John Mellencamp "Live!" in Daytona Beach, Florida

Wow! What a day.

We started off with a tour of the Tigers Spring Training facility in Lakeland. We were able to visit several areas and learn about the Tigers. It's very blue and orange all over there. The Tigers theme is clear. We saw some players finishing up their practicing (the other players were in Port St. Lucie.) We decided against going on the long trip to Port St. Lucie. Instead, we headed to Daytona, hoping for a chance to catch John Mellencamp.



Well, the traffic was unbearable. But we beared it, I guess! We arrived in Daytona where we needed to be by 6 o'clock. Hoping we could find 615 Main Street, we began walking. We found the 600 block of Main and weren't sure where the motorcycle presentation would be. We walked into one area, asked if it was "Where John Mellencamp would be receiving his bike." The security guy told me it would happen in about 20 minutes or so and that John was already there. So, Ken and I headed to the front row. Mellencamp finally arrived at about quarter to seven. He received his motorcycle, talked to the crowd, thanked the company who customized it for him ... Then, they asked him to play a song. He sang "Pink Houses" using only his voice and a guitar they provided. It was pretty cool.



There were going to be some contests after John left, but we didn't stick around for that. We headed back to the car and up to Ormand Beach where David Allen Coe would be playing in concert. He plays free shows every night during Bike Week at the Iron Horse Saloon. You would not have believed the number of Harleys at the Iron Horse. A LOT. Coe played for about an hour, beginning at 10:45.



Tomorrow, we're off to Lakeland where the Tigers host the Boston Red Sox.