Close your eyes and imagine a tropical trip
By Craig Walker
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — You can go to
the island of St. Somewhere. St.
Anywhere. Just boot up your PC,
make a drink, put on your head
phones and close your eyes.
“There are no restrictions,” says
singer Jimmy Buffett. “No FCC. It’s
like the old pirate radio stations that
sat offshore and played what they
want.”
Yes, Radio Margaritaville
(www.radiomargaritaville.com) is
owned by Jimmy Buffett. But no, it’s
not just a-jukebox that spits out its
namesake tune and other Parrot
head favorites.
“We hope we can take folks away,”
says program director Steve Hunting
ton. “It’s really a theater of the mind.
You supply your own pictures. ”
In some ways, it’s a throwback to
the bygone days when AM ruled the
airwaves and the clearer night air al
lowed signals to be heard halfway
across the country. It’s also like the
early days of FM rock, when each
on-air personality was free to mix
an individual picture through mu
sic. Throw in the exotica of listen
ing to short-wave broadcasts from
abroad, and the picture is complete.
“Your imagination doesn’t work
the same way watching TV,” Hunt
ington says.
A music set on Radio Margari
taville might begin with Buffett’s
“Cuban Crime of Passion,” then go to
a selection from Ry Cooder’s “Buena
Vista Social Club” CD, which features
an award-winning collection of
Cuban musicians. The lazy tropical
theme might continue with James
Taylor’s “Mexico,” then something
from island music master (and Buf
fett sideman) Ralph MacDonald, and
from Putumayo’s “Caribe! Caribe!”
collection of artists from Martinique
and other islands.
Mix in some appropriate Ameri
can pop/rock and some classics
(“Respect” by Aretha Franklin, or
an old Beach Boys number).
The idea for Radio Margaritaville
began with a Jimmy Buffett trip to
Australia about 20 years ago. The
country had only about 13 FM sta
tions scattered around the rim, and
they had to program a wide variety
of music fora diverse audience.
“You never had to change the sta
tion,” Buffett says. “It was so well
programmed for what the listeners
were doing. I wound up taping a
bunch of those shows and bringing
them back.”
Fast-forward to about five years
ago, when Buffett began thinking
about radio again while listening to a
Key West station and to WOYS in
Apalachicola, in the Florida Panhan
dle. Their programming was similar
to what he had heard in Australia.
“About that time, my computer
guy comes to me and starts talking
about this Internet thing. ”
Buffett looked up his old radio
friend Huntington. In 1998, Hunt
ington agreed to leave his long ca
reer in “regular” radio, saying he
was tired of consultant-driven, ho
mogenized programming.
“When we first started talking
about this, we didn’t know the In
ternet would be the route,” Hunt
ington says. “We figured it would be
done in syndication or something.
But we started doing some shows
on the main Margaritaville site in
1998 and the response was very
good.”
Radio Margaritaville is linked to
Buffett’s regular Margaritaville site
(www.margaritaville.com), which
promotes his mini-empire of restau
rants and retail outlets. A rollicking
escapist figure in flipflops and
shorts (and occasional best-selling
author of stories), Buffett hasn’t had
a Top 40 radio hit in more than two
decades. But fans continue to lap up
his leave-it-all-behind music and
his concerts are sold out.
“Radio says it’s not popular,”
Huntington says. “James Taylor is
another guy who sells out every
concert. But radio is underserving
adults.”
Radio Margaritaville is one of the
few places to hear the solo efforts of
Buffett’s Coral Reefer Bandmates
such as Roger Guth and brothers Jim
and Peter Mayer. It’s also an outlet
for the growing world music scene,
featuring the Afro-Caribbean music
distributed by Putumayo and other
labels.
“I think the Web in general has
done wonders for world music,”
says Jennifer Daunt, Putumayo’s na
tional promotions director. “Corpo
rate radio shuns eclecticism.”
Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer,
who won a Grammy for his solo al
bum after “Buena Vista Social
Club,” is a regular on Radio Mar
garitaville. Songwriters such as
Steve Goodman and Alabama’s
Mac McAnally also get their due as
performers.
“We’re quietly out there making
noise,” says Buffett, borrowing a
line from one of his songs.
Canada
continued from page 7
with an unforgettable light show.
You also won’t want to miss the
Royal British Columbia Museum
which houses a huge collection of
coastal Canadian art and historical
material. There’s also an IMAX the
ater at the museum. What more
could you ask for?
Oh yeah, here’s something cool
about Victoria: The U.S. dollar is
worth more than the Canadian dol
lar. This means that stuff in Victo
ria is cheap, cheap, cheap! Eat like
a king for $6. Drink yourself under
the table with cocktails for less than
$20. Go to Victoria’s wax museum
(yes, that’s right, Victoria has a wax
museum) for chump change.
OK, OK, you’re bored with all of
the tourist-y stuff — you want to
hear about the nightlife. Fine.
Victoria has a very active down
town area, with a lot of discos,
sports bars and jazz clubs. One of
the best things about Victoria is the
fact that the entire downtown area
is easily traversed by foot. In fact,
most of the places you’ll want to go
in Victoria are within walking dis
tance from the Inner Harbour
where the ferries arrive and most of
the hotels are located. So, when
you’re on your twelfth Canadian
Sunrise or your tenth pint of local
ale, you won’t have to worry about
driving your inebriated behind
back home.
Getting to Victoria is really quite
easy. You just need to drive up to
Port Angeles, Wash., which takes
about four hours from Eugene. Get
on the M.V. Coho Ferry for $15
round-trip and have yourself a
pleasant 90-minute marine voyage.
Victoria might not have the big
city flashiness of its close neighbors
Vancouver and Seattle, but you’d
be hard-pressed to find a destina
tion with more culture, charm and
personality than Victoria. It’s an in
credibly romantic place that simply
radiates its rich history. The next
time you’re planning a getaway for
you and your sweetheart (or a binge
with your underage drinking bud
dies), cross the border and go Cana
dian.
Coast
continued from page 7
If you’re into the all-terrain vehi
cle scene, there’s a lot for you to
love in Florence. The town con
tains a bunch of giant sand dune
parks that are dedicated to dune
buggy madness. For about $45 an
hour, you can cruise the sands at
high speeds.
You don’t need a dune buggy to
enjoy the sand dunes, though.
There's tons of amazing swimming
lakes around the dunes that are per
fect for diving into when the weath
er gets too hot.
Also, check out Florence’s Old
Town area. It’s probably the most
tourist-friendly area in town, and it
has some 60 shops and restaurants
that you’ll want to check out.
The highlight of Florence very
well may be Honeyman State Park.
An awesome territory that features
freshwater lakes, plenty of sand
dunes and lush forest, Honeyman
is a outdoor lover’s dream. It has
hundreds of great campsites, many
with electricity. If you can only vis
it one place on the Oregon coast
this summer, Honeyman State Park
should be at the top of your list.
Many visitors to the Oregon
Coast opt to travel north of Flo
rence, and for good reason. New
port is a wonderful town which fea
tures the excellent Oregon Coast
Aquarium, which is a must-see for
anyone with even a passing interest
in marine life. Towns such as Asto
ria, Yachats and Depoe Bay are
charming little stops on the beauti
ful drive that Highway 101 pro
vides. Seaside is the Oregon coast’s
oldest resort town, and it features
an action-packed downtown with
bumper cars, ice cream parlors and
fancy dining.
While the northern part of the
Oregon coast is undeniably nice,
the southern part offers a wealth of
hidden treasures that you might not
read about in a brochure.
About an hour’s drive south from
Florence is Coos Bay, the largest
city in the area. Formerly a central
hub of Oregon’s timber industry, it’s
been hit with hard economic times
in recent years because of a sagging
wood-products market. This
shouldn’t stop you from enjoying
the area, though. Coos Bay has
some great natural attractions, the
most impressive of which is Shore
Acres State Park.
Shore Acres features excellent
beaches with fascinating tide pools,
and large botanical gardens are
tucked away in the park. There are
some great hikes to be had, too.
Many of these hikes take visitors
through a seeming tropical forest,
with ferns, salamanders and steep
climbs, only to end up at the top of
a cliff with a spectacular view of
the ocean.
The wildlife is also plentiful,
with tons of sea lions and coastal
birds around for your viewing
pleasure.
If you’re looking for a bite to eat,
there are two restaurants in the area
which come highly recommended.
For breakfast, stop into the Pancake
Mill, which is located right on
Highway 101. You’ll have a hard
time deciding which delicious
meal to order, and when you’re
done, be sure to buy some of their
peanut butter fudge cookies for the
road. Make sure that you get there
early, because this place gets really
busy.
Dinner should be had at the Bank
Brewing Restaurant & Brew Pub.
Order a hand-tossed pizza or a
cheeseburger while quaffing on one
of the myriad local ales.
Farther down the coast you’ll
find Gold Beach, home of Whitewa
ter rafting and jet-boat trips. Brook
ings lies six miles north of the Cali
fornia border and features mild
temperatures and a fantastic harbor.
Brookings is located right next to
Siskiyou National Forest, and there
are a lot of nature trails to take you
through groves of old-growth red
woods.
So, traveler, next time that you
find yourself planning a Pacific
jaunt, consider your own backyard:
the Oregon coast. It might not be a
tropical paradise, but it’s a lot closer
than Malibu or La Jolla. It’s too bad
that so few people have realized
what a perfectly great vacation can
be had only an hour away. You can
change this trend. Go to the Oregon
coast, and see what you’ve been
missing.
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