Island Lifestyle Contributors
ROB O'NEAL
Key West Citizen Columnist
MANDY BOLEN
Key West Citizen Columnist
DONNA
SHIELDS
Culinary Contributor
CAPTAIN
TONY TARRACINO
Life Lessons of a Legend
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My fantasy has been to find that perfect
laid-back town by the ocean, the kind of place where the locals are all
legendary characters who spend their days mixing up margaritas, where
the air is always warm, and where the sea is crystal clear - a real
Margaritaville of the mind.
 I've
been looking for a town like that, a real Margaritaville, for years
now-maybe ever since I was a kid and my grandfather explained to me that
you could trace a line on a map from our home near Mobile Bay, Alabama,
across the ocean and wind up at some of the most exotic places on earth.
Back when I knew it in 1971, Key West
used to be a lot like Margaritaville; it was a place designed for
complete escapism. Around that time I was running from a bad marriage
and bad weather, and I had to get back to the ocean. The line in my
Volcano album- "I shot six holes in the freezer, I think I got
cabin fever"- well that's real life. I did that once: plugged my
refrigerator. And then I thought, Jimmy, you better get yourself to the
ocean, boy.
Well, I lived in Key West for three
years, and mostly all I did is hang out in the bars. Then I got a boat,
and that opened up another whole avenue, just like it did for my
grandfather. Most of the people I knew in Key West seven or eight years
ago aren't there anymore. All that's left are the legends, so it's not
that comfortable for me. But then Margaritaville is a place you have to
keep looking for.
Jimmy Buffett, A
Place In The Shade
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