Two weeks ago we reported on Jimmy Buffett’s attendance at a University of Florida football game. Buffett joined head coach Urban Meyer (pictured right / AP photo by Mark Humphrey) and the team in the locker room after the game. In today’s edition of the Miami Herald, they expand on Meyer’s love of Buffett’s music and escapism:

At heart, Meyer — one of the country’s best college football coaches — is a fan of Jimmy Buffett. That’s right. Meyer is a Parrot Head. He even owns an official pair of Margaritaville flip-flops.

”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.”

There will be no relaxing for Meyer in the next few days. His Florida Gators, ranked No. 2 in nation by The Associated Press with an 11-1 record, play No. 1 Alabama on Saturday in Atlanta for the Southeastern Conference championship.

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The playful side of Urban Meyer can be traced back to a warm summer day in Cincinnati where he was a college player and worked part-time at the Timberwolf Amphitheater. That’s when Meyer met Buffett.

”He really loves the guy,” Shelley said. “We have every Buffett CD ever made and from February to August they literally play nonstop.”

Read the entire article here.

We previously reported that Jimmy Buffett’s new restaurant in Hawaii, Jimmy Buffett’s At The Beachcomber, would open in early 2009. A press release from Ohana Hotels reports that it will open in February:

The hotel is excited to welcome the highly-anticipated lifestyle restaurant and bar, Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber, slated to open in February 2009. This new 22,000 square foot dining, entertainment and retail venue will allow guests to enjoy a full menu, cocktails and lively entertainment by a variety of well-known and up-and-coming entertainers. The new Honolulu Surfing Museum and bar will serve up cool drinks while showcasing surfing collectibles and memorabilia.

(hat tip to Jr Mint for passing this along)

Jimmy will be playing a grand opening show soon after it opens, and you can win a trip to see the special show at landsharklager.com.

Time for another Buffett Caption Contest! This week’s photo is below… it’s Jimmy walking off the football field with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton.

We want you to provide your own caption for this photo. Put your creative hat on and submit your caption in the comments section of this article.

On Sunday we’ll pick a few of the best captions and put them in a poll for everyone to vote on. The poll will close on Wednesday and the highest vote-getter will receive a copy of Jimmy’s Christmas album “Christmas Island”.

Jimmy Buffett recently treked down the east coast for his annual pilgramige from New York to Florida and wrote about it in his online diary that you can read at Margaritaville.com. He flew his Cessna Caravan from New York’s East River down to First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina… site of the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Jimmy describes what it’s like to be a pilot and visit the spot where the Wright Brothers first flew:

I am a creature of habit, and to me, the birthplace of aviation, is a place worth visiting more than once. In fact, I would say it is more than a photo op, a gift shop visit or buzzing the Wright Brothers Monument in your plane. It is a spiritual place to me, as powerful as Diamond Head or Machu Pichu in that regard. It is a sandy piece of land, where one can stand at the exact spot where man left the planet for the first time, and reflect in these troubled times, on what it means to soar above the earth and go traveling amongst the stars. Those kinds of thoughts are the things that separate pilots from passengers.

Buffett also writes about a great local seafood place, the throwback cottage that he stayed in, and the stand-up surfboard that he tried out on the trip.

Read the entire Outer Banks diary here. There are also several photos from Buffett’s trip on Margaritaville.com.

Jimmy says at the end of the diary entry that there will be a part II, and possibly a new song or two from this trip, so stay tuned!

Just in time for Black Friday, vandals in downtown Charleston, South Carolina poured glue into the locks of several businesses, including the Margaritaville Store:

Vandals poured glue inside door locks on dozens of shops along King and Market streets, delaying the start of Black Friday bargain-hunting in the downtown corridor this morning.

A Charleston police officer estimated more than 20 merchants were affected, including Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Starbucks and Williams-Sonoma.

A group of locksmiths were scrambling to open doors for patrons waiting outside.

Though the merchants had to open stores later than planned, some said the delay likely wouldn’t affect business because shoppers usually make their way to King Street later in the day on Black Friday.