"Dammit, when are they going to show the local forecast? They keep showing the European weather!...okay wait, there it is. Geez, it looks like its heading right for here....someone look outside. It's raining."

"Maybe if we had stopped at the CBN visitor's center like I wanted to, we wouldn't be having this problem. Pat Robertson could personally be taking care of this little weather problem for us."

"Shut up, M!"

Weather was on everyone's mind in the Hampton Inn in Virginia Beach. The Atlantic was experiencing its first tropical depression of the season...almost right over where the next concert was going to take place. We knew the band was RnRing it in Hilton Head, SC and we were worried that they could even get out of there with current weather conditions. This was one show that couldn't be canceled. We had 2nd row seats.

The day of the show, with an anxious eye to the weather, we had a great lunch at the Olive Garden with quite a group of online friends. Ch had organized the entire fete. Our little group (D and K had become auxiliary members) had picked up P (who thankfully had decided not to fly Valu-Jet) and at the restaurant, we met B, A, J and her mom. Ch had also arranged for a local reporter to be present. So, over laughter and pasta, we all told our tales. After the group picture, we made a bee-line for the arts and craft store because we had wanted to make a few signs for the show.

The sun finally came out allowing us to go for a swim and to then prepare for the show. Little did we know that this evening was going to be the highlight of the entire trip!

The seats were awesome. We personally had never sat so close to the stage before. It was incredible...we were so close we could see that the amps were set at 9 (not 11?). We were a little off to Tim's side, but that didn't matter. We could see everything. Shortly before the show started we got a nice surprise. Sitting right next to us was a WT subscriber and his young daughter. We hope they had a great time.

(From this point on, all Eagle "encounters" experienced by us in the 2nd row were verified by at least 2 people. If they actually did not occur or if they are a product of our over-active, over interpretive imaginations FOR LAND'S SAKE, LET US HAVE OUR LITTLE FANTASIES). We knew it was going to be an interesting show when Timothy Drury and Scott Crago took the stage and seemed to be looking for someone in the audience. Let us explain.

Timothy had recently posted on America Online about his new album. While on the trip, we had briefly exchanged e-mails and had told him that we would all wave at him from the 2nd row. We certainly had no intentions of frightening him. He came out, we all waved. He waved back. It was a great way to start the show.

Everything from the 2nd row seemed bigger and brighter and more animated. Our eyes were glued to the stage. We could see how Timothy S. kind of leered while he played, we could see the designs on Joe's shirt, we could see the little droplets of singing by-product (spit) emanating from Glenn's mouth, we could see that WONDERFUL smile on Don Felder's face....the only thing we couldn't see was Henley's head. It was hiding behind a cymbal....but that was okay. Even the sound was better in the second row. We could hear little nuances and the stage talk between songs. We were in HEAVEN for the first set. It was only going to get better.

During intermission, Scott Crago came down into the seats with a fistful of drumsticks which he proceeded to distribute to the kids in the first few rows. We were thinking that maybe we could pass V off as an eleven year old, but it didn't work.

Words cannot describe what it was like for all of us during the acoustic set. We won't even try. After "You Belong..." Glenn introduced the backup guys and we held up a sign with Timothy Drury's screen name just so that he would understand that we weren't any group of freaks sitting in the 2nd row...we were HIS freaks. The connection was made. Then Don came out for "Boys of Summer". Tim S. grabbed him before the song started and gestured over by us. Don squinted and then nodded and then told Frey (and we all saw this) "That's them." Glenn then looked at us and laughed. We weren't sure if this was a good thing, but we sure got excited. We all continued to make eye-contact with the band throughout the rest of the show. Don Felder was certainly amused by us (not as amused as he would be in a few days) and kept looking at us while Joe sang(?) "Life's Been Good". C and V reported that it looked like Felder was waiting for some sort of reaction. After Joe sang the "They write me letters tell me I'm overweight" line and we all flipped out (we're so predictable, aren't we?) Felder laughed at us yet again.

We didn't want it to come to an end, but eventually it did. During "Take it Easy" we suddenly remembered that we had brought signs for the band. The sign about Glenn's ugly shoes was forgotten about, but instead, V and L struggled to hold up a very floppy piece of tag board that read "Good Party". Timothy S. witnessed this struggle and looked confused and amazed that we couldn't coordinate a simple sign. Eventually, though, just V held the sign. Glenn FINALLY saw it, tipped it head back and let out a huge GLENN GUFFAW. V then swears that Glenn sang the rest of "Take it Easy" to her, but D thinks otherwise. Man, we had a great time.

Sadly, though, we had to clear out of town. We went back to P's room, changed and left enough good service coupons to get Ron, the friendly desk clerk, promoted to regional director. Then we loaded up on junk food and started the long, nighttime trek to Penn State.