So I know everyone has been expecting me to write a blog about my American Idol experience…Frankly, I don’t really want to because it’s not quite as fun or glamorous as everyone imagines…but I will do it anyway. All three of you who care about what’s going on in my “exciting” life will be utterly thrilled. Haha. Where to begin? Well, to begin with, the whole thing was not really my idea. I actually don’t like any of those shows and haven’t watched them in years. However, after lots of prodding from lots of people, I thought: “Well, I’m REAL poor and I probably won’t make it—but what if I DO??” So, that is the literal thought process that propelled me all the way to Charleston. Knowing the background, I should hope that you realize that my not making it was neither surprising nor devastating. If I hear one more person using the “you’re pitiful” voice, I might lose it. All that said, I probably didn’t have enough money to go. I’m still suffering the consequences of putting my paycheck toward travel expenses. But hey, it was an adventure. Ish.
We left after I got off of work at Starbucks Wednesday night around 10pm, drove for about 20 minutes (and were making very good time) when I realized I did not have my passport. Now, you see, you supposedly need two forms of ID to audition. Emphasis on the supposedly. So we turned around and drove all the way back to the apartment, where I preceded to toss things about until I located the blasted document. We would later discover that the whole 45 minutes we spent on that mission was a complete waste of time, as no one even took a cursory glance at the bloody thing! Anywho, we went down the road to a gas station and then I realized that I had left my phone at the apartment during my frantic search…so we had to go back again. At that time, I was REAL upset and REAL tired. (I know, by the way, that I am using atrocious grammar. I assure you it is for the purpose of humor.) Dani, my friend since junior high for those of you who don’t know, was very patient with me. She drove all the way to her aunt’s, a few hours away, without even complaining that I slept the whole way. We arrived around three in the morning and crashed until around 6am and headed off. Of course, we had to make a Starbucks stop, as I am terribly dependent upon it (Sidenote: the Greenville Starbucks is MUCH fancier than ours).
Blah blah, fast forward to hours and hours later—we arrived at the North Charleston Coliseum and waltzed right in for registration. We were pleasantly surprised with no line. They give you a paper to fill out, informational stuff, and a wristband (with the explicit warning that you not damage, remove, or dampen it at all) and then you’re on your way. Among the paperwork is a questionnaire. I love such things. It brought me back to the heyday of Myspace surveys. In any case, we set all responsibility aside and headed to the beach just after discovering that we couldn’t check into our hotel room until later that day. Then, oh crap! Another obstacle. I hadn’t printed off the necessary release form. With our [somewhat] trusty GPS, we used classic HayBoo ingenuity and tracked down a local library. I felt like singing the Reading Rainbow theme in celebration. We printed off the form, quick as a whip, and then changed into our bathing suits in the library bathroom. Also, about that bathroom—the toilets were weirdly high up. Seriously. I felt like I was five with my feet dangling off of the floor. Hahaha. It was very strange. Is that weird to mention? Maybe…Oh well.
It took us a little minute to find the nearest beach, which just so happened to be Sullivan’s Island. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Folly Beach, which is supposed to be fantastic. However, Sullivan’s Island is home to a lovely lighthouse as well as some cute little restaurants (none of which we really had money to visit. Haha) Regardless, it was butt hot. Too freakin’ stifling outside to spend more than an hour there. Even the water was hot. Well, uncommonly warm anyway. We waded in until we were waist-deep and stood there enjoying the ocean until we had a shrieking “Something touched me!” moment and went galloping out of the water, making kerplunking splashy noises the whole way. It sounds silly, but seriously—something touched me.
We spent a few minutes trying to get any manner of picture that didn’t make us look like cows and for the most part failed miserably. But we did enjoy the beauty of the setting for the short while we could bear the heat. Then, back to the hotel to check in. There were several other people staying there who would be auditioning. I heard some of them singing and thought “Uh oh!” And I heard some and thought: “Wow, comparatively, I’m ridiculously awesome.” Haha. They were outside on the patio/balcony/veranda/whatever you want to call it all night while we went to bed earlyish, snickering to ourselves that the fools would probably be late in the morning. And so ended the first day. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion…(And the next blog will chronicle the trip in pictures!)
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