Willie's most dedicated fan. Bill said that Willie would be playing a dedication concert at a large truck stop in Texas that will be carrying this alternative fuel. He then promised that Mary and I would be part of that trip to see the dedication, and he said that Mary would have the chance to meet Willie.

Fast forward to now. Mary and I are relaxing in Oxford after a day trip to Hillsboro, TX. Thursday morning, we boarded a private plane that was piloted by Bill Luckett and took off for Texas. We landed in Hillsboro, and a chartered van was waiting for us. The van took us to our hotel where we met Mickey Rafael.

Mickey plays harmonica in Willie's band. He was at the hotel using their laundry facilities to clean his clothes. After a bite to eat, we stopped back by the hotel and picked up Mickey, who needed a ride to the venue. He is super nice and told us he wants to bring his wife to Graceland Too---which we got a good laugh from.

Carl's Corner is this very large truck stop in which Willie is part owner. They built a music hall onto the facility so Willie, and other local acts, can play live music. Willie didn't want to charge anyone to attend this event, so he made it a free concert. So you can imagine how many people came out of the woodworks to see him live. Oh yeah, it wasn't just Willie in concert. The music began at 10 a.m. and ran until midnight. The facility can only accommodate 2,000 people. Thankfully, we were part of Bill Luckett's company.

So our van wheels into the area where all the tour buses are. We get out and head over to the Gibson Guitar bus (Bill knows the driver of that bus). On that bus, we were able to get out of the heat and grab a drink. The Gibson bus was huge--and decked out with guitar decor. There was even a sound booth on the bus, and some little machine that would tune your guitar in less than 15 seconds. After enjoying that bus for a while, we went inside, where we had access to a VIP area. This meant that we had our own bathroom, we had our own waitresses and the food and drinks were FREE.

The passes we had around our necks allowed us to go all over the place and get through security. Mary became big buds with the "bouncer", Chief. We really enjoyed being first class!

Throughout the day we were back stage and at the band busses a good bit. While taking in the chaos, the real excitement was in meeting some of our favorite musicians.

We met David Allan Coe--who was not the nicest man there (imagine that!)...and although he did take his picture with us, he didn't have much to say even when we personally thanked him for playing in our hometown. Mary could not get over his chin hair---while I was fixated on his tattoos, which were from his shoulders to his knuckles! You can see in our picture that Mary really didn't want DAC to touch her...

Later in the day, we ventured back outside and tracked down Merle Haggard's bus. Mary tagged along with some guy who had painted these huge canvas pieces and was tracking down the musicians to autograph his artwork. Leave it to Mary to sniff out the right people to tag along with!

Because of this, we were able to meet Merle Haggard, which was a bit more exciting than our interaction with DAC. Apparently we woke Merle up....because he did not say ONE word in the entire time we were at his bus. Mary's artist friend kept barking orders at Merle (sign here, write your full name, now here, and turn it around). Surprisingly, Merle obeyed...and then at the end, he slapped the artist on the neck and started crazy punching him on his arm. Of course this was all in humor, but it was a little intimidating to ask him for his photo after witnessing it! This did not stop Mary, though. She didn't fly to Hillsboro, TX for nothing!

However, she also was not going to stop with DAC and Merle. I warned you--she's a Willie fan. So, after many phone calls between Bill Luckett and Annie Nelson (Willie's wife), and after a few more refreshments, and after lots of anticipation, it finally happened! Not only did we get to meet Willie, but we got to visit with him for several minutes. Although it was quick, it was somewhat intimate as we were told where to meet him by his wife. Therefore we were not mobbed by lots of obnoxious fans (which we were when it came to DAC and Merle!). Mary proudly shook Willie's hand, and then got a little star struck. She promptly introduced him to me, and I informed him that I had married the #1 Willie fan. He gave Mary a great big hug (I don't think she wanted to let go!), and then posed for a few pictures. He quickly kissed her cheek, and although we didn't get that on film, I did witness it and Mary was thrilled that I did. I told him that Warner (my boss) liked that Willie wanted "My intentions were good." to be on his tombstone, and boy did Willie laugh---I mean, head back belly laugh. (Do you think he was high?). He signed a book of Mary's, and then headed off for a photo op with the Gibson bus. What a thrill!!!! After the photo shoot, he came back through the same room and pinched Mary's arm and winked at her. He couldn't get enough of Mary!! The most exciting part was that Willie Nelson was nice to both Mary and me. After our brief and random encounters with DAC and Merle, we were both a little nervous about what Willie would be like. And now we know...and now Mary wants to purchase any and everything of Willie's....again.

After our backstage excitement, we could finally settle back into the VIP section and enjoy the music. The concert was fantastic--even better than ever before. We danced and sang and laughed a lot. What a great celebration!

The next morning we loaded back on the plane with the Luckett's and headed back to Mississippi. Because we were gone only 24 hours, it was a blur, but thank goodness for the photos. Now how do we top that?!?

Let the adventure continue---and now you can share it with us!