It's a "Buffett Thing"

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I've already stated that I am a "Parrothead"...

I've been a fan of Jimmy Buffett since about 1978. I've considered myself a "Parrothead" since my first concert at King's Dominion in Ashland, Virginia in 1987. It was shortly after that, that I began to seek Buffett references for our automobile plates since Virginia is kind enough to offer reasonably priced "Vanity" plates.

That was the start of a long run of concerts. Cam and I have been to 17 shows. Our girls have attended with us on 6 different occasions. Frequently these concerts have been family affairs with groups of 10 or more. That just makes for all the more fun.

So, this is where SNIFINS comes in...

I'd been a Florida "resident" the entire time prior to moving to Virginia and my car had the license plate "GUMP". I was excited to find that Virginia offered "vanity plates" as well. Although someone already had "GUMP". So I was a bit dissapointed. I ended up settling for "G GUMP" and the wife had "C GUMP" for a time.

Concerts.... Lawn People...

As stated above, we've been to a few of Jimmy's concerts. Yet we always ended up on the lawn of the ampitheatre. Sometimes that was by choice. Especially if we had 10 to 15 of us going. However, other times it was the fact that those were the only tickets you could get by the time you got to the counter. Never lessened our enjoyment at the event though.

Got a New Car in 1992

So, naturally, I needed a new plate to go on it. Besides the movie Forrest Gump and been out for a while and I was tired of people shouting "Run, Forrest, Run" when they saw GUMP on my plates.

I really wanted some fun and cool Jimmy Buffett reference for the car. That can be somewhat tricky with only 7 letters to use. That and the fact that the most popular ones were already taken.

Then one evening it just came to me... SNIFINS. This is from the chorus of the song FINS, which states "you've got fins to the left and fins to the right" (and you're the only bait in town). So, if you start with the middle "F" and work either direction: you have "Fins to the Left" and "Fins to the Right". Aren't I a genius? Cool

Front Row!!!! Are you JOKING??!!??

Then came the show in Charlotte, NC on Valentines day in 1995. At the time I was working at a record store that was also a ticket master outlet. I told the gent working the sales that I wanted the best seats that he could get me, for a change. The show sold out in less than 12 minutes and I had no idea what tickets he had acquired for me. When he handed them to me he said, "Sorry Man, I did the best I could". I said a quick "Thank You" and then glanced down to see that we were "FRONT ROW - CENTER". I almost fainted. What a great deal!! What a great show. We were about as close as the photo above. 

I was glad I got to be that close once. As I know it will never happen again. 

I've kept SNIFINS, we've had others though...

The state of Virginia has even been kind enough to offer us a "Parrothead" Plate. Of which we've had a few. Here is one from my motorcycle:

In addition we have had plates like LOV LUC (Love and Luck), CALALO (Calaloo) and currently DZDMNA (Desdemona). All Buffett references. It just keeps it fun.

 

Parrotheads... It's not just a party..

Just for the record. There are numerous Parrothead clubs around the nation and probably the world. They enjoy their Margaritas to be certain. But, they are also civic organizations that are involved with fund-raising for charity and doing community service.

Take a look at Parrotheads in Paradise for more information.