Our Trip to Vero Beach!

Since all of you have been asking for details about our trip, we decided to get it all out on here! :)
For those of you who are new or don't know us, the two girls who run the Owen Army are named Jaime & Jessi. We had never met when we started The Owen Army, we had just talked on the fanclub page, twitter and facebook. Crazy I know, but I've always said Jake can bring some awesome people together! We actually met for the first time on this trip.
We met in Orlando and drove down to Jakes hometown of Vero Beach, FL. It's a small, quiet little beach town with a big town feel. Seems like a great place to call home!  We didn't get to see much the first day we were there but we knew we had to "Cruise to the Riverside" and go see where Jake got his start, The Riverside Cafe!

If you ever go to Vero, you have to visit the Riverside Cafe!! It is part bar, part cafe, & part party place. It'ss such a fun atmosphere! The employees are so nice and the food and service is the best.

You can also go out on the deck and look out on the water, it's a really pretty place to see.

Looking out from the deck of the Riverside Cafe

Outside the Riverside Cafe

That was pretty much our Friday night, sitting and talking to some of the locals.

On Saturday, we woke up to it raining like crazy! But, we had a breakfast planned at the iHop with some of our Owen Army members. For those of you who made it, we had a great time just sitting & talking about our concert experiences, meeting Jake & many other things. It was like talking to old friends! A highlight of the breakfast for me was an old man, I can't recall his name, came up to us & saw our shirts & started talking about Jake. He had known the Owen family for awhile & was saying how great it was that Jake & Mardy came back for these events & really cared for their hometown. It was cool to see how much his hometown residents really loved him!

Jaime & Jessi

iHop Breakfast

Stacey, Deanna, Becca, Jessi, Julie, Jaime, Sue and Becky

After we had breakfast, we went back to the hotel & heard that if the rain didn't stop, the concert was at risk of getting canceled. Which really upset us because we really wanted to be able to see Jake & give him the money that everybody worked so hard to raise. A little while after that, Jake tweeted that the event had indeed been cancelled. :(

A while later, we were heading out for lunch and ran into a few of our Owen Army girls who happened to be staying in the same hotel. So, we all decided to head on down to The Riverside Cafe again for some lunch.

As we pulled up to the Cafe, we see a very familiar face getting into a van with some other folks. Who was it??

Jessi, Chris, Stacey, Deanna, Jaime

CHRIS YOUNG!

He saw that Deanna & Stacey were wearing CY hats so he popped out and talked to us for a few and he kindly took some pictures with us. He was a real sweetheart!!

As we sat down for lunch, we couldn't help but notice a group of people sitting by the window. We recognized Jakes girlfriend Lacey and his twin brother Jarrod. But No Jake is sight!

About 15 minutes later we are eating our delicious lunch and who walks in.....Jake!! I'm not gonna lie, we were all trying to play it cool but we were freaking out inside!! lol He notices us, waves, & walks right over to our table and starts chatting us up. He had met us all before and he knew we were there for the concert. You could really tell he was so bummed that the concert was cancelled. He said that he felt sick just thinking about having to cancel the show but it wasn't safe for anyone to be there. 

Since we didn't know when the concert would be rescheduled or when we would see Jake again, we decided to go ahead and give him the donations, scrapbook and presents from The Owen Army.

Jessi, Jake, Jaime

I wish everyone of you could have been there!! He was so moved by everyones donations. He and Lacey both took time to look through the scrapbook, they loved it! He recognized some of you, which is awesome and he loved the cover with all the pictures from different concerts from 2011. And Lacey also loved our Owen Army shirts! Jake was telling her that the lips on the shirt were inspired by his lips tattoo which is of course are...Laceys lips!! She thought it was funny. I wish I could remember every little thing they said but it all went so fast, it's kind of a blur now.

After all this, Lacey offered to take pictures for us so we could show all of our members that Jake did get the check. I gotta say, she is a sweet girl!! :)

Deanna, Jessi, Jake, Jaime, Stacey

After we talked to Jake, we left to explore Vero a little more. Rumors were going around that he may play a small set at the Riverside that night but nobody was sure. We had planned to be there anyway just in case he decided to pop in! We got there around 8 and the place was packed!! He had decided to play a small, intimate, un-advertised show for The Jake Owen Foundation. Jake arrived around 9 and he was ready to play! He started out by playing "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" which was very appropriate for the night. :)

He also sang some of his own songs including "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" and "8 Second Ride". When the notes to "BBJN" started playing, the crowd went wild! I thought we were going to bring the place down!!

He then invited Chris to join him on stage. A highlight for me was the two of them singing Chris' hit "Tomorrow" together. I had chills!! They also did an amazing cover of George Straits "You Look So Good In Love".

Video of Chris & Jake Singing at Riveride, Thanks Stacey Sjogren!

(More video links at the bottom!)
After Chris left the stage, Jake kept on playing. He did a little Sublime, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Bow Chicka Wow Wow & Lynyrd Skynyrd...it was insane!
For all of us there, I know it will be a night we never forget! It was my favorite Jake show I have ever been to and I will always remember this weekend.

I am so glad we got to spend a few one on one minutes with him and give him the donations. That's what we were there for and it was a huge success!
We also were able to meet so many amazing people while in Vero. We want to personally thank The Riverside Cafe staff and owners David and Ellen for being so sweet to us. We really feel like Vero is our second home, we can't wait to come back and visit! Also, thank you to all of our Owen Army gals that came out in the pouring rain to have breakfast with us. We had a blast!! We look forward to doing it all again next year!
J&J

Note: We do not own any of the videos posted here. They are public videos on Youtube.
Since they are public, you can repost but please do not infringe on their rights and copy the videos!!
Vero Medley 1

BBJN in Vero!

Vero Medley 2!