When I moved to Buffalo, New York to attend grad school I was fresh off a summer of windsurfing in Ocean City, Maryland and Aruba. That was probably when I started turning into a beach guy. Buffalo quickly tried to crush my spirits with cold and snow. Here's the thing about living in Buffalo. The weather will put you in a deep funk. In retaliation, I put on an armor-plated layer of Jimmy Buffett. I'm not sure what I would have done without him. Together, we survived Buffalo. Buffett's songs seemed to know exactly where I needed to go and the lyrics took my mind to tropical places. I clung to those songs as if they were a life ring holding me up until a passing ship could take me to a warm-water port.
Yes, my exile in Buffalo was self-induced, but I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Three months of summer (at best) has never been enough for me. After two years of school, I went straight to the Outer Banks to defrost for an entire summer. That's when the Outer Banks got in my blood and it's never left.
If one song spoke to me the most during my time in Buffalo, it was definitely Boat Drinks. The song talks about 20-degree weather and a hockey game being on TV. The final verse summed up my dreams and desires while living in Buffalo.
"I gotta go where there ain't any snow
Where there ain't any blow,
'cause my fin sinks so low
I gotta go where it's warm"
Thank you, Jimmy Buffett, for keeping me sane and motivating me to get to the place where I belong.
P.S.- On occasion, Jimmy Buffett enjoyed visiting the Outer Banks. You can read about some of his adventures in this link.
Boat Drinks
Fair winds and following seas,
John Van Lunen
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