It’s officially Spring Break season down here. Our Pinellas County schools were off this past week but since the timing is different for other districts across the country, our beach towns will be busy for the next month.

My cousin Frankie arrived Saturday with four of her friends from college up in Michigan. Their timing was impeccable, that night the nearby city of Pinellas Park was hosting their 31st annual Country in the Park.

The free, family-friendly event featured a rodeo, pig races, food trucks, a craft marketplace, and live music. As always, the main attraction for me is the live music and I was not disappointed.

My friend Loretta and I arrived around four just as Pirate Flag, our local Kenny Chesney cover band, took the stage. I’ve seen them about a dozen times since moving here and they bring it every time. Not only do they put on a good show but they’re good people, too!

They were followed by Crossfire Creek, a rowdy country band from Clearwater (a bit further north up the coast from me). They did a great job prepping the crowd for the headliners, Lanco.

I appreciate a lot of different music, including some country but I was not at all familiar with Lanco. The college girls all knew the band and they met us at the stage right before the band started.

Lanco put on a fantastic show with excellent sound and an engaging stage presence. They even hopped off the stage and played a couple songs down in the middle of the crowd – very cool move!

And it turned out that I did know a couple of their songs, “Greatest Love Story” and “Born to Love You”. The girls were thrilled to catch a drum stick at the end and I scored them a set list from the stage. Definitely a great start to Spring Break!