parrothead

While growing up in Alabama, Jimmy Buffet knew what he wanted. Where he wanted to be.The life he wanted to live. And he did whatever it took to achieve all that. He is a true inspiration.

"My fantasy has always been to find the perfect laid-back town by the ocean, the kind of place where the locals are all legendary characters who spend their days mixing up margaritas, where the air is always warm, and where the sea is crystal clear ~ a real Margaritaville of the mind." - JB

Hooked on the TV series "Adventures in Paradise", he knew he had to get out and start his search for Margaritaville..

"The point is I lived out a fantasy. It may be everyone's fantasy, but I'm sure glad not everyone lives it out. It wouldn't be quite as exotic then. I love being the guy who gets to tell people about it." -JB

"It all blended together like tequila, salt, and limes: Margaritaville became a combination of the romance of the ocean, the romance of history, and my impressions of a few of the places I'd been" - JB

This once shy and awkward kid says his main objective for getting into music was to meet girls. He observed how his roommate was always flanked by women while he played the guitar, and so asked him to teach him some chords. This was the start of his career. Thank God for women! :)

"There's a very small aperture of success, and when it opens, you'd better jump through or you'll regret it the rest of your life." -JB

"I always hoped that success wouldn't spoil my lifestyle-I really did. I made a conscious effort to make sure that didn't happen." - JB

With his first big paycheck, he achieved another dream. He bought a boat and aptly named it Euphoria.

"When I started this whole thing, I thought that if I could make just enough money to buy a boat and find a bar to play in, I would be happy. And I still believe that." - JB

Listening to his music and reading his books not only made me a bigger fan of Jimmy Buffet, but somehow also made me his "student". I learned a lot from his attitude on life and philosophy which I admired greatly. And most of all he knew how to have fun!

I'd like to share with you excerpts from his life and his thoughts.

"Taking off and landing in the water held a romantic fascination for me. The plane I bought was a Lake Renegade, a single engine amphibian. I christened her Lady of the Waters and hired an instructor to come down to Key West to teach me how to fly" - JB

"Being able to land in the water gives me lots of liquid runways along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the beaches of the Bahamas where I can drop my anchor and climb out on the wing for a nap or a swim." - JB

"Lindbergh had the right idea years ago. Fly alone and be in charge or your own destiny. I wonder what he would think of my compact disc player mounted next to my navigation radio." - JB

"Today, one of my proudest accomplishments is to be stopped by someone on the street, not for an autograph, but to be thanked for my work with the manatees. It gives me a feeling that I am doing something that will make a better world." - JB

"I'm growing older but not up!"

"If you decide to run with the ball, just count on fumbling and getting the shit knocked out of you, but never forget how much fun it is just to be able to run with the ball."

"If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane."

"Be yourself, be pleasant, play hard, and have no regrets."

"I'm living on things that excite me, be they pastry, or lobster, or love..."

"I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."

"My life is a mixture of reggaes and tangos. Taste for the good life I can't live it no other way."

"I'm having too much fun to ever turn out the lights."

"We are the people our parents warned us about."

"Any manual labor I've done ... is purely by mistake!"

It's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning!"

"Take it all in, it's as big as it seems. Count all your blessings, remember your dreams."

"Why don't we get drunk and screw!"