What looked like it was going to be an extremely wet event ended up being a bit muddy, but by the time Sammy & Co hit the stage, the rain that had fallen most of Saturday and Sunday took a pause to sit back and watch the show, or so it would seem.

I had made about a 3 hour drive from Illinois to come see Sammy for the 7th year in a row (my 9th time overall). I brought three people along with me that had never seen Sammy live. It had done nothing but rain from the time we left Olney, and I had encouraged everyone to bring a towel and a change of clothes, because we WERE going to see Sammy, rain be damned!

But amazingly, after a trip that involved rainfall so heavy that at times we had to travel under the speed limit (no, we couldn't drive 55...or faster) as we neared St Louis, the rain stopped.

We had to park a good distance from the park, possibly a 15-20 minute walk, but with our spirits rising thanks to the break in the rain, it didn't bother us at all. We did get there a bit later than I had intended...Eddie Money had already started playing, and the front area was pretty full of people already, so we settled down (actually didn't 'settle', the ground was soaked so we stood) at the back of the crowd and waited.

And then it was time.

Sammy, Vic, Mike, and Jason came on the stage, and the crowd went nuts. :)

Like every time I had seen Sammy previously, he acted as though he lived just for the purpose of doing a show in St Louis. I have to say, if you've never seen him there, then you don't know what a REAL Sammy show is.

By the time the show was almost done, I was pretty beat. I have leg trouble from diabetes, and all that standing was fairly painful; I was ready to get to the car, so we began the 10 minute walk to the park entrance about halfway through the final song...there were going to be fireworks after the show, but I wasn't interested in them, I just wanted to get off my feet.

And then it happened.

About halfway back to the entrance, a cart carrying several people went past us and stopped at a van about 20 feet ahead.

AND THERE WAS MICHAEL ANTHONY AND VIC JOHNSON.

Vic was already seated in the van, and Mikey was getting in as we walked up, but he stopped long enough to shake hands, and I tried to get a photo of my friend Craig and Mikey, but I am a moron when it comes to smartphones, and the road manager (or whomever) was hustling Mikey into the van and us away before a crowd started to show up...and I can understand that, but I wish I could have shook hands with Vic.

But such a great show...and as always, I will have some great memories of it.