Fins Up For THE Coolest Man EVER

Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffett.

Need I say more? He's not just a man, not just a singer, not just a songwriter. He's a way of life!

Let me tell you about my adventure trying to get to see Mr. Buffett last month.  I set my alarm for 1:45am. I shouldn't have done the iPhone update as I was falling asleep. Due to said update my alarm never went off. I woke up at 3:30am. My flight, an hours drive north, took off at 5:15am. I threw it into overdrive, took the fastest shower ever, put on my clothes that I had already set out and jumped in the car. The bonus of driving so early in the morning is minimal traffic! We pulled into the Eugene airport and I did a tuck and roll move, jumping out of the car and running to the ticket counter. Panting, I asked if I would make it to the plane. As the VERY nice girl pulled us up I joked about how you should not do a phone update the night before a flight and noted that I had woken up at 3:30. They were pretty impressed and she made an exception to let us still be on that flight. Man Friend came running from the parking lot carrying our suitcase and carry-on. Someone had to come get our bag to make sure it was on the plane. We hurried to security and a few people, when hearing our names being called over the loudspeaker, let us pass them. I took off my shoes and jacket, dumped everything on MF and slipped in to the metal detector. From there I ran barefoot through the airport to the gate. 3 minutes. We had 3 minutes to get MF through security and onto the plane. I ran back, grabbed him and our things and we ran back to the plane. Our carry-on was tossed onto the cart to go under the plane and, still panting, we climbed the steps into the 5:15am departing plane! I want some sort of award for pulling this off!  The joke was on the entire plane when we sat there for over an hour and fifteen minutes due to technical difficulties.  All but 2 passengers had to be rerouted to get to our final destinations. We got to Portland and immediately were put onto a plane to Seattle. I did my make-up in that plane and fortunately had found my hairbrush earlier so I did at least have my hair brushed the entire day. From Seattle we flew to Las Vegas and only arrived 2 and a half hours later than we were supposed to.

Fins to the left, Fins to the right....

Once in Vegas it was Parrothead central! We Parrotheads were everywhere! I dropped my bags off at the Flamingo Hilton (where I stayed since it is attached to Margaritaville!) and went straight to, you guessed it, Margaritaville! You could barely walk through anywhere due to the mass amount of older folks in their beachy attire. Crazy hats, hula skirts, coconut bras -- we Parrotheads know how to do it!  Eventually we checked into our room and transformed from weary-eyed travelers to a sailor girl and her escort!  Last time I saw Jimmy I went with the coconut bra/sarong/flower in my hair look, so this time I channeled Son of a Son of a Sailor and brought out MF's authentic adorable Navy hat. *I'm sure he loves that I call his uniform "adorable".

The concert was at the MGM Grand Garden Area, which wasn't as big as one would think. Oregonians, it's way smaller than the Rose Garden! This smaller size was good for me, made me feel a bit closer than I expected to be! I got my concert shirt and then excitedly went to my seat. We were by the coolest group from Texas that really knew how to party! 

As expected, the concert was AWESOME!! It was one of those where people singing along didn't annoy you - because if you weren't singing and dancing then you just looked like a freak that didn't belong. A Jimmy Buffett concert is one huge party! Pirates, sailors, rum, cheeseburgers, margaritas .... I'm not sure what isn't to love?!?!

I'm thinking this might turn into a tradition - Vegas + Jimmy = Perfection!

  

Even Caesar was a Parrothead - I bet you didn't know that! 

And now I will share a video with you. Everybody knows Margaritaville, right?!?!?, but I'm actually a HUGE fan of his ballads. Whenever I have a baby, the first song he/she hears will be one of my top slow Jimmy songs! And so here is one of them. 1:12 in still gives me chills ... A Pirate Looks At Forty.