We have been Tom Petty fans for a very long time.  His death last year was very sad.  He has become our traveling companion on our road days in the RV via Sirius Radio.  Northeast Park in Gainesville Florida was recently renamed Tom Petty Park.  Tom, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench the core of his band The Heartbreakers all grew up together in this middle class neighborhood in Gainesville.  Despite his succes in Los Angeles he hung onto his Southern roots recently recording songs like “Gainesville”, “The Bus to Tampa Bay” and “Southern Accents”.

There’s a map of Osceola and his Raiders                                                                                          Fighting off the Everglades Invaders                                                                                                  He burnt them down, he left them for the gators                                                                              And there’s maybe something better down the road  – lyrics from “The Bus to Tampa Bay”

Tom Petty Park

Some of his songs have lines that just resonate with our lifestyle.

“Gotta get going.  Gotta keep movin’  What lies ahead I have no way of knowin”.                     “Never slow down, never grow old”                                                                                                    “Most things I worry about, never happen anyway”

Tom fought for his fans when the record companies wanted to raise prices on his records.  He was furious when anyone suggested using his music for commercial purposes.  He vowed he would never allow the commercialization of his music while he was alive but did acknowledge that his heirs could do as they saw fit.  Just recently we heard Tom’s “Runnin down a Dream” on a college football broadcast.

We love Tom Petty.  His music will be with us forever.

We visited in November 2018.