It won’t be long before Jimmy takes the stage at the San Carlos Theater in Key West for his This One’s Really For You show. The buzz about this show has been great and it’s going to be fun to not only see the concert in person but broadcast it live on Margaritaville.TV. Some of us from Margaritaville.TV will be road tripping a few days before the show and we’ll have the keys to Jimmy’s Twitter account to update you on our trip!

Key West is a place unlike any other. When I meet people that haven’t been to Key West my first reaction is, “What?”, followed by “You have to go!”. You can do your best to describe it but how do you? The best thing I can think of is Key West is the ultimate escape. It’s the end of the line on A1A and if you are looking to get away you’ll find a home there. Every time I go there I can see how time has slowed down, if not stopped, and the citizens of the Conch Republic make it known you are in a special place.

My first exposure to Key West was when I watched Jimmy’s Live By The Bay concert on VHS. Before the band breaks into Cheeseburger in Paradise, Jimmy makes reference to conch fritters. I had no idea what he was talking about but I could get that it was inside knowledge for a number of Floridians in attendance. Jimmy was the first person to introduce me to Key West thanks to his writing. I didn’t think that my first trip there would have me staying at his house. Before I left I asked Jimmy what I should do while I was there. He said, “Take the conch train. It’s touristy but it’s a good history lesson”. Leave it to Jimmy to add a history lesson to my geographic adventure.

You’ll meet a lot of people that moved to Key West after their first visit. I’ve spoken to some and the stories are similar. They took a trip and realized that the life they were living was as much a hoax as the corporate ladder and decided that life is for living, not working. There are definitely some people there that have run away from something. Key West is a great place to hide or start over since it’s so far removed from the “reality” of the real world. It’s a slow paced community with pride that welcomes the strange. It’s a town with a sense of humor and I can see why Jimmy would call this place home while he wrote what would be the foundation for a storied music career.

I’ve had the chance to walk down Duval late at night with Jimmy and he has told me some great stories. Some about him and some about old friends. The stories don’t seem possible but when you are walking around Key West with the man from Margaritaville as he points out things, you understand these stories could only happen there. He was the first to put the essence of Key West into song by telling these stories and I don’t know how many people decided to visit just because of his influence. I meet a lot of Parrotheads at shows that have gone or want to go to Key West because it’s a right of passage. I think that a trip to Key West is good for everyone, even if Jimmy Buffett isn’t a station on your Pandora app. If you’re in need of a getaway or a sense of humor Key West is a good place to start. A Jimmy Buffett cassette wouldn’t hurt. Stay tuned for the live concert on April 1 compliments of Margaritaville.TV and if you’re going to Key West we’ll see you there!

–Heikki Larsen
Margaritaville.TV

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