Thursday, April 02, 2015

Wasting Away in Margaritaville or We Had the Best Night Ever!

 

 

Cudjoe Key, Florida (high 82, low 72)

 

Do you remember a while back when I entered to win free tickets to a live Jimmy Buffet concert?   He was going to put on a show at the San Carlos theater in Key West. It’s a small venue and there were only 300 tickets to be had.  You couldn’t buy tickets, so if you didn’t win, you couldn’t go.  

I entered and hoped we would win.  How cool would it be to see Jimmy Buffet in Key West where he started?   

Well, guess where we went last night?

Guess who we saw?

Yep.   We saw Jimmy Buffet!

 

 

No, we did not actually win the tickets to see him in person, but as it turned out, we did even better.

The show was going to be filmed at the San Carlos Theater and then broadcasted simultaneously on a big screen at Higgs Beach, and also at Margaritaville (Jimmy’s restaurant/bar) which is right next door to the theater.

Jimmy Buffet opened first Margaritaville in Key West in 1987.  Now they have locations all over the country.

We were disappointed we didn’t win the tickets to see the performance and didn’t think seeing the show on a TV screen would be much fun.  We figured we could catch it anytime and it would be just as good.  Boy, were we wrong.

We decided to head down and maybe give it a shot.  We could watch the show a while then when we got bored, we would go down to the square for the sunset celebration.  We didn’t know whether to watch the show at the beach, or Margaritaville.  We never thought we’d have a chance of getting into Margaritaville and getting a seat.  We figured if we couldn’t get into Margaritaville, we’d just watch the sunset celebration on Mallory Square.  (always have a plan B)

We arrived in Key West thinking a lot of the tourists had left town and parking shouldn’t be a problem.  Boy, were we wrong.  We forgot about Easter.

We went to our favorite parking lot by Mallory Square and it was full.  Uh oh.  We drove around the lot several times until someone decided to leave and we snagged their spot.  It wasn’t without a little disagreement with the guy who had already passed by the space when he noticed the people were leaving.  He felt we should back up (there was a car behind us) so that he could get into the space.   We felt we had as much right to the space as he did and when the people backed out, it left it wide open for us.  The guy  told Al he was rude.  Al told him he was rude too. 

By the time we got parked it was 6:40.  The show was to start at 7:30.  We slowly wandered down Duval Street and over to Margaritaville.  We didn’t get there until 7:10. We expected a huge crowd outside, but we walked right in, and the hostess took us  over to a nice table on the bottom floor just to the right of the huge Tv screen.  I think it was the last available table. Wow.  We had great seats, and we had a waiter that would bring us food and drinks, and we had a bathroom!  Much better than standing around at the beach!

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The sound system was excellent and we could see the band the entire time.

We couldn’t have had a better seat if we had been next door at the live performance. 

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Jimmy is not a young man anymore, but he put on a hell of a show.

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This picture was on the wall right beside our table.  It was taken from his Key West days.  I wanted to steal it.  :)

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We decided to split an order of Nachos. They were delicious!

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They played all their hits.

We all had a great time. Nobody left until the show was over. We never expected we would stay through the entire 3 hour concert, but we did, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

I am not a big concert fan.  I don’t like the crowds.  I don’t like it too loud, and I don’t like to stand up.  It was a little loud, but other than that, everything was great.

We were all sure Jimmy Buffet would walk over and make a live appearance at the bar. When he took a break and the band continued to play, we thought for sure he’d come over, but he didn’t.  After it was over, we watched the doors again, but he never showed.  :(

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It was a fun, fun night.  We didn’t leave until about 11pm. 

I can’t remember the last time we stayed out that late.  :)  When we walked out, Key West was still going strong with a fun vibe that you have to see to appreciate. 

The night air was balmy, music filled your ears from many different entertainers.  Some were on the sidewalk playing music, like this guy playing 5 gallon buckets.

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He was wonderful.  How anybody can sound so good with only plastic buckets, I don’t know.

Duval Street is famous for the number of bars they have. Most are open to the street so that you can walk along the street and see and hear all the musicians.  We decided to go more often and stay later in the evening.

After giving his last $2 tip to the guy with the buckets, Al didn’t  have anything smaller than a $10 to tip  Darth Vadar.

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He was not happy that I took his picture and didn’t leave a tip.  Sorry Darth, we’ll get you next time!

Everybody was having a good time. These girls were dancing down the street.

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We’ve never been in Key West that late and it sure was fun.  We would have stayed longer and enjoyed some of the musicians, but we had a parking meter to feed.

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We slept in this morning after our late night.  The wind is blowing, so no boating today.  Al has physical therapy, so I’m not sure what we’ll do the rest of the day.

10 comments:

  1. I can't remember the last time I was out and about at that hour. Glad you had a very good time!

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  2. Gotta stay out late once in a while. Sounds like you had fun.

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  3. Absolutely love JB. Would have been so cool if he showed up and bought a round :)

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  4. Jimmy is looking positively ancient. Why does that make me feel so old?

    I'd have loved to have been with you, but I can't stay up late like you kids... ;c)

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  5. We forgot about that upcoming concert or we could have found a way to stay. Glad you enjoyed yourselves but according to Marsha Weaver you're now listed as an Official Party Animal.
    Be Safe!

    It's about time.

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  6. Loved this post! We spent a week in Key West a year ago while our middle Tennessee friend were freezing their tails off...what a great trip we had! Thanks for sharing the fun! :-)

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  7. Now for Jimmy Buffet even we would stay up that late, sounds like and awesome time.

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  8. Love it! We need to get back to Key West. Sounds like a great time!

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