What was my life like PRE-Buffett tailgate? It must have been pretty boring.

Today was the Buffett concert. I've never done Buffett Dallas style. Let me tell you something - they didn't let me down!

There were Parrotheads, Land sharks, Parakeets, there were Tiki Bars as far as the eye could see! There was the bimini ring toss, giant slabs of ice to pour shots down (we had to stand at the bottom of the ice and catch the shot in our mouths as it trailed down a winding path) portable pools and portable potties. There was even a couple of guys on top of a raised cherry picker - sand, grass skirt and palm tree included!

As the Parkers, Dave and I wandered through Wal Mart late the night before the concert, we filled the cart with lots of fun stuff for the party. "Hula for a Shot" was born in the Grapevine, Texas Wal Mart. The rules were simple and few - if you wanted to take a shot (or two) from our liquor filled squirt guns, you had to hula. The most asked question was "How long do I have to hula?" - that was kind of easy - if you got it around your waist once you got a shot. One trip to the porta johns yielded almost 10 hulas as we passed the cars and trucks. I had to tell a lady she had to stop because she was so good at it but I had to GO! She was like the Energizer rabbit! At the porta johns people hula'd in line as we waited our turn. Towards the end of the party people were coming up to US to hula for a shot.

It was - WAIT FOR IT - LEGENDARY!

(Thanks for that gratuitous set up, Barney!)

As usual my quest to fill my "hot guy diary" yielded a lot of good pictures with people I wouldn't have otherwise approached. I don't know that this concert I spent time looking for the "hot" guy but rather new friends, new faces and fun pictures. I certainly got plenty of great pics out there this time! (although I'm not sure I want to be seen with that guy wearing the RED SOX HAT!!)

We weren't there long before it started to pour. Fellow parrotheads provided shelter under their canopy for the duration. I still wandered in the rain. That's half the fun. I got halfway across the parking lot when it started to thunder and I think I even saw a little bit of lightning. Later on we made friends with some people in a big RV; we hung around their tiki bar (where the clock was strategically stuck on 5 o'clock!) and had fun doing the hula and our own karaoke. Dave even got his picture taken and it landed on page two of the Dallas Morning News!

The parking lots as they were set up probably held a fraction of what I'd experienced in Philly last year. Around 6 we headed into the Smirnoff center to get to our seats and settle in for the show. Mr. B came out around 8:15 and put on a super show. We got to hear some new tunes he's working on for an album coming out later this year and we got to hear a song or two from his new film, Hoot. And he played his oldies but goodies - Volcano, Changes in Latitudes, Pirate Looks at Forty, Fins, and the list goes on...

Of course he graced us with the one song that brings us all together - Margaritaville.

"Where is Margaritaville? It's in the tropics somewhere between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder, but no parallels of latitude or longitude mark the spot exactly. You don't have to be a navigator to get there. Palm trees provide the camouflage. Ocean Breezes bring the seaplanes and sailboats, tourists and travelers. Passports are not required. Island music rules. There is a beach and a thatched roof bar perched on the edge of the turquoise sea where you can always find a bar stool. There are lots of lies and loads of stories. It's a comical concoction that blends together like tequila, salt and limes. Where is Margaritaville? It's in your mind...."