It has been almost two years since I went on my first cruise – the first ever 311 cruise. Now I had always said that I would NEVER take a cruise. I wasn’t very keen on the idea of getting on a boat and being on the ocean in the middle of nowhere (cue Titanic music). Then 311 announced that they would be cruising to Turks and Caicos in the first EVER 311 Caribbean Cruise, setting sail on 3-3-11. Like the old saying goes, never say never. Yes, the girl who swore she would never step foot on a giant ship to sail somewhere booked the cruise as soon as she could. This was just too great an opportunity to pass up and the way I looked at it, if I was going down then what better place to be than with the band I love?

Flash forward to departure day – 3-3-11. It was like a dream come true. As I checked in to board the boat the band arrived and were ushered through the sea (no pun intended) of people waiting to board the Carnival Destiny. I couldn’t believe it…I was getting on a boat with these guys! Could it get any cooler? Oh it could.

Once on board we checked out our room and hit the Lido deck to see the stage set up. After exploring the boat a little bit we waited for the drill to start so we could secure a spot to watch the first 311 show. After a bunch of people trying to coral a bunch of excitables into organized drill lines we were dismissed and quickly ran to prepare for the first 311 show at sea! As the ship left the Port of Miami, 311 took the stage. Words really can’t describe the energy that I felt during that time. The air was warm, the fans were energized and the band has never sounded better. I attribute that to the melodic tones bouncing off the waves. They played Jupiter, which I had never heard live and about cried when they did. They played my all time favorite 8:16AM. But the best part was when they broke into Summer of Love. My husband had graciously offered to go get me and the people we were with pizzas because we realized we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and were all starving. He had been gone awhile and that’s when Summer of Love began to play. I freaked because I knew how much he loved that song and didn’t want him to miss it. It was as if the Gods had planned it this way – a group of people parted and through them comes my husband, carrying two pizzas and smiling as he rocked out to the song. He made it back to hear most of the song with us, while we munched on some delicious pizza. Happiness was the emotion felt by all.

The boat was a floating orb of positivity. We met up with people from Boston and people we had met prior to cruising. We made new friends. We drank. My husband got sea sick. We drank some more. We sunned. We partied. We took a ridiculous amount of photos.

We met the band! Although briefly and quick, that minute was one of the most surreal and awesome moments of my life. I thought I could keep my cool and act laid back but the minute the Sixthman crew sent me behind the curtain where the guys were waiting my shaking took over and I somehow managed to smile and spit out the words “Hey guys, thanks for coming into my life 17 years ago.”  They all smiled and said aww that’s sweet. I did my best pose and smiled, praying to God that neither my husband or myself blinked or made a stupid face. I then proceeded to hug Nick, even though they said not to and my hubby shook their hands. Needless to say I was on cloud nine the rest of the day. Hell I’m still on cloud 9 from it! (And the picture came out great!!!)

The second show I saw was indoors at the theatre and the sea was so angry that the whole ship was rocking back and forth like you wouldn’t believe. It was so bad at one point that my whole row fell over into each other. Despite that the band somehow seemed unfazed and continued to rock. I heard Jupiter for the second time in 3 days and thought I had died and gone to heaven. I heard Pnut play Coda for the first time. The set list was amazing but unfortunately I had to experience it without my love due to his sea sickness. He did manage to hear a few songs before leaving. Lesson learned from this is to get the sea patch from your doctor before you board and wear it!!! Trust me…it’ll keep you from wishing you had never stepped on that rocky boat.

Despite his bout with sea sickness we did manage to have an awesome time and leave with some great memories and new friends. There is so much more I could write about this cruise. The experience of being on that first one is something no one can ever take from me and I am so glad I did it. For those who haven’t gone yet, do whatever you can to get on one at some point. Trust me it is worth every penny. I got a second job just to pay for the first cruise!

Tomorrow marks exactly six weeks until we fly to Miami for the third 311 cruise (our second one since we missed 2012 and opted for 311 Day instead). As I write this blog entry my skin has started to tingle and my brain is racing in anticipation of the new adventure. New boat, new friends to be with, and three shows to look forward to. Not to mention some other great bands I’m excited to see. I wish I could rent a boat big enough to take everyone who wants and deserves to go. Just know if you aren’t going you will get there one day. Up until 2011 I never thought I would get to experience a special 311 event. Dreams do come true! This time once I depart the ship from the 5 day party, I plan to write down all my memories as soon as possible, instead of procrastinating and taking two years! Stay positive and love your life.

This story begins 17 years ago, in the year 1995. I was graduating high school. I was 18. I was having a blast with my friends. I loved music and going to concerts. Then one day on the radio came a song. “All mixed up, don’t know what to do” – the voice singing those lyrics sang out to me. Who was this band that seemed to be drawing me in and that I felt a connection with? The band was 311, and this is where my love for them began.

There are a few things you might be thinking right now, depending on who you are. One, you might be thinking, “311? Never heard of them.” You might be thinking, “311? They’re still together?”  If you personally know me, you might be thinking, “Good lord here we go again with the 311 talk.”  Then again, you might also be a 311 junkie like I am, and be thinking, “Hell yeah, its about time someone blogged about 311!!” Since not everyone is like me, I’ll give the non-311 fans a quick run down of who the band is.

The five members of the band – Nick, SA, P-Nut, Tim, and Chad – all grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. These five guys have been making music together as 311 since 1991 and are still going strong to this day. It was in 1996 that they released the song “Down” and it went to #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart. After years of recording and touring, the media was finally paying attention to the band and they were getting the recognition they deserved.

So what happened after 1996? Well they’ve released a lot more material and developed a large following of devoted fans. They’ve made March 11th a holiday for all of those loyal followers aka the excitable crew.  They’ve hosted 2 cruises to tropical islands and held their own multi-day outdoor festival. They start their 10th consecutive summer of touring amphitheaters on July 4th, 2012.

Some people reading this may think I haven’t given enough background on the band or enough details. Let me explain something – that really isn’t the point of this post. I’m simply trying to give sort of a cliff’s notes version to anyone reading that has no clue about the band. This post is more about my love…ok, we’ll say addiction to the band and all that they represent. So forgive me for the brief history. If you want more background on the band read on here… http://www.311.com/band/band-history. That is where the information came from.

So lets retreat back to me discovering the band in 1996.  I ran out and bought the blue album.  Then a friend played the album Grassroots for me. I heard it in 1996 while visiting Virginia Beach. It was January and unusually warm – it made it into the 70’s the whole time we were there. Suddenly the song “8:16 A.M.” began to play. The lyrics instantly struck me – especially where it says “its 73 degrees, January easily glides.” It just made that moment of me first hearing it magical because it was January…and in the 70’s. I could feel myself falling more and more in love with this band every song that played. Needless to say, I ran out and bought my own copy of Grassroots, along with the first album Music. Hooked.

Years passed by and with each new release, I fell in love more. The lyrics…the musicianship…the live shows – it was all magical and enchanting. More so was the energy that the band as a whole emits to their fans. The messages that they spread are uplifting and motivating. They speak from the heart and provide listeners a connection like no other. “Stay positive and love your life” has become one of their most famous lyrics and really has become every true fans motto at this point. Who wouldn’t love a band that spreads peace, unity, love and respect?

27 shows later and my love for 311 is so deep rooted in my life that I carry it with me every day. It isn’t just about the band themselves, it’s so much more to me. 311 has taught me so much over the years and the vibe they exude energizes me from day to day. The band hasn’t just provided me with a way of living, they’ve introduced me to a collection of people that I may not have met if they didn’t exist. I’ve made friends from all over the country and some out of the country, all because of 311. I’ve honestly met some of the nicest people and we’ve all bonded over our love for 311, but its stemmed to become so much more. “I’ve got a clique, but it’s more like a family”, as 311 so perfectly puts it.

So here begins my blogging about my adventures & addiction with 311 and stories of some of the great people I’ve met along the way.  I’ll do my best to post as often as possible – just bear with me when school starts again in August and my free time dwindles down to nothing. If you love 311, then hopefully you’ll love my blog. If you love music – well keep reading too because not only am I a 311 junkie, but my husband and I love all kinds of music and I’ll post about that too. After all, as 311 says, “Musics what I need to keep my sanity.”