The Gulf Breeze News has a great article on the recently announced Margaritaville Beach Hotel in Pensacola, Florida. According to the article, the ball began rolling back in March. In fact, the March 31st impromptu show at the Panama City Margaritaville came after Buffett toured the hotel property.

Marilyn Hess feels as if she won the lottery. As head of Little Sabine, Inc., she was finalizing the details to open a Gulf-front hotel on Pensacola Beach, replacing the Holiday Inn that Hurricane Ivan washed away in 2004.

A phone call from a friend turned her plans upside down.

She met the friend, who is also involved in hotel development in Atlanta, when in walked Jimmy Buffett and the CEO of Margaritaville Holdings, John Cohlan.

A few days later, Buffett came to tour the nearly completed hotel and invited Hess along on a road trip to his Margaritaville Café in Panama City where he planned an impromptu performance.

Hess said she couldn’t believe she was on a road trip with Jimmy Buffet, music legend and connoisseur of the laidback lifestyle, and felt like a teenager.

“He is charming and delightful,” Hess said of Buffett.

To top it off, Buffett insisted on stopping each and every Budweiser beer truck he encountered to chat with the drivers and talk about his Land Shark Lager.

“He pulled into the Circle K in Navarre because he saw the beer truck there, and he took pictures with everybody,” Hess said. The employee behind the counter begged for a photo to show her boss, a Parrot Head who otherwise wouldn’t believe he missed the chance to meet his idol.

The article also reveals some details on the hotel:

To meet the target opening in mid to late June for the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, workers are retrofitting the kitchen to accommodate “Frank and Lola’s” restaurant inside the hotel so it can serve signature Margaritaville Café dishes such as the “cheeseburger in paradise.” A pool bar is being constructed as well as an outdoor bar and entertainment area tentatively named “Land Shark Landing.” The Margaritaville Café is scheduled to open on a parcel adjacent to the hotel in Spring of 2011.

Room rates will range from $195 to $450 per night depending on the season and accommodations. Margaritaville Beach Hotel will offer meeting space, a board room and a spectacular view of the Gulf of Mexico through massive glass windows.

“It will have the most beautiful bar area you can imagine,” Hess said.

The article also says that USA Today will feature a spread on the hotel this Friday.

Read the full article here.

It’s been a while since our last caption contest, so let’s do another. Take a look at the below picture and come up with your own creative, funny caption for it.

(Photo: Scott Gries / Life)

Post your caption in the comments section of this post.

After a few days we’ll take some of the best captions and put them in a poll for everyone to vote on their favorite.

The circus came to town Monday night as Jimmy and the Reefers moved the Under The Big Top Tour to the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Notable additions to the set list this time included “Woman Goin’ Crazy on Caroline Street,” “I Will Play for Gumbo,” and “USS Zydecoldsmobile.” “Reggabilly Hill” was tonight’s final encore, dedicated not only to the Gulf Coast but also to Nashville and Haiti.

Technical difficulties prevented the show from being streamed on Ustream. Jimmy’s crew said that the internet at the venue was too poor for streaming.

The Enquirer has a review of the tailgating festivities: “What rain? Parrotheads party on at Jimmy Buffett concert” and also a review of the show: “Jimmy Buffett gives Cincinnati a bow with anniversary concert”

View the entire set list here.

Did you attend the show? Share your thoughts on our Discussion Board.

The second leg of the Under The Big Top Tour will continue Thursday with a show in Houston, TX. You can still get your tickets now!

Here’s the report of today’s soundcheck that was streamed live on Ustream.

Sonny Landreth is at the show again and he’s put to good use on “USS Zydecoldsmobile”, the first song they rehearsed. After that it was “Woman Goin’ Crazy On Caroline Street”.

They then showed a hilarious video on the big screen behind the stage of Jimmy doing Lord Of Dance. He flew in, suspended from above and then proceeded to do a river dance with a dozen or so ladies. Hopefully they’ll show it during tonight’s show.

Jimmy and the Reefers then rehearsed “I Will Play For Gumbo”, “Surfing In A Hurricane”, and “Reggabilly Hill”.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 pm ET for the show. You can listen live on Radio Margaritaville and probably watch the full show at Ustream.

The 2010 Under The Big Top Tour continues tonight at the Riverbend Amphitheater in Cincinnati, Ohio as Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band return to the town where the term “parrothead” was first coined 25 years ago.

Watch the soundcheck on Ustream at 3 pm ET (if you have an Android phone or iPhone you can watch using the Ustream app, just search for “bttour”). Then tune into Radio Margaritaville at 7:30 pm ET for the pre-show. At 8 pm Ilo Ferreira will open the show with a short set, followed by Jimmy. The last two shows have been streamed in their entirety on Ustream, so look for that again tonight.

Follow along with the set list and chat with other parrothead during the show on our forum.