11/16/06 Parrotheads Unite

For those of you who aren't Jimmy Buffett fans (gasp!) I should explain what a PARROTHEAD is. A Parrothead is a commonly used nickname for fans of Jimmy Buffett. The common stereotype is a person wearing a Hawaiian shirt, flip-flops, board shorts, and drinking a margarita. The general theme of being a Parrothead is one of relaxation and being on a permanent mental vacation, even while working. Some prefer the spelling Parrotthead, reflecting the double t in Buffett.

Even though a Buffett concert starts at 8 p.m. this is not one where you arrive at 7:30. Oh no, you must arrive in the morning or the very early afternoon. After all, you have decorating to do!

....and you have to dress

This is our friend Chris.










And of course, the pets have to be included. Here's a picture of Barkley, Chris and Bonnie's furkid.





In addition to decorating and dressing for the occasion there has to be FOOD! Lots and lots of food. We have found from past concerts that we usually eat twice, once in late afternoon and again after the concert. Now take into consideration that there is more than 20 of us,,,,well, that's a lot of food. Luckily, Chris and Bonnie had their rig with them and we had ours so we had refrigerator space and tons of coolers.

We had the perfect day for the concert. The temperature was a nice 75 degrees and we had blue skies. The parking lot of the Ford Amphitheater filled quickly and it didn't take long before we started seeing the "sights" such as this one that our friend Susan found most amusing. In case you can't read it, the top of the box this guy has on his head says "Free Mammograms" and there is a place to rest the "girls". Not too many were taking him up on his offer.

Bonnie and Chris brought their golf cart so we all took turns taking rides around the grounds to check out everyone's site for decorating ideas for the next concert.

Chris went all out on decorating our site. He is the one who made the sign post below with names of places that mean something to them. He was thoughtful enough to add in Newark, DE for the Delaware clan that was there.

See that little figure on the bottom of the sign post? That's Mr. Peanut. Our sister-in-law Michelle brought him to add Florida to his list of many places he's visited. Michelle is a nurse practitioner at A.I.DuPont Institute and Mr. P. is actually a teaching tool. His "body" is supposed to be a child sized kidney and they didn't think it looked at all like one so decided to draw a face on it and dress it and claim him as the department mascot. Mr. P. has traveled all over the world with doctors and nurses. Its only fitting that he be dressed in tropical garb and attend a Buffett concert. He had a great time!

Speaking of Michelle, here's a picture of her and me with a shark that walks on the land and a bottle of rum. Like I told ya, you see all kinds of sights at a Buffett concert.

It was finally concert time and what a concert it was. Once again, ol' Jimmy put on a great show. As usual, it was over all too soon.

Once again it was time for goodbyes. This would be the last I would see Billy and Michelle and Dusty and Brittany for awhile. Here it hadn't even felt like we had left home with seeing those four just a few days after we hit the road. "So longs were said and the tears flowed one more time.

We cleaned up the area the best we could and then went straight to bed. Chris and Bonnie and Bob and I were staying right in the parking lot for the night, after all, we were already "home".

A few more pictures from the great day we had.

Bonnie and me

Billy, Susan, Paul & Michelle