West Palm Beach Jimmy Buffett Tailgate

Parrot Head Clubs Gather to Tailgate

What Jimmy Buffett doesn’t get to enjoy about his concerts are the tailgating parties where his fans transform a giant concrete area into a temporary neighborhood as they hoist up the tents, toss out the sand and set up the Tiki Bars.

Parrot Heads for the Palm Beaches President Tom Hind and First Lady Terry reported “we have more than over a 130 VIP parking sites” and they are grateful for their club members and other Parrot Head clubs that came out to support. Hiring Trop Rock / Americana artist Dave McKenney to entertain these parking lot parrot heads made for a great mix of music, fun and friendship.

The Millenniums showed up in large numbers joining in with their friends, parents and grandparents. I found myself hearing the same familiar story over and over as I made my way around the pop-up-tent-Margaritaville-village, which we dubbed “Easy-Upville.”

The 25-35 year old group have grown up listening to Buffett with their families or found Buffet through Zac Brown or Kenny Chesney. I met John (Beaches A1A PHC new member) and his Fla-mon-go tenters,  a young group always looking for tropical fun and sounds, “so being Buffett fans was a no brainier.”

Naples PHC pulled their bus up right next to the entertainment and port-o-potties giving them prime property. It is all about location sometimes. Space Coast Parrot Heads showed up with a large number of attendees mixing and mingling their easy-ups in the villages along side Barefoot Children of Ft. Lauderdale PHC, Treasure Coast PHC, Tampa Bay PHC and Beaches A1A PHC.

A Wisconsin Parrot Head Couple said “We are planning on moving to North East Florida and we are finding it easy to decide which club to join by just walking around here and meeting the tailgating clubs.” Now there’s another good reason to tailgate — Parrot Head Club shopping.

Beaches A1A PHC officer Ronnie Nichols had his easy-up next to John cooking up some low country boil with sausage and seafood confirming that tailgate food is the best food.

Two tents down Treasure Coast Parrot Head Club member Dixie sporting her shark costume served up 4 flavors of jello pudding shots, margaritas and parrot punch welcoming everyone strolling in by in Easy-Upville. Parrot Heads For The Palm Beaches Sue Aprea had folks taking squeezable water shooting sharks from her cold water pool.

Favorite Parrot Head Story

My best story came from Kentucky and hands down one of my favorite drinking spots in Easy-Upville. Kim Bullen and her lovely family brought so much professionalism to the tailgating community that had most of us figuring we already knew them. These new comers were the talk of Easy-Upville with their fun signs, décor and yes…. their Margaritaville blender. I want to share Kim’s Parrot Head story:

“My husband, Joe had never been to a concert before. The two people he had on his bucket list to see were Jimmy Buffet and Willie Nelson. He wanted to see Jimmy in a warm climate and saw he was coming to West Palm Beach, so we decided to make a vacation of it.

Being from Kentucky, we love to tailgate for sporting events. Buffet fans seem to love it too! My husband decided that if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right! He did a lot of research and came up with the ideas of the bar and sign post. We thought the Margarita maker was a necessity for Jimmy. Our daughter, Katie and her husband, Mauricio have been to several concerts but nothing like Buffet. We wanted them to experience it with us and they were both very excited about it.

We drove 13 hours from Mt. Vernon, Kentucky and arrived the day before the concert. We were so welcomed by all of the other Jimmy Buffet fans and it truly felt like a small community where there were no strangers.

We all had a great experience and are very thankful and blessed to have the opportunity to meet you and everyone there. The reason we’ll do it again is because of people like you who loved our story and welcomed us in with open arms”.

Jimmy Buffett has put so many friendships together with thousand of stories similar to this.

Jimmy Buffett Concert Highlight

Jimmy Buffett put on a fin-tasic concert leaving us talking and singing the added lyrics to “Margaritaville” as we all headed back to the parking lot. Another reason to love the Parrot Head anthem “Margaritaville” is when Jimmy adds new lyrics: “I cruised to Australia, step off the stage, a few bruises and scrapes, I had to cruise on back home.”The crowd loved the new lyrics.

Jimmy made it known he was glad to be back home in South Florida and the crowd returned the love with a long pause of cheers, clapping and whistling.

Tailgating Tips

No tailgates are ever the same, just a chance find new friends and enjoy fun with our old friends. We have our  Top 10 Must Haves for Jimmy Buffett Tailgating Party, but here are a few new tips I learned at the West Palm Beach tailgate:

1. Blow up Baby Pools have many uses. For a drinking game, buy little rubber sharks or ducks numbering them 1-3 repeated (on the bottom). Pick a duck, turn it over to find the number and drink according to your number: 1  a Jello shot,  2 small margarita,  3 coconut rum shot.  Of course, baby pools are great for keeping snacks cold, drinks cold or people cold!
2. Tiki Bar Trivia can win you a nice cold Margarita or have you walk away with a participating Lei.
3. Karaoke singing can have you on Facebook live. Set-up two speakers and an unplugged mic with stand, watch the fun began.
4. Rent a U-haul van to haul your fun tiki bars, hammocks and tailgate stuff in. Later that U-haul van holds a blow up mattress for the falling parrots to nap and catch their second wind for the concert.
5. Zip Lock bags are a must to use to hold your Jello shots in your cooler when that ice starts to melt.

Jimmy Buffett Concert Tailgating  at West Palm Beach – Photo Gallery

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