Shallowford Presbyterian Youth

Well we're finally back in Georgia! We woke up bright and early for a private breakfast of eggs, bacon and donuts at the hotel, and got on the road around 9. One of two mall stops was today, and it couldn't have come at a better time for those of us that still lacked Father's Day presents. We had a leisurely two hours to shop around, eat lunch and get back on the bus for two more hours of driving, making the drive to Moultrie only about four hours total.

Once rehearsal began, kids were dropping like flies. We were all weary from the exhausting past two days, and our voices were pretty much shot. Several tummies became upset after our (fantastic) Breakfast for Dinner which was prepared by the men of the church. (Hear that husbands??)

However somehow we always end up pulling things together for the show, where we sang with energy and smiles on our faces, giving it are all. I'm not even kidding this time! Jimmy Moore had fun taking pictures during our concert, even though the majority are of his thumb, so there aren't many picture updates for the day.


We'll be singing tomorrow morning in worship, and then heading up to Atlanta armed with sack lunch subs and ideas floating through our minds about the Homecoming concert. Knowing that our own beds are in the distant future will make the three hour drive go quickly; we can't wait to get back to our regular (or as regular as a teenager can get) sleep schedules.

Faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is sleep.


See you all tomorrow!

As I type, my entire body aches. Eleven hours at a theme park is no walk in the park. In fact, it's really just walking in the hot sun, standing in lines, and wishing for a cold shower. And it. Was. Awesome.







This morning we woke up early enough for some of us to have a chance to see the sunrise over the beach (okay, okay, that was just me) and then drive an hour to Orlando. About five minutes after entering the park, we were already seeking out shade and fanning our faces. However, once the day got going, we all had fun. We raced around the park making good time and getting to all the rides. After we had finished everything we wanted to do, a whole hour had gone by! Most people ended up riding the Incredible Hulk or the Dragon Challenge Roller Coaster about 6 or 10 times. In between rides, we stopped to drink refreshing Butterbeer from Harry Potter world, and to buy 10 dollar chocolate frogs.





By the end of the day, we all walked with a slower stride, completely exhausted. Some fell asleep within minutes of sitting down, whereas others at least waited to sleep until we were moving. All in all, it was a fun, but extremely tiring day. We can't wait to sing tomorrow with our new raspy voices from roller coaster screams! Emily will be so pleased!



Tomorrow's a 7 hour drive in total before our final stop in Moultrie, GA. While this choir tour has gone by fast, after today, I think we're all beginning to miss our own beds. We'll see you all soon!

Wipe away those tears, everyone! Just because Jay left this morning doesn't mean the fun pictures and witty comments on the day's events has to stop! He left the blog in the trusting hands of the coolest member of the Chapel Choir, Tracy Moore!

After days of singing, it was safe to say we kids were pretty exhausted. Luckily for us, today was the first of two "free days" in a row. We got to the church early in the morning and headed straight to the beach. Sunscreen was sprayed on quickly, and we all took off towards the long awaited ocean. The sand was brutally hot underneath our feet, but nothing felt more refreshing than the cool waves.

As always, the boys set up a game of Spike Ball that ended up lasting about 8 hours. Others spent the day body surfing, tanning and making each other into sand mermaids. On the bright side, not a single one of us got burned today! (Did I mention it's opposite day?) As expected, pretty much everyone will be going home with at least a slightly pinker completion.










After a long, tiring day out in the sun, we headed to the Golden Corral for some five star cuisine prepared by some of Florida's top chefs. With a chocolate waterfall, swirly ice cream and enough cotton candy to feed a carnival, we decided we'd had enough nutrition for the night and headed back to the hotel after a quick stop at Ron Jon's Surf Shop to load up with Bro Tanks for the rest of the trip.









Before bed tonight, the Aloe Vera will be lathered on and sunburn moans will sound from every room. Tomorrow we will wake up early and head to Orlando for an all day trip to Islands of Adventure. More like Islands of We Will Get Even More Sunburned.

Today was NASA day. A short ride from Atlantic Beach and we arrived in Merrit Island, FL where we met up with Richard Floyd's dad Charlie. Charlie and his wife worked at NASA for many, many years even working to train the first astronauts to walk on the moon! They were gracious enough to get us tours of the facilities and share their knowledge and stories with us.

We got a chance to walk around the visitors center and see a lot of the original suits, ships, and NASA paraphernalia. The highlight was probably the Angry Birds exhibits where they got to play space related games. Then we boarded to Kennedy Space Center buses for a guided tour of the huge campus. We saw lanchpads and HUGE storage and building facilities and got a better sense of the inner workings of the history of the space program in Florida. The kids (or at least Jeff Jernigan) were surprising in their knowledge of space history!

The Cake! There were lots of old friends in the audience tonight and a real homecoming for the Floyd family. Mama was very proud to be showing the fruits of her successes at Shallowford in the form of 62 kids singing their hearts out. Although it was a great show, you could tell the kids were hanging on by a thread and are very much in need of the days off they will get the next two days! Not sure if a long day in the sun and a day at Universal will exactly provide rest, but we shall see. You'll be happy to know that Tracy Moore has agreed to take over the reigns so you'll have posts as the show rolls on.

We woke up this morning to a fun game of "I bet 70 people can't eat breakfast in a Days Inn lobby in under an hour." Luckily the golden arches were next door and some of us escaped for a nice peaceful biscuit and cup of coffee. Then it was off to Charleston and as you can tell from the pictures, it was DRESS DAY!!! Some even attempted wedges (that's shoes) on the cobblestone roads of the Charleston markets. Impressive? Ridiculous? Not exactly sure.

What better way to start off the day than shopping. In the rain!! Actually, it poured right as we got to Broadway at the Beach but only enough for us to buy every $6 poncho in the entire place. Then of course the sun came out and it got nice and sticky and humid. The kids all spent money on really quality souvenirs. You know, things like:

skateboards, magic tricks, fart spray, stuffed animals, fake tattoos and real piercings, cap guns, etc. A few of them even had money left to eat lunch with.






After the shopping spree it was a stop and go ride down Highway 17 through Myrtle Beach, Litchfield, Pawley's Island, and Georgetown all the way to Charleston. We went straight to the Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community where the wheelchairs were already being rolled into the chapel and folks were eagerly anticipating their afternoon entertainment. After singing "This Little Light of Mine" to a room full of preschool and elementary age children in Columbia, it was pretty powerful to now be singing "Hold Me, Rock Me" to the other end of the spectrum. It's amazing how lyrics take on such new and powerful meaning as they enter into a particular context...









We had a few more connections and ties to the crowd tonight with Conor and Sanders grandfather and aunt in attendance as well as Miffy Moore's stepmom. Since you've seen videos of nearly all the songs, I decided to capture some of the still shots from today. I hope you can see the intensity, focus, and joy in their eyes.

























After the concert, it was off to Folly Beach for a low-key night walking around the lazy beach town, volleyball, a trip down the pier, and of course seafood! It was a great way to unwind from another day.






Tonight we have our first hotel night of the tour! Doors are taped shut and everyone is in their place. Tomorrow it's back to Charleston proper for some time downtown in the markets and lunch before heading off to Atlantic Beach. I leave you with a couple more videos from tonight's performance.

 This morning we got to sleep in a little bit before returning to DCPC to lead worship for a much fuller house. I think a lot of people wished they had come the night before to hear the whole program. We said our goodbyes and got our sack lunches before hitting the road for a long drive to Ocean Isle, NC.


We hadn't been gone 30 minutes when the cries for bathroom breaks starting coming but we managed to make it with just one stop, pulling into to Seaside Methodist church right on time at 5:00pm. From the moment we arrived it was obvious that this was a crowd that was eagerly anticipating our arrival.

Youth and volunteers began showing up to put the finishing touches on dinner. Hamburgers and hotdogs again but at least it wasn't lasagna!! By the time it was all said and done, there was a crowd of over 175 that gave a standing ovation as the choir took their places on the stage. It was a beautiful sanctuary and they loved every minute of the show. They even taped it and made us DVD's to bring home!





The kids are now nestled in bed (or still running around on the beach). Many are in houses near Sunset beach and excited to be near water. Tomorrow it's up and at 'em for a little morning shopping on our way down Hwy 17 toward Folly Beach and Charleston. There it will be an early concert for residents at a nursing home before a night out in Folly Beach.

 Day three started with another great meal from Beth Shiloh Presbyterian in York. Bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit, grits, biscuits, cereal, etc. We all left with full stomachs and even fuller hearts for the people that have treated us so wonderfully over the last 24 hours.

From York it was over the river and through the woods passing through small town after small town only to arrive at Rose Hill Mansion and State Park. And I do mean only. The estate itself built in 1828 wasn't open to tours until 1pm and Barney Fife was probably pretty relieved that we had to leave before then. I think it was the most teenagers he had ever seen in one place before. If only we had known the most exciting part would be watching Moe squeeze the bus through the tiny gates! Nevertheless it was a park, and it is in a state, so we hung around.




After a quick sweep of the grounds to take a picture of THE rose, walk the half mile "nature trail" and use the facilities, we managed to make the most of what little time we had at Rose Hill. Frisbees started flying, the boys played primitive Hawaiian games, and others just hung out but it was time to go. Outlet Malls awaited!






The drive from Rose Hill to Gafney was equally as windy but it gave the youth time to plan out their shopping strategies. Three distinct styles arose:

1) Eat first. If we have anytime left, we'll go walk around a little and see what we can find.

2) Food? Who cares about food?! There's shopping and it's an outlet mall! Things are cheaper here. Where's the ATM?!

3) Dude I can't find my black shoes. Or my socks. Or my pants. I gotta go to Banana Republic and get  whole new tour uniform. (sadly this is not made up folks)


After some speed shopping, many of us lighter in the wallet, it was another short ride into Davidson. We felt like we had finally arrived in civilization with the hustle and bustle of Alumni Weekend around the Davidson campus and people walking along the streets in and out of coffee houses and college town cafes.

Davidson Presbyterian Church is situated right in the middle of it all with an absolutely enormous sanctuary. We were again warmly greeted, we rehearsed briefly, and were rushed off for dinner and initial meetings with out host families.







The huge sanctuary wasn't exactly full but it was another good show with some fun moments of improvisation and laughs. We even had a few familiar faces in the audience. Part of the joy of being on tour is seeing the performance so many different times. You really get a sense for when a soloist, or a speaker, or the choir in general really nails it and you can genuinely give them an atta boy.

Tomorrow is a long day.We are back to sing in worship at Davidson Pres. before hitting the road for our longest drive of the tour: Davidson to Myrtle Beach where we'll sing again.

Ride, eat, sing baby. Ride. Eat. Sing.