Let’s be honest:  Orlando has more than your average amount of options when it comes to making plans for your weekend fun.  With not one but three world class theme parks all vying for more and more of your time and attention (notice I didn’t mention $$$$, but they vie a lot for that, too, and usually they win), it can get downright confusing when trying to choose among countless opportunities that all offer endless hours of fun.  And, if those expensively printed attraction brochures and advertisements don’t offer enough enticement, just pick up the Friday edition of the Orlando Sentinel and review the weekly calendar section to find even more choices – movies, plays, sports activities, lectures, cooking demonstrations, poetry readings, tarot card readings, festivals, art shows, craft fairs, bike races, and well, you get the picture here.  In fact there are usually so many options listed in that Calendar section that I’m exhausted when I finish reading it, which is, in my opinion, why they put the TV listings at the end because by the time you examine and review all those other activities it just makes you want to curl up with the remote control and a bowl of popcorn to stay put on your big comfy couch.  Oh, and FYI, the dog prefers you do that, too, because Rambo’s been waiting all week for you to play with him.  Plus, he loves the popcorn you drop.

Anyway, decisions, decisions, decisions.  The pressure to get out and have fun is only ramped up when the weekend is a holiday.  Head.  Exploding.

So with the impending arrival of Memorial Weekend (cue internal monologue loop about planning ahead to DO SOMETHING FUN this year), I’m going to make the decision process easier and suggest the following:

Ixnay the plans for spending your entire paycheck on a theme park, and instead steer your car into the parking garage at the Hyatt Regency Orlando – stay with me here because the parking will be free – on May 24th so you can enjoy the oh-so-chic surroundings of a world class luxury hotel along with a poolside concert by Nashville recording artist and songwriter Josh Thompson.  This guy is seriously cool!  Listen to how he describes his recent album, Turn It Up:  It’s a modern, kickin’ country party album with plenty of swagger, energy, and hammer-swingin’, fist-pumpin’ attitude. The title is really all-encompassing, not only [referring to] turn up this record, but turn up the way you live your life, turn up the crazy, turn up the feel-good!”  He’s opened shows for Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley not to mention he’s heavy on the eye candy part.  Sayin’.

Now tell me you wouldn’t have some serious fun watching this guy perform poolside on the Hyatt’s Garden Terrace while sipping a frozen adult beverage and noshing on some great bites? (PS – all food and beverage at discounted rates for this concert, and that includes hotel restaurants, too.  SWEET!)  But wait, there’s even more goodness in store when country rock artists JT Hodges and Nikki Lane join in on the concert fun!  Hodges not only sings but also starred in the wildly popular Hallmark Channel film, Finding Christmas.  (Yeah, he’s that cute.) And as for Nikki, well, she’s been referred to as a ‘country rebel’ due to her musical influences that combine Motown and alt-rock with her country roots.

Eye candy, fun, top notch live entertainment on an outdoor terrace stage located in a first class hotel (right here in Orlando) that you know you want to go see. Plus, don’t forget the FREE PARKING! Check out the full package information along with pricing (tickets start at a very affordable $25 for general admission) at hyattsummersensation.com.

Nice kick-off to a sensational summer, right?