Jimmy Buffett and the Great Duct Tape Road Trip

Sooooo. I promised the Jimmy Buffett story.

And I shall deliver.

I figured I'd give everyone a lighthearted blog post today (and prolly tomorrow) so I don't drag all of you down in the funk with me.

Not that I'm not going to mention Gregory. OH I will - many times. He is still and will always be such a part of my life and my memories and my being that if I did not, I would be untrue not only to him, but to myself and who I really am. Still.

I wore the shirt he wore when we got married to the concert over my JB shirt from the last concert I went to. Apropo.

So, my friend Ross and I head out from Bham to the ATL to Lakeside Ampitheater on Thursday around 3pm CDT to go to the opening night of Jimmy's summer tour. Very routine trip, he and I talked, stayed on Twitter on our iPhones and just had a cool road trip, complete with Icees !! Yay for Icees!! We meant to leave at 2 so we could meet up with our friend Alison K, but we got a late start.

Amazingly, traffic was actually smooth and we went straight to Lakewood, parked and with the hour time gain, made it to the area by 6:30 pm EST. People were tailgating and having a good time and the energy in the air was pure Parrotthead.

Ross has never been to a JB concert....I think it was like my 13th? It's fun to watch the newness through they eyes of someone and explain what alot means. I mean Ross knows Jimmy Buffett, his parents listened to him and he knows many of the songs. But nothing compares to a live show.

The last JB concert I went to was with Gregory. In Atlanta. But it was at Phillip's Arena. I don't think I could have taken going to the same venue. Not yet. It was G's first JB concert too. He LOVED it. Couldn't believe I knew all the words, loved people watching, happily wore a lei and beads, tried to talk a guy out of his grass skirt and coconut bra , and still wears the tour hat I got him.

Many of JB's songs were our traveling companion while on the pontoon boat, in the pool, road tripping to the beach, or hanging out on our honeymoon on Marco Island.
He's been a constant in my life since I was 13 and went to my first concert. His music can make me laugh, cry, forget, remember, smile,....and every other emotion I can describe.

I felt G with me last night. Well, I had a little of him with me last night, but that's neither here nor there.

So we get to or awesomely awesome seats in the fourth row......



( I know I look fat !! Bad camera angle...yea!)

...and I was talking to a couple who sat next to us and they are JB veteran's as well. The guy has been to 54 shows! OMG? 54 ? I felt like a rookie. She asked me if Ross had been before and I said no, he was my friend who had to fill in for my husband.

Then she asked me. The question.

Why didn't your husband come?

Shit. Here we go.

So I told her.

The woman (whose name I can't remember because I was so stunned) took my hands, looked me straight in the eye and said " I'm a widow too. My husband died 14 months ago."

Oh.My.

We're everywhere.

She hugged me and told me that it was good that I was out and that I had to live and it would get better and blah blah blah and the guy with her was friends with her husband and he was helping her through etc etc etc, Then she acted surprised that it had only been 3 weeks 6 days and 21 hours. She said I was in the early stages and I was doing well to be out already.

So that made me feel worse.

But she did encourage me several times throughout the concert and sang with me and stuff so to my new unknown widow / Parrotthead friend thank you.

And thank you Ross for going and being my friend and helping me through an especially personal and emotional song by just being there. Sometimes just being there means more than any words.

So the concert was a smash and we got out of there quickly and headed back to The Ham. And we were HAWNGRY. So we did what any self-respecting southerner would do after a late night at a concert.

We stopped at Krystal.

Thought I was gonna say Waffle House didn't ya?? We thought about it.

So after Krystal drive-thru we were on our way . (Oh I forgot, during the concert MY PHONE QUIT WORKING!!!) I couldn't tweet or call!! THE AGONY! Then afterward it worked fine. Wierd.

So along our merry way we went.

Around Talladigger, (Talladega for you non-Alabamians) , cruising along innocently, WE HIT A PIECE OF RETREAD TIRE !!! ARRRGGHHH !! IN my rental car !! ^&%$*#(@*#&

We stopped and everything seemed to be fine......

And we got going again...around 60 mph, things WERE NOT fine. There was this weird "whump whump whump" noise that I thought was a tire. But the tires were fine. Thank god, cause neither one of us know how to change a tire !!! Oops.

So we stop at this all night squat and gobble and check it out. It's like the plastic underbody protector piece thingy. It's just whumping around in the breeze. As I'm looking at it, I notice something.

Tape !!!!

See???



(yes I know the pic is sideways I couldn't get it to rotate!)

So this is apparently not the first time this thing has fallen.

So we did what any self-respecting Southerner would do.

We bought duct tape !! And taped it back up !! HA !!

And we made it home safely.

Thanks Ross. Thanks Jimmy. And thanks Duct Tape.

And thank you G, for allowing me a little bit of sunshine in my own personal hurricane season.

I love all of you.

But especially you....