Randi

Moulton, AL

"Randi: I credit one man for keeping me sane my whole life.

Transilient: Who’s that?

Randi: Jimmy Buffet.

I first heard Jimmy Buffet when I was in the Marine Corp in 1983 in NC and I fell in love with him. You know, just the fact, okay not his popular songs, but the fact that the man is a literary genius! He can write books, he can sing, and he is a modern-day Mark Twain. He is a story teller at heart and I loved his stories. It’s what interested me in New Orleans and Key West and intrigued me to be interested in their history and read up on them. My three bucket list cities are New Orleans, Key West and Salem. I’ve been all over the country. I was stationed in Asia for a year. Being born in Panama City, I have a connection to the Gulf Coast that’s always been a part of me. I also read a lot and many of the stories I read take place in those cities. I learned so much about the towns just from reading the novels, the fiction pirate books, and history books. As far as Salem, Massachusetts, one of my favorite authors is Heather Graham. She writes a lot of New Orleans and Key West stories, but also a lot of Salem! After reading her I started studying the history of it. I just decided that I need to see these cities.

You know, I was able to go down to New Orleans, without ever being there before, without a map and just from the stuff that I read and I was able to get to the French Quarter and the recognize parts of the Garden District. It was familiar to me when I got there without ever being there before. I’d only ever seen it on T.V. and television does nothing for it! You have to experience New Orleans. I am 6’ ft. tall and I was shocked by how little everything is! How small everything was is the most amazing thing to me… I had to turn side ways to go into a store in the French Quarter. (laughs) I spent two days down there and not once did I feel uncomfortable or unsafe. I was a lady riding a motorcycle! I think I can get the same feeling from Key West and Salem.”