Jimmy Buffett, Parrotheads, and Me

Ever been somewhere sometime, you look around and suddenly wonder "what the hell am I doing HERE?" Yeah well that was me last night. Somehow I intentionally bought tickets to a Jimmy Buffett concert. Now don't get me wrong, I like Jimmy Buffett. I mean c'mon you'd have to be a communist or something to not love Jimmy Buffett. His music is so much fun and infectious, you just HAVE to love it. BUT - I was soooo out of my element last night. I thought about it and I can honestly say that I have never once intentionally put on a Jimmy Buffett cd. I don't know the different songs, and I sure as hell don't know the words to the songs. BUT - hubby does, and I love hubby, and this was for him. He had a freaking BLAST last night I'm sure. For the past 12 years I've drug him to all of my stuffy concerts and shows etc - this was his turn.

The gates opened at 6:30pm and the concert started at 8:00pm. If you don't know the Woodlands Pavilion, it's an outdoor arena with a covered seated section, and then this big hill with "lawn seats" (the grassy knoll as we referred to it) where you just plant you butt and that's your seat. We got there about 6:45ish and managed to snag a pretty good spot down towards the front of the hill and then the fun began - the people watching. Umm... wow. Parrotheads are a pretty unique crowd! The crowd spanned from older broke hippies and super rich baby boomers who you know have been going to the concerts since the 70's to the mid-30's professionals/kids of the hippies who grew up with Jimmy, to the college guys/20 something's who routinely get plastered listening to Jimmy, to the ones we couldn't quite figure out - the teenage girls & guys in bathing suits. and I swear this was the biggest freaking love fest I've ever been to - even with the majority of the people drunk before the concert even started, it was still just la-le-la happy times. Of course, I'm sure half of the audience was passing pot around too and that would mellow anyone out but still... And the outfits - OMG! Of course there were parrot & Hawaiian shirts EVERYWHERE - including hubby I might add. People in grass skirts with coconut bra tops (way too many men in that get up - blech!), bikinis and bathing suits, bermuda shorts & Hawaiian shirts, hats of every sort - shark hats, cheeseburger hats, parrot hats, hats with lights, hats with drinks, you name it! People looked like blooming idiots, but no one cared - everyone was just having a great time. Even though I didn't know the music, I still had a blast. I just sat there on the grass, swaying to the beat, laughing at the drunks (again, hubby included) and watching 10,000 of my closest friends dance with their hands like shark fins on their heads.