On Thursday, January 25, the Florida House of Representatives staged “Jimmy Buffet Day” to honor the late Buffett and his music, legacy, philanthropy, and, in fact, his love for the Sunshine State and its “Margaritaville mind-set.”
At the celebration, a House Committee on the Florida Capitol authorised two items of laws: the institution of a Margaritaville specialty license plate and the designation of historic State Road A1A because the “A1A Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.”
The stretch of A1A that the brand new title would designate will span all the state of Florida, starting on the Florida-Georgia line all the best way right down to Buffett’s beloved Key West, the house of Margaritaville.
“So nicely deserved! Every state wants a Jimmy Buffet freeway! He introduced sunshine and palm timber to all the states!!!!” exclaimed a fan on an Instagram put up printed on Thursday by Buffett’s sister, Lucy Buffett.
“A1A” can be the title of an early pivotal album by Buffett.
Florida’s new Jimmy Buffett specialty license plate, “Margaritaville,” has been authorised by a House committee. Buffett’s daughter, Savannah, stands to the far proper.
Photo by Andy Newman
The late musician’s daughter, Savannah Jane Buffett, instructed ABC affiliate WCJB that A1A was one in all her late father’s favourite highways within the Sunshine State.
“One of my father and I’s favourite pastimes was to only get within the automotive and cruise and take the scenic route, and that was typically A1A,” she instructed the ABC affiliate.
If authorised, the Florida Department of Transportation can have till August 30 to place up the brand new Buffett freeway indicators.
Florida Rep. Linda Chaney, R- St. Petersburg, holds a Jimmy Buffett specialty license plate prototype on January 25.
Photo by Andy Newman
The committee additionally moved a invoice creating a brand new Margaritaville specialty license plate with proceeds benefitting the Singing for Change Foundation, Jimmy Buffett’s charity serving to communities throughout Florida recuperate from pure or artifical disasters.
The prototype of the brand new Margaritaville license plate was additionally revealed on Thursday. The plate has a white Adirondack seaside chair sitting atop a white, sandy seaside dealing with the shoreline and the blue waters of the Florida Keys. Over the ocean, a seaplane is depicted because it lands on the water. A palm tree and fronds are within the body, creating a way of shade.
The laws nonetheless requires additional ratification. If authorised, Floridians can start ordering Margaritaville license plates beginning October 1.
Margaritaville stems from Buffett’s 1977 album, “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” which options the enduring music “Margaritaville.” Ever since its launch, Florida has really by no means been the identical.
The unique Margaritaville retail retailer opened on Duval Street in Key West again in 1985. Soon after, the cafe was added, and the remaining is historical past. Buffett’s worldwide empire now contains eating places, cruises, resorts, residences, and merchandise.
But the place precisely is Margaritaville at present? Although its unique residence remains to be in Key West, it is really a mind-set. According to Margaritaville’s web site, it is within the tropics “someplace between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder.”
Sounds just like the Sunshine State to me.
Buffett handed away on September 1, 2023, on the age of 76, from Merkel cell carcinoma, a uncommon however aggressive type of pores and skin most cancers. His legacy lives on by way of his philanthropy, companies, household, and music.
Oh, and naturally, his legacy lives on down within the Conch Republic, the place when you ever cease by Margaritaville on Duval Street, you have to order two issues: a margarita and a “Cheeseburger in Paradise” in his honor.
Fins up endlessly.