Ava Elisabeth: Amelia Island Big Band Jazz Festival

Neal and Marty called us and asked if we would be interested in joining them at the Amelia Island Big Band Jazz Festival, and if you know us at all, you know we jumped right on that!

It was held at the Amelia Island Plantation in their new convention center, this was actually the first event to be held in this particular part, so didn't we feel special! :)

Neal's mom, who I love dearly! and is affectionately known as 'Grandmother' was actually the one who initiated all of this. She showed it to Neal and Marty they in turn, called us.

We also called Mom and Dad who called Grammy and Big Papa and then mom called Aunt Robin, and Adam and I called Jenny and Jason- ha! Before it was all said and done we had a table full and we were the youngest table there by a wide margin!

There was a cocktail hour before the music then we were all able to go inside and eat.

After dinner, host, Les DeMerle got up and he and 17-piece orchestra played some familiar jazz pieces. It was really fun, everyone was encouraged to get out on the dance floor and dance and boy did they! I decided then and there dance lessons were a necessity. I actually bid on some dance lessons in the silent auction and then Adam went back and bid again when someone outbid me but unfortunately someone must have bid right after he did :(

We had so much fun people watching. You could definitely tell we were among the "upper" island people! This is something they do all the time. Especially this particular couple. I kept waiting for them to fall over, they both looked so fragile, but I think they danced to almost every song!

We eventually took our turn on the dance floor after the urging of one of the ladies in charge of the event came by to lecture our table. The only ones who had danced before us were my Grandparents- cause they, you know, dance all the time.

Sam Kouvaris also came and sang several Frank Sinatra songs along with the Les' wife, Bonnie Eisele. This was the 2nd year for the Big Band Bash and it is really a fundraiser for the Jazz Festival that takes place later in the year.

We had plenty of fun socializing and the little bit of dancing we did, but we had way more fun people-watching- particularly this one lady, who needed a little more clothes on. She obviously didn't think so, but trust me she did. I never managed to get a picture of the front, but just know she was an older lady, who wasn't in terrible shape, but you would have thought she was a 20-something with a supermodel body based on her dress (and confidence as she wore it!) I was only able to snap a picture as she walked by of the back- Jenny was just an unfortunate bystander ;)

Marty, unbeknownst to me, was taking pictures while we danced, I think she felt like the professional photographer ;) she hasn't been known to take the best pictures in the past, something we tease her about, and this particular night she did pretty good on most, but there were a few pictures I'm not really sure what she was trying to capture!

I mentioned we were the youngest group there by a long shot... I think if you combined mine and Adam's age you still wouldn't equal the average age of the people in attendance, but these people seemed to know how to have a good time! ;)