Parrot Head Reunion

My friend Melinda has invited me to come to Chicago over Labor Day weekend, when Jimmy Buffet makes his Parrot Head debut at Wrigley Field. Apparently this is ground breaking news, because no concerts have previously played there, and Buffet will be their inaugural show. I have to admit that the first time I saw Jimmy buffet, I was with my ex-husband and we did not know what to expect. We had no idea the kind of party we were driving into when we first entered the parking lot. As we sat on the hood of our car (NOT dressed like Parrot Heads, NO props, NO decorations), we stood out like a sore thumb against a backdrop of Hawaiian print shirts, leis and exotic drinks. Not to mention the dump truck that pulled in, dumped a truck full of sand into the parking lot and up sprang blow up palm trees, beach chairs and a portable bar, complete with generator operated blenders. There were several different groups with full sound systems and hundreds of people dancing or doing the limbo. Going into the concert was actually a little anti-climatic. The second time I went (or was it the third?), I was definitely not caught unaware. I went with my friend, Jennifer, and that night we became official Parrot Heads! I had just bought a little white Mercedes 190 about a week before and we were so excited to be out for our first night in the new ride. We decorated the car, took our own beach chairs, coolers, props, and gigantic parrot balloons, not to mention that we were decked out like a couple of little Hawaiian cuties. We were ready for a night of fun!
The night (or should I say day, since these things start around noon) started off innocently enough. We met some of our friends there, made some new friends, and managed to avoid all of the drink stations that said, "Shooters for Hooters" (pretty self-explanatory). We were off and running. The tailgate was a blast - I think I even limboed once or twice! Then came time to go into the concert. They pretty much clear out the parking lot, insisting that everyone with a ticket - go inside, and everyone without - go home. Jen and I had pretty good seats but our friends were on the lawn, so we decided to sit with them for awhile. Sit is a relative term, however, because although the crowd was in the mood for tropical weather, it had started to drizzle and no one was actually sitting on the lawn. After awhile of avoiding mud puddles and standing in way-too-long beverage lines on the lawn, we decided to find our seats and take our friends with us. On the way to our seats, I stopped to visit the ladies room while the lines were short. I had the cutest little Hawaiian purse with my cell phone, keys, ID, credit card and cash that I hung on the hook on the back of the bathroom stall door (isn't that what they're there for?). I walked out, washed my hands, realized that I left it in the stall, walked straight back and it was already gone. Someone had ripped off the cute little Hawaiian purse in 10 seconds flat. I was so bummed, walked out to tell my friends before deciding how to handle it, and started down the stairs to our seats. I was also wearing the cutest little slip on tennis shoes that were very much in style back then, but not great for muddy steps in drizzly weather. So down I go...Down an entire flight of steps, on my ass, cute little shoes flying everywhere. One friend helped me up while another retrieved my shoes and we tried to salvage what was left of the night. Within seconds, I managed to walk by a woman who had just been bumped terribly by a different passerby, but she thought it was me. She raised her 32 oz. $9.75 Bud Light and threw it in my face. Yup. My tallest friend had to jump between us while she tried to follow up the dousing with a catfight, and I just stood there saying, "Did that really just happen?" So there I was standing in the rain, the front of me covered in beer from the top of my head to my chest, the back of me covered in mud from the middle of my back to my cute little shoes, and a line from a book I read came to mind that says, "He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it." That was me that night. Because I was at a Jimmy Buffet concert, where it's very hard to have a bad time, I actually stayed until the end...beer, mud, and all!
But wait! The night was not quite over yet. As we made our way out to the parking lot, someone had turned up the sound system again and there was another party going on! We had to stay and dance for awhile, so by the time we got back to our cars, most of the parking lot had cleared out. I hadn't yet figured out how I was going to start my car, considering my keys and my cell phone had already been stolen, but it didn't matter...As I approached my cute little new white Mercedes, I got the sinking feeling that something was not how I left it. Just when I thought the night couldn't get any worse, my new car had been broken into while we were in the concert. Everything was stolen from the inside. They even broke into the trunk and stole our coolers and our Parrot Head props! Bastards.
So this September I'm trying it again. The memories of beer, mud and broken windows have since faded and I'm ready to get back on the horse, err...Back on the bird. I only hope Melinda knows what she's getting herself into!