We have been told that PHIP Club members received an e-mail this morning stating that Jimmy Buffett will play two dates in Hawaii in February:

Tuesday, February 24th – Maui
Saturday, February 28th – The Shell in Waikiki

No word yet on ticket sales or prices.

Buffett is also playing a private show for the opening of his newest restaurant, Jimmy Buffett’s At The Beachcomber in Honolulu. Landshark Lager is giving away a trip for two to attend the show (register here). The date is not yet known, but the official sweepstakes rules say that the anticipated travel is February, March, or April 2009. It’s possible that Jimmy will play this private show while he is in Hawaii for these two shows.

(hat tip to Jr. Mint for passing this along!)

Jimmy Buffett recently traveled through the Caribbean, making surprise visits at his Cozumel and Grand Cayman Margaritaville Cafes where he played impromptu shows with Mac McAnally and Nadirah Shakoor.

Margaritaville.com has some photos up from the trip:

Cozumel Gallery
Grand Cayman Gallery

Jimmy Buffett made a surprise visit to his Margaritaville Cafe in the Cayman Islands on Thursday, according to the Cay Compass:

Photo by Alan Markoff

The caption reads:

Legendary singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett paid a visit to Cayman’s Margaritaville Thursday and played some songs to the delight of surprised patrons of the restaurant.

(Hat tip to Todd for passing this along)

College football held its national championship game last night, the BCS Championship, between Florida and Oklahoma. Florida head coach and parrothead Urban Meyer’s Gators came out on top with a 24-14 victory for their second national title in three years.

In November, Jimmy Buffett attended the Florida – South Carolina game in Gainesville and Coach Meyer invited Buffett into the locker room:

“Jimmy Buffett was in our locker room, he was,” Meyer said, almost giddy.

“In all seriousness, that’s a big deal,” said Meyer, whose favorite Buffett song is “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”

Meyer met Buffett at Super Bowl XLI in Miami. It was raining and Meyer offered the singer a dark Gator jacket, which Buffett also wore to Saturday’s game.

“It’s great to be back in Gainesville seeing the Gators playing this well,” said Buffett, who had his son, Cameron, with him. “It’s been a long time. I like what Coach Meyer is doing here. This has just been a lot of fun tonight.”

Meyer’s love for Buffett runs deep:

”Urban doesn’t just like Jimmy Buffett, Urban wants to be Jimmy Buffett,” said Shelley Meyer, Urban’s wife.

“To Urban, Jimmy just has the greatest life because he gets to be laid-back. That’s Urban’s dream, just to be relaxed and have fun.”

A Fort Bragg soldier died early Monday morning after a bar fight erupted when he played Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” on the jukebox:

Sgt. 1st Class Richard Lopez, 37, of Fayetteville, N.C., died at 4:16 a.m. Monday at Denver Health Medical Center, according to Steamboat Springs Police Capt. Joel Rae.

Rae said Steamboat police have an ongoing “homicide” investigation into the incident and that the two men who allegedly assaulted Lopez are classified as “suspects.”

The dispute began, said Rae, when Lopez played the song on a jukebox in the Tap House Sports Grill late Thursday night.

Lopez’s relatives told The Denver Post that the song selected by Lopez was Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”

Rae said Lopez was obviously enjoying the song and that upset the two other patrons. The pair — whose names were not released — made disparaging remarks about the song’s selection, and the argument escalated on the street near the bar.

A fight erupted between one group, composed of Lopez and brothers Timothy and Wes Mottlau, and the second group composed of the two men originally offended by the song, said Rae.

Read the entire article here.