The Lucy Buffett & Mac McAleer Interview is featured on The Paul Leslie Hour.
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We’re honored to present Paul’s interview with Lucy Buffett and Mac McAleer. This interview with Lucy and Mac was recorded at Lucy’s restaurant LuLu’s at Homeport in Gulf Shores, Alabama on March 10, 2007. It was originally broadcast on the radio, during the Stars Fell on Alabama festival.
LuLu’s is a place renowned for fun, food and music. No doubt, many of you heard the sad news about Jimmy Buffett, Lucy’s brother. Fun, food and music were a big part of his life as well. We were heartbroken to hear about Jimmy’s passing on September 1st.
If you’ve been listening to The Paul Leslie Hour you know how many people and events from the Jimmy Buffett world have been covered here. And some of you know, Paul’s very first broadcasts were heard on Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margaritaville in 2003. To honor the troubadour of the tropics, we’re bringing out this interview with his sister Lucy and brother-in-law Mac. You’ll hear in Lucy’s voice something of her brother. You’ll recognize the same joyous spirit and childlike enthusiasm.
Carson Forrester, a listener of The Paul Leslie Hour and a boatbuilder commented the other day on Paul’s instagram. He said “heart breaking Paul, keep the stories coming.” Well ladies and gentlemen, that’s what we’re going to do. Please subscribe to Paul Leslie’s YouTube channel and don’t forget to hit the bell. We’ll keep the stories alive.
And with that, I think we’re all ready to listen. Here’s Lucy Buffett and Mac McAleer on a beautiful coastal day.
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The Official Transcript
The Stars Fell on Alabama festival at Lulu’s: A Big Celebration
[2:10] Paul Leslie: We’re sitting here at the bar at Lulu’s at Homeport. Life is good. There’s a nice breeze over the water, some nice tunes in the background, and there’s a number of people here.
My friend Wesley, Miss Lucy Buffett and Mr. Mac McAleer. So I’d like to, first of all, thank you for taking the time to do this.
Lucy Buffett:
Oh, you’re welcome, Paul. I mean, this is a big, this is one of our biggest days of the year when the Parrot Heads come. They started this the year I opened Lulu’s, which is what we did celebrate our 8th anniversary. So they have been very instrumental in always jump-starting our season.
And back in the old and very, very lean days, it was well needed and appreciated.
Mac McAleer:
And still is.
Lucy Buffett
And still is, by the way.
It looks like everything…I mean, there’s a lot of people here, isn’t there?
Mac McAleer
Probably around maybe 1,000 people here today.
Lucy Buffett
The 500 Parrot Heads came on those buses that came across, and the very first time they ever came, it was like one bus, and I don’t know how many, and I was out there doing the, cooking, scrambling and everything, but it’s been great.
I love the Parrot Heads. [3:23] We all love the Parrot Heads.
The Love for Parrot Heads and the Inspiration for a Restaurant
[3:26] They certainly are dedicated. Uh, I wanted to know how you got the idea to open a restaurant was was, Like I guess most families mine, especially food is a real big important thing. I mean it brings people together.
A Family’s Love for Food and Travel
Lucy Buffett
[3:41] Food’s a big important thing in our family, honey. I’m telling you we gate. I mean we I know that Jimmy’ll travel like, He’ll take a detour of 200 miles in his plane because there’s a good oyster load somewhere.
Mac McAller
Like right here.
Lucy Buffett
Like right here. Our family, we love food. For me, it’s my art form. I love, you know, he sings and I cook. So I had been working in Hollywood and my parents were very ill and I was burnt out, tired and broke. And thought, gosh, is this all there is? And came back and was kind of synchronistically offered the opportunity to open this little waterfront dive, and I thought I could sell some cheeseburgers and, you know, and, write my book on the front porch, and that sort of was the beginning. And I did, and I’ve yet to write my book, and we sell, I don’t know, thousands of cheeseburgers a week now.
Mac McAleer
You’re gaining on the book.
Lucy Buffett
I’m gaining on the book though, baby. Thank you. I’m gaining on the book.
Cookbook in Progress
[4:46] Have you thought of, I think I read somewhere that you had thought about writing a cook book?
Yeah, that’s the book I’m working on. The book I’ve been working on for many years, but you know, things happen like this.
And, or the new menu has to get out or whatever. I’m gaining on the book. The book will be completed by the end of the year. It’s very, it’s getting very, very close.
Yeah, I just need some time where I’m not… I need some very small… Unlike Jimmy, I can’t do 18 things at one time anymore. I have to do one thing at a time.
Mac McAleer
No, you don’t do 18. You do 12.
Lucy Buffett
I do 12 at a time. He does 18.
[5:25] Uh, there’s a lot of great music that comes through here a lot of really good entertainers. Good songwriters, good performers. I was wondering, The people that you have come play here. Has there been any musicians that really caught your eye and thought wow that that kid’s got talent?
Well when we have ,especially during songwriters and um, our general manager Johnny Fisher, originally, before he came to LuLu’s, he was at the House of Blues in New Orleans. So, he’s very, very plugged into the music scene. So we pull a lot from his wealth of knowledge. Plus there’s a lot of local talent that’s really great here.
There’s… What’s the name of the group? See, I know them by different names.
Raul… What’s Raul’s group?
Mac McAleer
The Relics.
Lucy Buffett
The Relics. I love The Relics. Raul and Bud Smith. Well, Wes Loper, Wes Loper is one of our favorite sons. Actually, Mac, my husband, has taken Wes into the studio and actually produced an album with him. [6:30] So, Wes is like legendary around here.
Favorite Artists and Upcoming Performances
[6:34] Adam, Adam’s one of our real favorites.
And then when Mac and I were in Tallahassee with Jimmy, we ran into, we were backstage, I mean, we were talking to the band, and Mac McAnally’s gonna come through on his way, do a little gig somewhere, but he’s gonna stop by. And Jim Mayer is gonna come by and do a little thing here at Lulu for the kids.
[6:58] Very nice.
So, sometime in May, I think. I don’t know. Check the website. I don’t know. You know, I really let everybody else do all of that now.
So, tell me, living in Gulf Shores, what’s the best part about this area?
[7:11] The best part about living on the gulf coast mainly because I’m here, but I still live closer into, we still live More near Fairhope area.
Mac McAleer
It’s 18 miles.
Lucy Buffett
We live on the water, right around the river. The best thing has always been the shrimp and the crab meat and the oysters for me. That’s it, Uh, but yesterday actually was it just yesterday?
Mac McAleer
No
Lucy Buffett
Day before yesterday. We took our boat out. Mac builds boats, and we took one of his boats out and anchored and watched the sunset and had some red wine. I think we danced to Frank Sinatra on the bow of the boat. Anyway, that’s another favorite thing. We’re Gulf Coast people. It’s like the Gulf of Mexico. Jimmy has said this before, that it’s the northern border of the Caribbean. He believes that the Gulf coast is the northern border of the Caribbean. So we’re sort of water people and water people are have a little bit of that lunar craziness.
Mac McAleer
You know, I lived in North Carolina for around 20 years and I came from Mobile Bay originally and when I finally got back down here, the feeling is so different and I long to come back to the water. It’s the way it works. The people that are water people will come from the water, return to the water, you know.
Lucy Buffett
[8:41] Even if we have to rebuild over and over again, which we have, I’ve been flooded seven times, but, it’s a mere inconvenience compared to what a lot of people have been through, so.
[8:52] One thing I’ve noticed is the people treat you a little different here. People treat you a little nicer. I mean, we’re, Athens isn’t a huge city or anything, but people are kind of, you know, in a hurry and it’s kind of like, you know, get out of my way, you know. But here I I’ve noticed people treat you a little nicer like when we were at the hotel the people were kinder.
Lucy Buffett
It’s slow here, now don’t get me wrong. We do like to go to the big city sometimes.
Mac McAleer
But we like to go home too.
Lucy Buffett
[9:19] We love living here and we all have to correct our grammar sometimes because we find that we’re, We’re living in the country a little too much, but I you know, it’s just beautiful. It’s a beautiful area. Baldwin County, what a lot of people don’t know, even though it’s on the coast, it’s a little sliver here in Alabama. It’s also the largest county land-wise in the state of Alabama. So, there’s a lot of great agriculture and, especially in the summertime, wonderful vegetables. Lots of great silver queen corn, new potatoes, lots of soybeans, got all kinds of peppers. So, we got lots of good, you know, me, I’m about food. I would never have gotten into this restaurant without being a lover of food.
Mac McAleer
And seafood.
Lucy Buffett
And our seafood. But we also, like, I have a couple of horses, too, that I ride, and, so I have, I can ride horses and go out on a boat on the same day, and that, all day long, it doesn’t get much better than that for this girl.
Favorites: The Big Fry Basket and Mahi Taco
[10:20] Is there any item, I remember last time, I was at the old location, I got the big fat fried combo, and I ate it for days. It was so much food. Is there any menu thing on the menu that you have to say is a personal favorite of yours?
Well, Paul, the big fry basket is still the number one seller. So you should know that. Yeah, and Mac, his birthday was today, but his family, his mother and brothers and sisters came yesterday, and one of them ordered the big fry basket at the end of the table, and I was like, my God, what did y’all order?
Because it’s so much. It’s still the number one seller. In terms of what my favorite is, I’m addicted to Mexican food. So the mahi taco is pretty special. It’s coming on up there.
Signature Sandwiches and Family Recipes
[11:10] The crab melt, which is something that I invented a long time ago when I was a caterer on a boat up in New York, and I made them into little tiny hors d’oeuvres now it’s a spread that goes on one, one of our sandwiches. That is pretty awesome. Mac’s favorite is gumbo. Rarely do I eat gumbo here, but I always eat, Mac always eats it. Jimmy actually comes, he’ll be coming from the East Coast to the West Coast home and he’ll stop here for gumbo. So, I don’t know, it’s just because of my own little Mexican predilection.
I love anything Mexican!
Are there any items on the on the menu that are family recipes?
Well, the gumbo certainly is and I can cook a gumbo. You know, I can’t do a lot, but I certainly can’t whistle a tune, can I? But I can cook a gumbo with maybe one of my hands behind my back. I’ve been doing it for so long and that’s sort of inspired by my grandmother. [12:14] And just by, you know, as they call it, time in the saddle.
You cook more and more gumbos, you can do it more and more automatically.
So that is, like I said, the crab melt is something that I’ve, you know, it’s an original thing I invented.
It’s hard to, you know, rework the shrimp loaf. Why reinvent the wheel? Just do it better than everybody else, you know?
Musical Tastes and 70s Nostalgia
[12:41] As far as music in general, just out of my own curiosity, what kind of music do you like listening to?
[12:50] Well, I have to say, I cannot tell a lie, my children would know. My favorite all-time performer and musician and songwriter in the whole world is James Taylor, always has been. And of course I love Jimmy, but I am still sort of stuck back there in the 70s. I’m one of those people that my parents warned me about, but I like my 70s music, you know.
Although I just bought a whole bunch of, I bought Regina Spector.
Mac McAleer
Norah Jones.
Lucy Buffett
Norah Jones.
Mac McAleer
We were dancing to Frank Sinatra.
Lucy Buffett
We were dancing to Frank. I like easy listening stuff.
I love, of course, Maroon 5, all that stuff, John Mayer. I love Seal, I love getting down, into my Kim R&B stuff when I’m in the convertible by myself. I was listening to the soundtrack of Dreamgirls the other day and it was awesome. That’s all I gotta say.
Finding Balance: Off Time and Exploring
[13:45] I know running a restaurant has to take an enormous amount of time, but when you do have some down time, What do you enjoy doing?
Well. What I do, you know mac and I got married just a little a year and a half ago, And it used to take every bit of my time and then when when Mac built this the new building and the new facility for me um He up leveled it to the point where I couldn’t do it all so you have to have good people and we hired good people. So I’m not here all the time, but any of our off time we both are very busy, But our off time is going out in the boat or sometimes we get in a car and we just say “explore.” We’re gonna go explore and we just drive, we drive down roads that we go drive down country roads and. [14:36] I found one of my horses that way and Anyway, that’s kind of one of my favorite things.
Finding solace in Sudoku and guilty pleasure TV
I like, I’ve kind of got addicted to Sudoku puzzles because it quiets my mind, because my mind’s very fast-moving. I hate to admit it, but I do watch really bad television at night time. Sometimes, Las, Vegas. I have to find out what happens, but that also sort of quiets my mind.
Those are the things that we do. I workout, you know, we do all this stuff at work. We work out we try to, but, That’s it. We’re busy. We’re still very very busy. We’re trying to actually become a little less busy.
Mac McAleer
We’re trying to, Go gently down the stream a little more, at this point.
Favorite Member of the Coral Reefers?
[15:25] You mentioned a couple of the Coral Reefers before and I was just wondering do you have a favorite member of the Coral Reefer Band?
Oh, not in the whole wide world, if I did, would I say, but no. (Laughs) I would be, I will just say one thing. I’ll just say one thing.
Mac McAleer
[15:48] I personally, I appreciate Mac stopping by.
Lucy Buffett
I know. He loves Mac. We love Mac McAnally.
Mac McAleer
And Ralph wants to come down.
Lucy Buffett
I was going to say. Ralph is my buddy, Ralph’s my dude. Yeah, wants to come down.
Mac McAleer
Maybe one day your brother might even drop by.
Lucy Buffett
Well maybe Jimmy might. And actually, Fingers was here this past year.
Oh yeah?
Yes, he was. He had a band and he was headlining and he came and he did something and he was[16:14] absolutely wonderful. What I love about going to a Jimmy concert is all those people are like family now and as they self-admit they’re like they say we’re just a bunch of old dudes up there having fun, and there’s not a lot of pressure you know, and they still enjoy what they’re doing they respect each other you just couldn’t find a better group of people. Plus they’ve worked together for like, you know, years, 20 years, it’s almost, you know, it’s almost time for them to get some gold watches.
Mac McAleer
Not yet.
Viewing Parties for Taylor Hicks at Lulu’s
[16:48] Something that was on the news regarding Lulu’s was having the viewing parties for American Idol for Alabama’s own Taylor Hicks. And there’s an upcoming interview we’re going to do with Taylor Hicks. I wanted to ask how you, what made you say that you wanted to have that here?
Lucy Buffett
Well, you know what? In the very beginning, someone asked me, they said, have you heard of Taylor Hicks? That would be a barge, my commentary.
Mac McAleer
Look out, they might run us over.
Introduction to American Idol and fan club viewing
Lucy Buffett
[17:23] Someone said, this guy from Birmingham, who spent a lot of time down here in Gulf Shore, He’s been accepted into the American Idol. Have you ever heard of him?” And I said, Oh, not really.
And they said, well, they’re thinking about trying to do some, you know, fan club, viewing. And I was like, OK, because at that time I was not real familiar with American Idol. I may watch some bad TV, but that was not one of them.
So as it progressed and of course, he progressed in the whole competition. And by the way, now Mac and I watch it every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I mean, we’re totally like into it.
So, as it happened, his grandmother had started this little club of folks and she was moving it from different venues, little bars. She lives down here.
And it just so happened that our venue was able to actually facilitate a big, you know, we could accommodate more people, we could bring a large screen in, we could do something.
And as he progressed, it just sort of naturally progressed to the enthusiasm about it progressed, because all of a sudden then, I mean, you know, Alabamians, I don’t care who you are, you grew up on football and there’s this sort of nationalism that comes with if you’re Alabamian and whichever team you go for. So all of a sudden there was an Alabama boy doing something and all of a sudden it’s just [18:52] like, oh, everybody’s around him.
So it just evolved and it became the most fun thing. Joni Hicks, who is Taylor’s grandmother, who reminds me a lot of my mother, although, she’s just a little…
Now, my mother was savvy, but my mother, it just reminded me of my mother a lot.
And the story she would tell about Taylor reminded me of… Let me know that he was very respectful of his relationship with her, you know?
And so, I just felt, it just became, and the other thing, Paul, is if it’s not fun, it doesn’t work at Lulu’s.
Massive turnout and celebration for Taylor’s victory
[19:28] And it became a ball.
So, we just had a great time, and then to boot, he won. So, that’s how it works.
Mac McAleer
The last night, we got a, a screen, a truck with a large screen from Houston.
Yeah. Johnny brought it in, hitched it on the edge of the sand outside, by the marina.
And before we knew it, we had screens all over. 3,000 people were at this small facility.
And they had a ball and celebrated that victory that night with his grandmother right here.
It was incredible.
Lucy Buffett
[20:06] It was fun. We were able to do it. And now, though, now we watch him.
So even though there’s not anybody that’s like a favorite son or something, we’re still going to do it.
When they get down to their final 12 or whatever, we’re going to bring the screens in and have Tuesday night parties here.
So when someone comes to LuLu’s, what’s the, what do you hope they get out of the experience?
Lucy Buffett
[20:29] This is what I hope they get. And I think we’ve analyzed it to death and there’s no real answer, about why this works because there’s so many things. But I hope when they drive down that drive and they see all those palm trees, that they can come here, that they are waited on, that their food is excellent, and they get to forget their lives for a little bit.And LuLu’s is about escapism is what we’ve come up with.
Mac McAleer
Totally.
Lucy Buffett
Don’t you think?
Mac McAleer
You know, it’s a Disney program. The music plays when you open the door. You walk through here, the escapism starts in the parking lot. As you flow down into the facility and out on the beach, it’s total escapism. And I think people leave all their cares behind when they come here. You know, a lot of people who come down this road are from Missouri and Minnesota. They’re from Kansas. They come down this road and they stopped right here before they get to the real beach.
And what we found is the families that drive down to LuLu’s, they go out to the beach, and the sand dune that is rebuilt every week. Those kids, that’s the first experience they’ve ever had with a sand dune.
Lucy Buffett
They think that is the beach.
Mac McAleer
They’ve never been on a beach, and that’s their first beach experience.
God bless them, and that’s where they want to come back to.
[21:56] And of course, Mom and Dad love that babysitter beach out there, so they can enjoy themselves also.
[22:01] All the time. So, it just works very well, it’s very laid-back, and with Lucy’s incredible cooking, I mean, the food here is incredible, and the staff, and it’s wonderful. It’s truly a great escape for anybody that comes here.
Lucy Buffett
Yeah, you know because It’s the first time I’ve ever worked for myself. I always work for other people and I am a hard restaurant client. I mean a patron when I go to a restaurant, I really want good food. I want it done timely if it’s not I’m patient up to a point. You know what I’m saying? And so I really wanted that.
[22:44] While I had things like salmon and stuff that people didn’t want here. They want the fried baskets. So I was like, okay, when, I finally figured out what my people wanted.
Mac McAleer
Give them they wanted.
Lucy Buffett
I gave them what they wanted. I wanted it to be the best it could be. Then I put sand out there. The sand is as natural baby. The, big thing that’s different about LuLu’s, it’s a family restaurant, but yet everybody has a good time.
Mac McAleer
And so, you know, the number one beverage sold here is?
Lucy Buffett
Iced tea. In volume, numbers of units I think. Number one selling thing.
Mac McAleer
And during the season, Lucy waits on 3,500 people every day. From 11 in the morning till about 10 at night. Yeah. That’s the, You’re not open any later.
Lucy Buffett
I want people to have fun and I want them to be respected and I want them to respect the people that work for me too. And my people that work here, they either…this is sort of the, criteria. Either you like what you do or there’s someplace else that really needs you. And that is, our criteria for my folks. And as soon as it gets to the point where it’s really time, and most of my folks are real happy, and we got 200-something people. And when they’re not. [24:07] It’s really time for them to go to the next step.
Live Well and Love Well
My last question would be that people will be reading or hearing this from everywhere in the world. I mean, we have people that write to us from Japan. It’s amazing, really.
Lucy Buffett
You’re kidding.
Yeah, Japan, England. What would you guys like to say to all those people? What would you like to say to the world?
Lucy Buffett
Oh, to the world? Well, to the world. What I’ve learned, if I have any modicum of anything to offer the world is: what I’ve learned is to live really well, and I say that a lot and I sign that a lot on my t-shirts, but you know, to live well and love well. It may sound cliché, but I’m 53. I never thought I’d be this old.
I still think I’m 28 and — life, you know, at any moment things can happen and it’s such a beautiful thing to live. [25:12] Just live it well and enjoy where you are. What about you?
Mac McAleer
I’d say “take a deep breath, world.” Breathe, and think about it. And let’s think about going gently down the stream together.
Lucy Buffett
[25:32] Gently and merrily. Well, at least not, at least not, you know, Mac and I, many times in our lives, we’ve accomplished a whole lot, but we are certain, sometimes we’re paddling up stream.
Sometimes you have to. It’s the only way to get.
Mac McAleer
Well, but it’s our time to go gently now.
Lucy Buffett
Yeah, it’s time for us to go gently now. You’re right.
Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. Thank you. I really appreciate it.
Lucy Buffett
You’re welcome, Paul.
Mac McAleer
You’re welcome, Paul.
Lucy Buffett
[26:06] Thank you. It’s been fun and I want you to enjoy. Are you off work now? Good. Because you can eat, drink and be merry like the rest of everybody here.
Mac McAleer
I have one question for you.
What?
Mac McAleer
How, is that Landshark Lager?
I have to say, I’ve had it before and I like it because there’s no, aftertaste that you have in a lot of a lot of beers that are kind of similar like that. You, You know, there’s no aftertaste, and it goes down really smooth. And you know, it’s funny because a lot of the people I’ve interviewed have been talking, they’ve been asking and talking about it. t’s a popular discussion for some reason. But thanks again.
[26:43] Okay. Tell me when. Hi, it’s Lucy Buffett, and you’re listening to Time After Island Time.
Have a good day, because we sure are.
