"You aren't going anywhere in Louisiana without at least one U-Turn..."

Looking back on the experience that was my first Jimmy Buffett concert, I can't think of a more appropriate quote than the one above, provided by Brittany Taylor through Jennifer Hipp Boully. Truth be told, we never limited ourselves to just one U-Turn during our two-day trip down to the bayou - those things came in pairs and threes.

Yep, folks, it's official: I'm a full-fledged Parrothead. The show was incredible, and the four of us (myself, Jeanie, Jaren and Jennifer - I just noticed that I was the odd-man out on the J-names...we should fix that) enjoyed the tunes Sir James Buffett (gah, another J!) and several laughs at the event known to all as JazzFest on May 3. I am pretty sure everyone else had as good of a time as I did, and I want to thank the three J-birds for going with me.

Now, detailing the excursion...Friday, I left work around noon and headed off to Columbus to get my oil changed and have lunch with my terrific mother. Soon afterwards, I was back on the road to Hattiesburg to meet up with Jeanie and Jaren. On the drive into the Pelican State, I tried to rehearse the two of them in some of the more classic Buffett tunes, but it mostly was swapping stories and backgrounds for Jaren.

(A side note: this was the first time I've really been able to celebrate in the close vicinity of Jeanie's birthday since before moving to Auburn for school. While it wasn't really her birthday and it's much belated now, I want to wish her a fantastic year as a 22-year-old.)

We arrived amidst the nightfall in Houma at the Boully residence to the welcoming snorts of Rascal and an open-armed Jennifer. Quickly, we departed for Outback to get some much-needed food before calling it a night. After all, we had to be cautious of the pending new addition to the Boully household.

Saturday morning, Jennifer and I headed to McDonalds for breakfast. Six hours later (really, it was 45 minutes although I'm not far off on my judgment), we got to place our order amongst the monsoon and waited some more. I talked to her about Robert and some of the stories he hadn't put on his blogging updates (all two of them), and she got caught up on some of the other things going on in the world of Chris "J" Rushing (OK, the "J" doesn't really work, but I wanted to fit in).

It took a few more U-Turns, but we got back to a hungry J duo at the apartment. Around 11:30 a.m., we braved the rain and wind and began our trek for New Orleans and Margaritaville. Jeanie was the pseudo-navigator in the Crescent City and did a fantastic job (despite Jaren's and my own doubts) of getting us to said restaurant. After lunch (which was amazing, by the way), we headed to the gift shop and made a few purchases before starting the trek back to the car.

Since Margaritaville is in the French Quarter, following the turn-by-turn directions proved to be more difficult since we thought we had parked somewhere along the way to the Fair Grounds. A few U-Turns and a good 30-minute back-tracking journey later, we found a church off Blue Bayou Rd and parked the 4-Runner. It wasn't a bad hike to the race track, and I was gearing up with anticipation for my first Buffett concert experience.

One of the first things we saw (albeit at the wrong stage) was an Auburn flag planted in the ground surrounded by a couple of umbrellas. "If Jimmy Buffett is on this stage," I said to myself, "I know exactly where we'll sit." About 30 minutes later, we were in front of the correct stage and found a nice dry(er) spot out of the mud to put Jeanie and Jennifer. Jaren and I went to get some water to "cure the thirst" (saw it on a t-shirt and vowed I'd put it in the blog recap somewhere). Luckily for us, we were asked to move from our location in the dry(er) concrete and were forced to tread through the mud to a new prime seating spot.

It was here we'd stay thanks to the hospitality of the Artist Formerly Known as Bernie. Bernie is quite possibly the friendliest person I've ever met at a concert, and he did not take long to get to know everyone in our group (sans the wandering Jaren). Now, it must be said that I was informed following the show that Jeanie and Jennifer (or the J-Twins as they will now be referred to for the remainder of this entry) decided that I'd be the spitting image of Bernie when I'm 40 years old. Now, if that is what God has in store for my life, I think I'd be doing pretty darn good.

I'd talk about the couple standing in front of the J-Twins, but I could not do justice compared to their stories and "color commentary"...The phrase, "She just bit him" was quickly followed by "He just spanked her!" - leading to a roaring applause of laughter and clapping from those who were within earshot of the J-Twins. I wasn't focused on those two, though, because...Jimmy Buffett had made his way onto the stage.

A 24-song set was bellowed out from Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, and one item on my Bucket List had been crossed off. Honestly, there aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe the show. There were a ton of highlights (the fact that he swapped his flip flops for a t-shirt with a guy in the front row; he came out onto the stage in drag for "Why Don't We Get Drunk"; and of course, watching the J-Twins hold their arms high for "Fins"), but I'm all typed out as-is. Don't worry, I'm more than willing to share any and all stories to curious bystanders.

We left the concert and headed back to Houma. Now, we had acquired a large amount of mud on all our shoes thanks to the rains that soaked the New Orleans area on Friday and throughout Saturday morning, and the hunger was starting to strike. We found a nice little pizza place after stopping into a shopping mall to wash hands and relieve ourselves, and the food was incredible (not to mention the jukebox featuring hits from high school and junior high days).

Sunday morning, we hung around for a little bit before packing up the 4-Runner and returning to the road. On the way back, we stopped on the Quarter again for beignets at Cafe Dumonde and a po-boy from Johnny Po-Boys. I really didn't think I could eat again for a week afterwards. Jeanie fell asleep shortly after leaving the NOLA city limits, and Jaren remained quiet in the backseat for the most part. Much like the rest of the drive in my own truck that afternoon, it was just me and some tunes from Buffett.

A full set list from that night can be found at the following web address: http://www.buffettworld.com/set-lists/sl-2008/#9

I know that this is a bit delayed, but I've been busy coaching a potential league champion little league team and writing a book of short stories from the perspective of Uncle Bernie (kinda catchy, huh?). A longer update on things going on in my life will be coming in the next few days. Right now, I have a lot of praying to do that I can keep my tongue in a particular situation.

As always, thanks for reading and War Eagle (and War Jimmy Buffett!).

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