Sam, Tampa, and Kanye

 Sam is a lucky boy. He convinced me to take him to Tampa at the end of June for a Kanye West ("Ye") concert he really wanted to go to. I said no at first, but I eventually caved. Like I said, he's a lucky boy. Lucky that I like him so much! It turned out to be a nice quick trip together, and I'm glad we did it.

Boarding the plane in Boston

Lesson learned: Don't wait for your seat to be assigned at the gate in order to save money, or you might end up in the very last row like us!

Sam's Instagram story

I like Holiday Inn Express, so we stayed at one that was about a half-mile or so down the street from the stadium where the concert was. 

We walked to the stadium in the morning so that Sam would know how to get there and back, and so that we could check out the venue a bit. It was an easy walk, but it was very hot and humid, even in the morning. There's a reason I haven't ever gone to Florida in the summer before, and that's it.

The concert was at Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play.

Sam had ordered a custom Ye concert tee from Etsy.

"West Tampa" on the water tower seemed fitting, like it was welcoming Kanye West. 😄

When we got back to the hotel, we cooled off in the pool for a while, and it felt good!

He got something to eat at a Chick-fil-a that was between our hotel and the stadium before going to the concert. 

Sam went to the concert in the late afternoon, even though it didn't start until around 8 p.m. He met up with some people from a group on Instagram that he was in (I think...as you can tell, I don't really understand how these things work), including some pretty popular social media people. He did fine and was safe, and he had a great time. He said it was the best concert by far he's ever been to, and that seeing Ye perform in person was amazing.

This is the big moon globe Kanye Ye performs on.

When I first saw this, it took me a minute to figure out that "oat" means "of all time." 😆

While Sam was at the concert for hours, I sat in bed and read books and took selfies. I'll spare you and only post one. 😁

I had gotten lunch from a Chipotle next door that filled me up, so for dinner I treated myself to a Snickers ice cream bar from the hotel's little store. I ate it as I read out by the pool.

There were some moody clouds, but luckily for the concertgoers, it didn't rain.

Sam got back late that night. We left in the morning. It really was a quick trip, basically two nights and one day.

Here we are at the Tampa airport before boarding our flight to Boston. Direct flights are the best!

Photobombed!

I have to say that I've come around to Kanye Ye a lot more than I thought I would. He has a notorious reputation, but I don't think he's that bad. A lot of the offensive and controversial things he did in the past were partly from mental illness, which he has under better control now. He's also funny and talented as heck. From a musical standpoint, Sam has played many of his songs for me in the car—the edited versions—and I really do like some of them. I love the beautiful piano music in Runaway, which I want to learn to play once I have my piano again. He also has some beautiful Christian songs that I've added to my playlist. I've been pleasantly surprised. He really is very talented. Now he just needs to clean up the language!

A(nother) Lovely Quick Trip to the Cape

David and I went to the Cape house to clean it up between renters for a quick less-than-a-day and night. As usual, it was a nice little trip, and we got to enjoy the beach and fire up the fire pit. 

There was a lot of laundry waiting to be done. Oh joy!

What cleaning? 😄 I laid out on the hammock and read and relaxed for awhile.

We walked down to the beach, and someone had left these books on the dune. How picturesque! 

Tidal pools behind the beach. I dare not walk too far out there; I think some mysterious crab-like creature might rise up out of the water and attack me! 👾 (I'm only half-joking. 😅)

Wild beach roses

Goldenrod (I think)

Beautiful landscaping in someone's yard on the walk back to the house

These are some of David's pictures from the beach:

We made s'mores at the fire pit that evening. 'Twas the first day of summer, after all!

It was all a lovely way to start the summer—our first married summer together, and my first happily married summer in a long time. 💖

I Finally Saw Les Miserables!

 I've long been a fan of Les Misérables, and I mostly knew it from seeing the movie versions and pop culture. I once tried reading the book, but it was waaaaaay too long, and I wasn't in the right headspace for it. Maybe I'll try again (when I'm retired! 😄). I was also familiar with the music because it's so popular. For many years, I've wanted to see the musical on stage. Well, that finally happened in June in Boston. And no surprise, the rumors were true; it was excellent. I went with David and Sam, which was fun. We had dinner at a Chipotle a few blocks from the theater, then enjoyed the show from our seats, which were higher up than I thought they'd be (but still cost a lot of $$$!?!).

Sights of Boston walking to and from dinner...

One of the things I love about Boston is the mix of historic old and modern new, right next to each other. 

The church is the Old South Meeting House.

When in Boston...

...why not dress like a Founding Father?

Finally!

The Opera House is ornate and beautiful inside.

Some views inside the theater before the show began...

Right above us, this:

It was a great show. I'd give it four out of five stars. It loses a star for the following reason: I didn't like some unnecessary queer stuff they put in toward the end—what an insult to the integrity of the storyline that Victor Hugo worked so hard on. I'm not sure if it was done because it was "Pride Month" and Boston is a very liberal place, or if it's just part of the show now. Related to that, I also didn't like how the musical focused more on the abhorrent, scamming innkeeper couple, who are secondary characters in the story anyway. They get a good laugh, but they're vulgar. Sadly, that appeals to the masses in the culture we live in now. I was able to let the Opera House know (politely) how I felt in a survey they sent out after the show. 

Despite that, I'm so grateful that I got to see this wonderful show! It has beautiful principles of love, forgiveness, and the ability to change into something better, with a good dash of history (the French Revolution!) mixed in. Vive la France!