The journey to Margaritaville can quickly be made on the Jimmy Buffett Freeway

Iconic Florida singer Jimmy Buffet named certainly one of his albums “A1A” in honor of the coastal freeway that winds by about 340 miles (545 kilometers) alongside the state’s Atlantic Coast, and now Florida is about to return the consideration.

State Freeway A1A will grow to be the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Freeway as quickly as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis indicators the invoice the Senate despatched to him Tuesday with a unanimous vote.

“As Jimmy as soon as mentioned, ‘It’s a candy life residing by the salty sea’ and we couldn’t consider a greater strategy to honor him than by memorializing him alongside Florida’s coastal freeway,” mentioned Democratic Sen. Lauren E-book, who sponsored the invoice.

Buffett, who died in September, wrote songs that drove vacationers to the Florida Keys searching for solar, sand and leisure. Key West earned the nickname “Margaritaville” after his tune about losing away by the ocean searching for a misplaced shaker of salt.

Elements of A1A are already designated by the U.S. Division of Transportation as a nationwide scenic and historic byway. It begins in Fernandina Seaside close to the Georgia border and passes by the nation’s oldest metropolis, St. Augustine, on its strategy to Key West, providing unbelievable ocean views for individuals who don’t must rush south on Interstate 95.

On Monday, the Legislature additionally despatched DeSantis a invoice that features the creation of a specialty license plate with the phrase “Margaritaville.” Proceeds from license plate gross sales will go to a charity based by Buffett, Singing for Change, and can profit Florida nonprofits that assist victims of hurricanes and different disasters, Harrell mentioned.

DeSantis’ workplace didn’t instantly reply to an e-mail asking if he’d signal the freeway designation, however the governor did honor Buffett by ordering flags to be flown at half-staff after his dying and asking Floridians to have a good time him by “elevating their margarita glass and having fun with a cheeseburger right here in paradise to want the ‘Son of a Son of a Sailor’ nicely.”