I didn’t become a fan of Jimmy Buffett’s music until the 1990s and while living in Florida, though I had met him years before.
At the time, he was living in St. Barts, and I had heard mention of that but only vaguely thought about it. One day, though, when I was working at Roses Too Flower Shop, a woman came in asking for flowers. She explained that she needed them for her boat that Jimmy Buffett was on.
She said he was giving a free concert in St. Barts, where he had been writing songs and singing at a bar and restaurant called Le Select. The owner at the time used to work with my mother in the Navy boatyard but came home in 1949 and opened the bar. Apparently, Jimmy had told him that he would give him a free concert for his 50th anniversary.
This was a Thursday and I made immediate plans to go there even though I had never been to St. Barts. I had friends from Sweden visiting and leaving that afternoon and I told them to pick me up at the airport. I got in at 1 p.m. that Saturday, got a tour and was dropped off at Le Select, where the concert was supposed to start at 8 p.m.
I took pictures and enjoyed the concert till 10:30, when he went to the boat, Our Delight. I waited outside until midnight when he came out to go to Le Select. I followed him and went in right behind him. I took pictures and got to talk to him, Marius, the bar’s owner and Jimmy’s daughter.
We had such a good time, and I got his security guard to take a picture of us, a very special moment. When the party was over, I went back out on the dock and saw the lady who owned the yacht with Robert Greenidge, Jimmy’s steelpan player, and he told me that if I enjoyed the concert, then I might like to see Jimmy playing a set down the dock in another spot.
Of course, I went and saw him give a concert to a small group, including Lauren Bacall, that went to about 3:30 a.m., then headed to Saba, where my daughter Elynne was living with her mother, Donna.
We left at 6 a.m. In just less than 17 hours, it was the best experience of my life.
