Sail Away Events

Sometimes is a memorial. Today we remember the late, great Earl Bernhardt, co-owner of the Tropical Isle brand of businesses in New Orleans. 💚

Earl and Pam Fortner have practically been godparents to Danielle and I. And great supporters of Sail Away Events and Trop Rock music.

Join us for Pardi-Gras 2025 and raise a glass to this legend! 🥂🍻
pardi-gras.com/registration

Register now for Pardi-Gras 2025, University of Bourbon Street.
www.pardi-gras.com/registration

The first shirt after officially adopting the name Pardi-Gras for our event featured classic New Orleans and Parrot Head imagery and colors.

Secure this year’s shirt for your collection by registering for Pardi-Gras 2025.
pardi-gras.com/registration

You can also order a backup and customize your look with our merch on Threadless.
https://sailawayevents.threadless.com/

Save the date for Gulf Coast Days 2025 on the Historic Galveston Strand! Registration opens October 1.

Don’t threaten us with a good time!

New Orleans is for kids too! 🎭

Mary Beth Hathaway Diaz and Jerry Diaz / Texas Beach Music have been bringing Danielle Diaz and I to NOLA for as long as I can remember.

Now that we’ve grown, we carry on the tradition and all the grandkids have visited. It’s a wonderful city with great food and lots of history. Adults aren’t the only ones who “laissez les bon temps rouler”.

Join us for Pardi-Gras 2025.
pardi-gras.com/registration

Disclaimer: it was difficult to find these old pics. I guess Danielle was camera shy and too cool to take pics with me back then. But she was there!

P.S. If you need a laugh next time you see me, ask me to tell the story of “seeing stars” on Bourbon Street as a child. 🤣🤣

Save the date for Gulf Coast Days 2025 on the Historic Galveston Strand! Registration opens October 1.

Brent Burns, a young tyke at the age of 25, playing at Pardi-Gras 2004.

You can catch the Grandfather of Trop Rock playing in New Orleans again in January 2025.

Register now at pardi-gras.com/registration

At the 2nd Annual MOTM in New Orleans 1993, founder Jerry Diaz / Texas Beach Music and Scott Nickerson presented a “Tin Cup Chalice” to Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers.

In 2011, PHIP'S Meeting of the Minds ™️ presented a replica to Jerry for his contributions to the organization.

You can see Jerry’s chalice on display at the Tropical Isle on Bourbon and Toulouse when you join us for Pardi-Gras 2025. www.pardi-gras.com/registration

Save the date for Gulf Coast Days 2025 on the Historic Galveston Strand! Registration opens October 1.

Congratulations to Derrick Dowden for being chosen to represent Pardi-Gras 2025 as our Master Gator mascot!! We know you’re gonna rock it!

Thank you to everyone who threw their hat in the ring for the cause. You answered the call when your country needed you most. 🫡 A grateful Parrot Head Nation salutes you! 🦜

The very first Pardi-Gras royalty:
✨King Floyd “Shady” White and Patsy White✨ father and bonus mom to James “Sunny Jim” White

Pardi-Gras began the annual crowning of royalty in 2003 as an homage to New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition.

Witness the next crowning at Pardi-Gras 2025.
Pardi-Gras.com/registration

Drop Dead Dangerous playing at past Pardi-Gras. If you’ve never seen them in New Orleans, you can catch DDD Loaded at Pardi-Gras 2025. Betcha some whiskey will be “raised here every night!”

CALLING ALL PARDI ANIMALS!! Do you wanna attend P-G 2025 for business AND pleasure AND for FREE?? Because we’re searching for someone to take over the job of Master Gator for the famed Bourbon Street Pub Crawl on Friday.

If you’ve got a hardy spirit and a medium-sized body, you could be chosen to don the famous Master Gator costume. If you can commit to being upright, ambulatory and appropriately attired in the costume for the entirety of the pub crawl, you’ll earn yourself FREE REGISTRATION for your service.

Interested? Or know someone who is? Contact the Sail Away Events team at [email protected]

Check us out at www.pardi-gras.com/registration

These are the dog days of summer so here’s some old pics of our puppers living their best outdoor lives.

💕 Would love to see your fur babies enjoying some sunshine!! Please comment yours below bc there’s NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY PET PICS.

It doesn’t look like our part of Texas will bear the brunt of the storm. If you end up in need, please reach out to the Sail Away team. We may not be able to do much, but we can do something!
Paul ShipmanDanielle DiazMary Beth Hathaway DiazJerry DiazJon Burns

Keep our Texas Gulf Coast listeners in your thoughts and prayers. 🤙🤙🤙

John Wright and the Diaz women were rocking red, white and blue for the 2007 Pardi-Gras theme “Phlocking in the USA.”
🔴⚪️🔵
If you’re an OG P-G attendee, we’d love for you to share your 2007 pics in patriotic garb.

We have our winners! Congratulations to Belinda Cole and Janelle Coy !! They will receive free registration to Pardi-Gras 2025. Can’t wait to see you in New Orleans.

TIME IS ALMOST UP!!!

We are giving away registration to Pardi-Gras! Click the link to fill out the entry form. We will announce 2 lucky winners on July 1.

Contest open to those who have AND have not registered already. Could you be the winner? Follow the link below to enter.

https://forms.gle/YfziYqP29D7CqEyw9

I’ll have what she’s having! (shoutout Jonas Lorence Band 🤪) idk where Karen Mignola got bottomless margarita Jazz Brunch on this day of Pardi-Gras 2017, but I wanna go with her next time!! 🙏🏽🤣

HAVE YOU ENTERED YET?

We are giving away registration to Pardi-Gras! Click the link to fill out the entry form. We will announce 2 lucky winners on July 1.

Contest open to those who have AND have not registered already. Could you be the winner? Follow the link below to enter.

https://forms.gle/YfziYqP29D7CqEyw9

Have you ever had the 1319 Experience?? Here’s the Sail Away Events team back during Quarantine Times trying to coordinate how to still throw a great Pardi. Yes, those are shots of Fireball all around the table 🤪

Danielle Diaz Jerry Diaz Mary Beth Hathaway Diaz Jon Burns Paul Shipman

Did you hear our BIG ANNOUNCEMENT?!?! We are giving away registration to Pardi-Gras! Click the link to fill out the entry form. We will announce 2 lucky winners on July 1.

Contest open to those who have AND have not registered already. Could you be the winner? Follow the link below to enter.

https://forms.gle/YfziYqP29D7CqEyw9