A lot of things in life turn out to be disappointments.
You know? You hear about this event or movie or whatever. Then you find out it's not for another six months.
So you wait with increasingly tantalizing anticipation.
You built it up to the point where the event can't live up to the hype in your mind.
And it ends up being a huge let down.
Well, that definitely was not the case in Jacksonville for the first Florida Country Superfest!
When we heard months ago that Easton Corbin, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert were all going to be performing at a single event over two days in the great state of Florida, we couldn't fast forward time quick enough.
Unfortunately, we had to wait just like everyone else.
Fortunately, the event exceeded our expectations.
If we tried to tell you everything awesome that happened, we'd run out of Internet, so we'll hit the highlights.
Luke Bryan joined Florida Georgia Line: We know FGL would do "This is How We Roll" - the groups new smash hit, featuring Luke Bryan, but with LB scheduled to perform just a couple hours later, we weren't so sure he'd join them for his part.
But, man, did he join them and the crowd erupted. The trio killed it and LB went straight back to the bus afterward.
Luke Bryan brought out some surprise guests: LB was the guest for FGL, but the ol' hip shaker had a few surprise guests of his own. Shocking just about everyone in the crowd, LB brought out Jason Aldean who closed the show on Day 1. We saw Aldean and Bryan share a stage a few years ago when LB was up and coming and thought that was the last time we'd see the two country mega stars perform on the same stage and the same time.
Fortunately we were dead wrong.
The two Georgia buds did two songs together, and they were just getting started.
LB announced he had another guest: Miranda Lambert, who had finished her set just before LB came on.
The three of them rocked the stage like old buddies hanging out, singing old George Straight songs they didn't even know the words to.
It was funny. It was awesome. But it wasn't even the best thing that happened at the festival.
Luke Bryan had one more guest that he didn't know about: During LB's last song before his encore, we noticed a man trying to get on the stage close to us.
Security rushed over and pushed the man down.
But he tried to hop back up.
Again a security guard blocked him and tried to push him down.
But this guy was persistent. He was pointing at his chest and trying desperately to get on stage.
That's when another security guard ran over.
The second guard called off the first guard and the man haphazardly climbed on stage.
That's when we realized it was Joe Nichols, who had opened the day nearly seven hours early.
Two things were immediately clear:
When LB realized it was Nichols, LB played it off and kind of announced "Joe Nichols" but then he put the mic to Nichols' mouth for him to sing along and Nichols just bobbed his lips like a fish out of water.
Instead, Nichols proceeded to lift up his shirt and stumble around the front of the stage.
After Nichols was done flashing the crowd, LB told him to "Get the fuck to the buses" not realizing his mic picked up what he was saying.
Nichols didn't catch the memo and LB had to usher him off stage and then bribe him to leave with a Miller Lite (which were spewed all over the stage).
The most awkward part of this all was that Nichols is supposed to be sober after alcohol and drugs nearly cost him his career in 2005.
Whoops.
About those Miller Lite cans: Nichols wasn't the only person to get a Miller Lite from LB.
At one point during his set, LB cracked a cold one, downed some of it, sprayed the crowd with the rest and threw the empty into the crowd... where Cody snatched it out of mid air!
You think that's an awesome souvenir? Getting a Miller Lite from Luke Bryan would be enough to blow us away, but on Day 1, we got more than we could ever expected.
Eric Church was bringing down the damn house with this set (Easily the best set of the two days. We feel badly for anyone who has to follow Church).
He was performing "These Boots," with the crowd swaying their boots in the air.
Cody noticed Church going for a marker and realized he was going to be looking to sign a pair.
Cody snatched Katie's boot and shoved it toward the stage where Church snatched it.
But he didn't sign in and give it back.
No. Way better.
He performed with the boot, hoisting it in the air and beating his chest with it for a good two-thirds of the song.
Then he signed it and gave it back to Cody (along with two other boots to their respective owners).
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this was that Church remembered, shortly after downing about five mini whiskeys, who owned which boot.
After she got it back, Katie refused to wear the boot, going barefoot the rest of the night.
But that's not even the best part: You'd think it wouldn't get better than all that, but it absolutely did.
Hanging out in the parking lot meeting all ya'll Salty Rednecks for Florida, Georgia and damn well everywhere else was the highlight of the two days.
We got such an amazing response to Country Shore, that we're confident we're doing something right.
And the support you've given us since the festival has been beyond awesome.
We're so thankful you're willing to help us spread the word and help us out on Facebook, Instagram and everywhere else.
There's no way we could make this work without you.
Also, Cody would like to thank ya'll for the alcohol hospitality you showed us at your tents.
In a two-day stretch, he had more Fireball, Crown, Jack, Miller Lite, Coors Lite and Bud Lite than he's had total in six months!
Thanks again and keep those pictures rolling in! And check out of Facebook Page and Instagram for more photos!
Cody Swann
Author