FREEBIRD!!!

You know, sometimes the travel gets long, boring, annoying and lonely...but somedays it is pretty cool...like today.
I got to the airport this morning to fly to North Carolina, then drive up to Martinsville, VA. I, as usual, flew Southwest. As I got in line, I saw a long blonde haired guy walk past. I got a quick glimpse, but thought "Wasn't that Johnny Van Zant from the band Lynyrd Skynyrd?" Now for all you "I only listen to old time Gospel music" types out there, Lynyrd Skynyrd is a rock band formed in the '70's. Though there are new band members mixed in now, Skynyrd is still playing today. They created the rock and roll anthems "Freebird", "Sweet Home Alabama" and scores of others. Anyway, they are one of my favorite bands of all time.
I got into what I thought would be the shortest security line and I was about 10 people behind him. I wasn't in full stalking mode yet...it was 6:10am and I was still foggy. I saw a few people stop him and talk to him. Once I got through security, I headed to my gate. I saw him getting a Starbucks and when he came out, I said hi and he stopped asked me my name and we talked for about 5 minutes. I was telling him about this season of NASCAR since he is a big fan and he told me about Skynyrd working on a new album called "God and Guns". We talked about how nearly 100% of NASCAR fans are Skynyrd fans and how he thought the band should try to do more with NASCAR. It was fun. I said bye and went to my gate. Our flight was slightly delayed due to fog, so I turned around to find a seat and saw Johnny sitting all by himself across the hall. I went over and we started up a conversation again. He told me the band was getting ready to tour Europe for about a month. He said one of the funniest things about Europe was a trip to Helsinki when the fans were singing along to "Sweet Home Alabama" with a Russian accent. We talked about being on the road, family, kids...it was a blast. I doubt Johnny Van Zant in blogging about meeting a guy in the Nashville airport today who works in NASCAR, but for me, it was a great time and a cool connection!