I’m not quite sure where the infatuation to Jimmy Buffett’s music stemmed from. I listen to all genres of music and JB is focused on lively, feel-good entertainment but I wouldn’t put him up on a pedestal with The Beatles. However, I do clearly remember those bitter cold days in Western New York, dreaming of palm trees and rum drinks, and the very person that took me there was the music of Jimmy Buffett. He even has a lyric in one of his songs that goes…

“There freezin’ up in Buffalo, stuck in their cars
While I’m lyin’ here ‘neath the sun and the stars”

He is referencing a terrible snowstorm some years back that left people stranded in their vehicles on the freeway after so much snow had accumulated so quickly. The day I heard that song was the day I knew I was meant for warmer weather. When I hopped onto a sailboat, cast the lines and sailed off into the sunset, Jimmy Buffett was the there as the soundtrack to my newly-found tropical existence. He has created a sense of escapism, a portrayal that life is simply better when surrounded by palm trees and turquoise water lapping onto a white sandy beach. I completely agree with him, and I like to think I too, portray that image.

There are moments that I experience while living in The Bahamas that just seem so unnotably normal. I wake up to my alarm clock, shower, sit in traffic on my way to work, do my grocery shopping and pay my bills, just like everyone else in the civilized world. The only differences are that along my commute I’m staring at breathtaking views of the ocean out of my car window, unless otherwise necessary I live in flip-flops, I hop on a boat on the weekends and head to a deserted beach, and from time to time, I end up at some touristy beach bar that makes me feel like I’m on vacation in my own town. A staycation, as I believe the new catch phrase is, meaning you stay close to home but indulge in something touristy that makes you feel like you’re on vacation.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and I found myself on Paradise Island attending a motivational speech at Atlantis. After the talk, my companions and I agreed that all that motivation had made us famished. Atlantis is known to those of us that live here for overpriced, somewhat mediocre restaurants, so we decided to venture elsewhere. “Elsewhere” led us to the newly opened Maragaritaville Bahamas. Evidently Jimmy Buffett himself had been visiting recently. Alas, we had just missed him.