A Pirate looks at 40!

May 15th, 2021-I heard some great news today; Jimmy Buffett is firing up the tour and coming back to town! After over a year long hiatus due to the COVID Pandemic, the return of JB and the Coral Reefers along with the inevitable tailgating amongst fellow Parrot Heads officially marks a return to some sense of normalcy for many of us.

I am not sure what it is exactly about Jimmy Buffett and his music that immediately transports me to a different place; one with sunny skies, an ocean breeze in the air, sand between my toes and a tasty boat drink in hand. When I think of Margaritaville, I can close my eyes and I hear a the steel drum band playing island music. I can vividly feel the kiss of the warm sun on my skin. I can taste the salted rim glass and the refreshing feeling of a ripe lime squeezed margarita as it passes my lips and I hold it in my mouth long enough to get a hint the yin and yang of the sweet and sour and the bite of the perfect amount of tequila as it passes over my tongue and down my esophagus. Ah, the taste of summer.

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Perfect Margarita

Jimmy’s folk tales of living in the islands and fishing the pilings, the laid back lifestyle of hanging out at Captain Toni’s and eating a cheeseburger in paradise has taken root deep within my soul. It is part of who I am and definitely who José is. Jimmy has become a part of our family’s life too. You will regularly see us driving down the road as the van sways from side to side while the whole family (including our 9 and 10 year old) get their “Fins Up” and rock back and forth with “fins to the left, fins to the right and you’re the only bait in town.” Our little gypsies in the palace even call each other “Snake and Johnny D” thinking it will buy them some latitude for trashing their room. We are indeed a Parrot Head family!

So today when I got the news that Jimmy and the Coral Reefers were going to resume their Slack Tide tour starting this summer. I was so excited I immediately jumped online to see if the show would be coming to a town near me. I was in luck! The show will be coming to town in August, just a week before my birthday. I scooped up the best seats I could find- front and center in the third row. (This pirate does not play around when it comes to pilgrimage to the Buffett show.) This reminds me of a hilarious, yet completely true story that happened a few years back.

It was the late spring 2013, just a few months shy of my 40^th birthday. We were living in Northern Virginia in a nice and exclusive gated community with all the bells and whistles, including a gorgeous clubhouse with facilities for entertaining. This was pre-José lifestyle for me. I was working two full time jobs, (killing myself) had just completed grad school, and had three young kids aged 2, 3 and 11. My wife, Leslie, knowing how hard I worked asked me what I would like to do for the looming “big day” – turning 40. I honestly had not given it a lot of thought but obviously wanted to do something special. My eager wife and fellow Parrot Head hatched a plan and went to work.

A few days later the topic came up again and I asked her what she was thinking for the celebration. Very matter of fact, she told me she had been calling around because she wanted to rent out the clubhouse and bring in Jimmy Buffett to play for my birthday. She was serious, although a smidge naïve. I smiled and had to break it to my dear wife that while I deeply appreciated the thought, we did not make enough money to hire Jimmy Buffett to perform a concert for my birthday. We are not Kardashians. She seemed so dejected; I think she honestly thought she could pull it off.

Fast forward to the afternoon of that same day. I was just getting off work and as usual turned on Radio Margaritaville in the car. No sooner did I turn it on when I heard that Jimmy had released a new tour date and would be adding a concert in Bristow, Va. (5 miles from my house) ON MY BIRTHDAY!         

Wait, what was that? Did I just hear that right? I felt like this was a cruel joke or I that I misunderstood what was said. Then he repeated the announcement. It was true, Jimmy was now playing my 40^th birthday practically in my backyard.

Did my wife pull this off or was this the biggest coincidence I have ever heard of? She will never tell, and I can’t help but wonder if it was the cosmos aligning everything perfectly or if somehow the old coconut telegraph worked and word got back to Jimmy about her sweet (even if a little crazy) idea. Either way, it was an amazing 40^th birthday and it could not have been capped off better than getting to spend it with my wife and 20,000 of my closest friends!

Jimmy Buffett’s Perfect Margarita

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces gold tequila (Cuervo Especial)
• 1/2 ounce tequila (Cuervo silver especial)
• 1/2 ounce triple sec (Bols)
• 1 splash orange Curacao (Bols)
• 1 1/4 ounces Rose’s Lime Juice
• Crushed ice
• Juice of 3 lime wedges

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fill a shaker with ice.
2. Add everything but the lime wedges.
3. Squeeze in the juice from 2 of the lime wedges.
4. Shake very well until beads form on the outside of the shaker.
5. Rim the edge of the margarita glass with lime and twist it around in a saucer of coarse salt (see my page on how to rim a cocktail glass).
6. Fill the glass about halfway with crushed ice.
7. Strain the mixture into it.
8. Squeeze the last lime wedge on top and drop it in.