INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- The bus carrying Air Force Tops in Blue members pulled to the side of the road on the bridge over Seyhan Dam Lake in Adana, Turkey.

As the passengers piled off the bus, cameras in hand ready to take photos, Senior Airman Joleen Dedmon, 944th Medical Squadron dental assistant and Tops in Blue vocalist, remarked in awe, "How is this water so blue?"

The Tops in Blue tour visited Incirlik Air Base the weekend of Oct. 13 as part of their 10-month world tour. The morning after arriving, they woke up early to set up their stage and lighting equipment. Several members of Team Incirlik joined the group at the hangar to help set up and have a barbecue lunch provided by the 39th Force Support Squadron.

"The service and hospitality we received from Incirlik AB was absolutely incredible," said Capt. Ashley Elmore, 28th Force Support Squadron officer and Tops in Blue officer in charge.

Saturday evening, the Tops in Blue performers showed up early, tuning their instruments, getting their costumes ready and warming up. On the other side of the curtain, the audience members poured into the hangar, electrifying the space with expectation for the concert that was about to begin.

As performance time drew near, the artists circled backstage for a final pep talk and broke off, making the last of their pre-show individual preparations.

Finally, the moment came and the lights flashed vibrant reds and blues as the music began.

The entertainers took the audience on a journey through time and various musical genres and artists from the Doobie Brothers and Whitney Houston to Maroon 5 and Darius Rucker.

During several songs, the performers went out into the audience and invited people to get up and dance with them. The music even got children to get out of their seats and dance on the side. At one point, the audience was even serenaded by a duet from Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

As the concert began winding to a close, Tops in Blue brought the audience to a sense of patriotism through patriotic hymns and ended the night with the singing of the Air Force song.

The performers departed the stage as the audience thanked them for coming.

"This was everything I expected and more," exclaimed Jasmine Speight, an audience member. "I was so happy to share this with my daughter."

Once the audience cleared out, Col. Chris Craige, 39th Air Base Wing commander, addressed the group.

"Thank you all so much for coming," he said to the team. "Don't ever underestimate what you all do and what this means to us. We just came off a really long inspection week, and this provided the perfect opportunity to relax and get our mind off other things and enjoy the music."

Once the briefing was done, the team changed into their work clothes and tore down the set, working into the early hours of the morning.

Waking up after a few short hours of sleep, several Tops in Blue members received a tour of Adana from Ahmet Kocacay, 39th Force Support Squadron, to see what Turkey had to offer.

"I tell the new ones (first-time Tops in Blue members) they should go out and enjoy the moment," said Tech. Sgt. Tonie Marshall, 849th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron transmissions craftsman and second-time Tops in Blue vocalist.

The first stop on their tour was in a small Turkish shop in Incirlik Village, where they browsed through scarves, mink blankets, robes, towels, pottery and jewelry. The shop owners explained the intricacies of the fabrics and shared the history behind some items.

"Ah, they are all so pretty," exclaimed Dedmon.

After the Turkish store, the team jumped back on the bus and headed out for lunch. On the way they passed through various areas of Adana, many staring out the window with eyes wide open.

The restaurant lay on a hill and overlooked Seyhan Dam Lake with the mountains soaring clearly in the distance.

"The scenery was beautiful, the food was great and it was a very relaxing atmosphere," said Airman 1st Class Alexander Allred, 614th Air and Space Operations Center knowledge operations management and Tops in Blue keyboardist. "It was the perfect way to spend a day off."

They were served a traditional Turkish meal of aromatic cucumber and tomato salads, freshly-baked bread, fish, lamb, beef and chicken kebab, and a plate of various local fruits.

Several were surprised by the uniqueness of Turkish coffee. Kocacay explained the Turkish tradition of fortune telling with the leftover beans at the bottom of coffee cups. A few handed their coffee cups to Kocacay to have their fortunes read.

Coffee finished, they took a short stop on the bridge for photo opportunity of the valley and headed into town for dessert.

"This place has the best baklava and dondurma, or Turkish ice cream, in Adana," Kocacay told the team.

Once at the bakery, freshly-baked, hot baklava was brought out, along with vanilla, chocolate and strawberry dondurma on small plates.

After dessert, they resumed their tour of Adana by bus. While en route to their next location, the enormous Sabanci mosque, the largest mosque in the Middle East, came into view towering above nearby buildings with its six minarets pointing towards the sky.

"Whoa, that mosque is huge!" exclaimed Staff Sgt. Katie McGuire, 114th Civil Engineer Squadron emergency management and Tops in Blue keyboardist.

Closing out their trip, a few Tops in Blue members stopped off for some pampering by manicures, pedicures and massages at another little shop in Incirlik Village, while the rest returned to the hotel to prepare for their early morning flight to Aviano Air Base, Italy.

"I can't believe some people decided to sleep through all this," remarked Senior Airman Kerrilee Meeker, Air Force Technical Applications Center and Tops in Blue vocalist.

Those who went on the tour were glad to have gone and were thankful to the 39th FSS for the support.

"It's great to get out and enjoy areas that you wouldn't otherwise get to go to," said Marshall. "You can sleep after the tour. Go out and eat a kebab."