Tall order.
Jimmy Buffett’s Margarittaville was the restaurant to follow the Saturday morning ceremony at Onondaga Community College.
One, said Elisabeth, the Destiny USA location probably would not be overrun with graduates and family from the campus on the other side of the county. Two, she’d never been to the laid-back chain honoring the Florida singer of that vein.
Big show.
My dear wife Karen and I departed the campus before the last of the graduates had been called to the stage, better to beat the traffic and secure our table for four.
I spied the afternoon’s entertainment, a young lady on stilts.
Staff rapport.
Our waiter informed us that her name was Anna, but not until he’d brought us a nice Merlot for me, tasty Bloody Mary for Karen and splendid drunken shrimp appetizer to share. I told him I’d like Anna to visit our young lady of honor when she arrived.
Hover over any gallery photo for a description. Click on any image for an enlarged slide show.
Elisabeth and wonderful significant George Three were all smiles when they arrived.
It was about time my 26-year-old offspring got to experience this place. Karen and I have been to the ones in Key West and Niagara Falls. When I said I wanted to title this blog piece “Jeez, daughter in Paradise” and she didn’t get the reference to the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise” my old-man-ness struck me again. Then my daughter saw that item offered on the menu … Karen said the title was a stretch regardless.
Tall order.
Anna sauntered over pretty smoothly and was surprised when I addressed her by name. She answered my curiosity with the explanation that she’d gotten the job by displaying good balance on her first day there.
Balloon tiara.
Yes, please, Elisabeth said to a balloon crown.
And Anna quickly fashioned one in OCC colors.
The food was good, too. The guest of honor liked her cheeseburger, George and Karen appreciated their fish tacos, and I could only finish half of my huge club sandwich but got down all but a couple of the sweet potato fries.
Have you ever eaten at Margaritaville, and is so, what did you think? Have you ever tried to walk on stilts, and if so, how did that go? Which is your favorite Jimmy Buffett song, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
I found this page because I typed in my name into the search bar.
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That’s one way to go about it, SC.
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Thanks bud
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Sounds like a wonderful celebration!! I have been to the Margaritaville, in Panama City Beach, once, but when we are lucky to go to PCB, we mostly eat at the local places – they are the best, and though I am typically a tequila drinker, when in Florida, I drink the rum 😉 Bought a real cool jacket, though when we ate there several years back – black with an outline of a margarita in blue & green crystals on the back 🙂 [We were on vacation, LOL, needed souvenirs!!] Congrats to your daughter, Mark!!
[Never walked on stilts – probably best tried after a couple of margaritas 😉 And my fav Jimmy Buffett songs, though I like them all, would probably be “Come Monday” and “Here We Are” 🙂
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I like the sound of that Jimmy jacket as a very cool souvenir, Sadie. Especially after drinking the rum! 🙂 And singing “Here We Are” afterward. 😉
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I thought it was a funny pun indeed. We went to the one in Myrtle Beach two years ago and we rather enjoyed the stiltwalkers, one of whom made a balloon Abe Lincoln for my son. The food was good, and the timed Hurricanes were fun. So lucky there is one in your neck of the woods! As for the songs, I like “Come Monday.”
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Oh, yes, Kerbey, you picked a very lovely Jimmy song indeed. It’ll be alright, indeed. 🙂
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How cool! And congratulations to Elisabeth! No, imagine me, living here in Buffetland, having never been to his restaurant. Go figure. ❤
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You gotta go someday, Rachel, just to soak in the spectacle! ❤
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wow, i’m very impressed by the stilts and have never been on them. i also have never been to a margaritaville. guess i’m missing out on some things. ) sounds like a great choice for the celebration dinner, you and your family are excellent celebrators.
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We are great hooray-honorers, Beth. Jimmy’s place is a nice hooray spot, yes. You will find one someday, I am sure. You have a lot of hoorays in your life, too. ❤
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I’ll leave the stilts to someone else, thanks. Sounds like you had a great time!
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We had so much fun, Marissa. ❤
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🙂
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Thank you, Martha. ❤
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I wondered if you all would be going out after graduation, since you didn’t mention it in the last post. I’m glad you did – sounds like a fun celebration. I don’t think we have that restaurant here, but I don’t go out much so it’s possible there’s one somewhere, maybe in the big mall. I can’t imagine trying to walk on stilts – I used to have a hard enough time on stiletto heels!
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I think stiletto heels is a stretch, too, CM! ❤
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Congratulations to Elizabeth!!!!
Please tell me the waitresses/waiters were not also on stilts. Can you imagine if they had a tray full of soup bowls they had to disperse around the table. That would take some skill!!!!
I have never tried stilts, I can barely walk on my own two feet planted firmly on the ground without tripping.
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Only Anna was on stilts, thankfully. None of the wait staff was on anything but their own two feet, SD. ❤
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Fun times! Yes, I’ve eaten at Margaritaville. Here we have the other one, Cheeseburger in Paradise. To me both places are fun and friendly atmospheres, a lot like TGIF or Chili’s. Good family places. 🙂
I have never tried to walk on stilts and am lucky to have mastered my own two feet 😉
I like so many Jimmy Buffett songs…I like The Volcano Song a lot, and Margaritaville, and Barefoot Children — but really, I like most of them ALAWT! 😀
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My favorite is “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” Joey. It felt so right to me then. I was pretty reflective. I like most of them alawt, too! ❤
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😀
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I love that your family takes times to celebrate Mark. I’m too afraid of heights, I think, to try walking on stilts, how ’bout you Mark? ❤
Diana xo
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I’m not afraid of heights, Diana, but I’m way too clumsy to attempt stilts! And thanks for your compliment, my dear friend. ❤
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Yikes – stilts! So cool Mark. I’ve never walked in stilts. We don’t have that restaurant here. It sounds like everyone had a great time – Bravo to Elizabeth. I like to watch renovation shows and some use the stilts when mudding new gyprock in the ceiling – or painting the ceiling. Very cool.
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I see those painters/mudders zipping around on their stilts, and it amazes me, Paul. Not me, either, that’s for sure. 🙂
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