Parrotheads invade St. Paul

December 04, 2013

Parrotheads invade St. Paul

It's been 10 years since Jimmy Buffett graced us with his presence in the great state of Minnesota, but that long absence ended last night. In our family, Jimmy Buffett concerts are an annual thing and a family event. My Dad introduced me to the island sound of Jimmy at a very young age, and I was instantly a parrothead. I attended my first Buffett concert in 1995 at just 9 years old and it completely blew my mind. Where else would you see a stadium full of concert goers ages 5-95 sporting grass skirts, coconut bras, leis and an occasional shark costume?

After 1995's Barometer Soup tour, I saw him once more in 2004 at the Target Center downtown Minneapolis. After that, we realized Minnesota wasn't on his radar but we weren't going to let that stop us. So over the last 10 years we've made the journey to Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI several times and even took a long weekend road trip to Chicago to get our Buffett fill.

Just a few months ago I received a text from Mitch saying, "did you hear Jimmy Buffett is coming to MN?" I think my exact text back was, "that's not a funny joke." However, after doing a bit of research I quickly found out the rumor was true! His Songs from St. Somewhere tour was making a pitstop in St. Paul in early December, and there was no way I was going to miss it! I quickly composed a mass email to everyone who has come to concerts with us over the years to tell them the news, and shortly after sending the email - 9 of us were all in!

Over the last 10 years, we've enjoyed the islandy jams outdoors on a summer Saturday night. With our flip flops are on, cheeseburgers on the grill and soaking up the craziness that is tailgating before the concert. Since his St. Paul stop fell on a Tuesday in early December and the concert was indoors at Xcel Energy Center, we knew the vibe would be different. We exchanged our blankets in the grass for cushioned stadium seats, and "tailgating" consisted of us rushing downtown St. Paul after work to grab a quick drink at Eagle Street.

The concert was wonderful, just as I expected. I totally missed the outdoor vibe, but I sang my heart out to each and every song and loved every second of it. At 66, he's still kicking it - forcing me to party it up on a Tuesday night! Parrotheads reunited last night after a 10 year hiatus, and boy did it feel great! Fins up!

After last night's tropical vibe, we woke up this morning to our first real snowfall. It continued to snow all day, leading to a 2+ hour commute home. While Mitch was snowblowing our driveway tonight, Harper and I bundled up and headed outside to play in the fresh powder. She love love loved it, and didn't even complain about putting on all those layers. After 20 minutes she decided to ditch her mittens, which caused our snow escapade to come to an end. It was fun while it lasted, and I'm eager to take her sledding now that the snow is here!

Lastly, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago - we had Harper's 2 year old pictures taken by the wonderful Kristen Anne Photography. Miss Crabby Pants didn't really cooperate during the session, but after seeing the sneak peek this week I was thrilled. We have smiling photos! :) Below is the sneaky peek.