The first Margaritaville Cafe in Canada is slated for Calgary’s just-announced $170 million Stampede Trail development:

Musician Jimmy Buffett’s first Canadian restaurant will anchor a new retail complex at the Calgary Stampede, developers announced on Thursday.

After years of land acquisitions in the neighbourhood of Victoria Park, the Stampede is going ahead with a major expansion.

Olympic Way will be renamed Stampede Trail and feature a $170 million development with stores, restaurants and office space.

Margaritaville, a chain restaurant owned by Buffett, will anchor the complex. Customers will be able to enjoy a 10,000-sq. ft. outdoor patio and live entertainment including stilt walkers and balloon artists, promised the chain in a news release.

Alberta Development Partners Inc., which is based in Colorado, has plans for the Stampede Trail development to include six buildings from 12th Avenue S.W. to the current Stampede gates.

Officials said Margaritaville should open in time for 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede in 2012.

Also see this article for more.

Update – Official site is www.margaritavillecalgary.ca

Jimmy Buffett is apparently still in Europe after playing a show in London on Sunday. American cyclist Lance Armstrong tweeted this morning that Jimmy is riding along in the Team Astrana car at the Tour de France:

You can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BuffettWorld

Update – VeloNews has an interview with Buffett at the TdF. The first question in the interview was “What in the hell are you doing here?”. Jimmy says that he was invited by Lance Armstrong and he had always wanted to come but was always on tour.

Watch the interview now

(hat tip to Cliff for passing along the interview)

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Time for another Jimmy Buffett Caption Contest! Take a look at the image below and make up your own caption for it:

Post your caption in the comments section of this post.

In a few days we’ll take a few of our favorite captions and put them in a poll for everyone to vote on their favorite.

We’ve told you that a new Jimmy Buffett album is in the works. The Examiner has an article on the upcoming release:

When Jimmy Buffett says it’s always five o’clock somewhere, you better believe he means it. In fact, he traveled all the way to Timbuktu to have happy hour with a group of nomadic Tuareg musicians at the Festival in the Desert, an annual gathering in Africa.

It was here that he gained inspiration to start writing, which would end up becoming his newest album that is slated for release by the end of the year. Buffett hasn’t had a new album since 2006, and says that the reason for this new burst of creative energy is because his trek to Africa was one of the best musical experiences of his life. This inspiration is paired up with his point of view on the current recession, intertwining his usual upbeat outlook with some satire and sarcasm.

For example, the two most popular new songs are “A Lot To Drink About”, (which has lyrics about Madoff taking off with money) and “Surfing in a Hurricane”. The names describe the current economical state perfectly, and Buffett feels it’s the perfect way to appeal to his long-standing loyal fans.

Read the full article here.