If you know anything about Dale Earnhardt Jr., then you probably know he and his wife, Amy, are big country music fans.
Amy even surprised Dale Jr. with a Dwight Yoakam concert after his NASCAR Hall of Fame induction a couple years back. Amy, who’s a native Texan herself, is also a huge fan of George Strait.
Planning the Surprise
As Dale Jr. was trying to figure out what to do for Amy’s birthday last year, he recounted the story of the time he actually met George in Key West on his podcast The Dale Jr. Download. They had gone to Key West several years ago with Amy’s sister, her husband, and another couple from Texas, all big fans of George Strait. It just so happened that George was in Florida recording an album at a studio in downtown Key West while they were there.
One day, around lunch time, Dale Jr. and his friend, Billy, got separated from the rest of the group. They wandered around Key West for most of the afternoon looking for their wives. They went back to the house they were staying at twice and visited all the bars they could think of but never saw their wives again the whole day.
A Fortuitous Find
With dead phones and no luck finding their better halves, Dale Jr. and Billy ended up at a bar called Schooner Wharf. At this point, it was late at night, and they decided to just wait there since it was their favorite hangout spot when visiting. That was when they had an unexpected surprise – George Strait himself was sitting nearby having a drink with his son, Bubba.
Of course, being aware that Dale Sr. and George were big hunting buddies, Dale Jr. decided it couldn’t hurt to approach him:
Right there sits George Strait, having a drink. And so I told Billy, I said ‘Man… I know he hunted with dad, I know he knows dad.
While debating whether to approach him or not, George’s son came over and extended an invitation on behalf of his father:
His son walks over and says, ‘Hey, dad would like to have a drink, hang out.’ And I was like ‘Of course, you’re dang right. George Strait? You bet.’
Picturing the Moment
They sat down with George Strait, took pictures together, talked about hunting with Dale Sr., and had a drink:
Dale and Billy then realized they might be able to use Bubba’s phone to get in contact with their wives by sending them the picture:
While this is happening, it dawned on us that if George’s son was okay with it, we could use his phone to text the picture to them.
A Close Miss
They thanked George for his time and borrowed Bubba’s phone to send the picture. Shortly after George and Bubba left, their wives arrived:
As soon as they walked out… here comes our gang…-‘Where’s George?’…they were out of breathe trying to get there fast enough.
Unfortunately though, they were just minutes late in missing The King:
He left… And then… this is all our fault.
The Picture That Keeps On Giving
Dale still can’t let it go and even framed the photo from that night, placing it in their beach house for Amy to see every day:
This happened years ago…I have that picture…in my beach house for Amy…I don’t let her live it down…
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