FMBGN-Icon-How Jameson the Sunglassed Beach Dog Built Community, Joy, and Hope on FMB

A tiny car, a pair of pink sunglasses, and a beachside town that decided to choose joy—meet Jameson, the Fort Myers Beach icon whose daily strolls turned into a movement of smiles and neighborly kindness. We sit down with Adrian and Alice Barrett to trace the unlikely path from a Sarasota pup to a community legend, and the surprising ways a dog can change how people show up for each other.

We dive into the practical origins of Jamison’s signature look—vet-mandated eye protection after a sandy scare—and how that small fix became a beacon on the shoreline. When the world shut down, the Barretts added a mini ride so Jamison could greet more people at a safe distance. That choice sparked a weekly ritual: Saturdays from noon to five, rolling from the pier past beloved spots like La Ola, DiamondHead, and tiki haunts, where staff know her by name and guests line up for quick photos and pets. Along the way, restaurants traded bacon for chicken, proving that a good-natured celebrity can nudge healthier habits and attentive service. Online, the “just-for-fun” Instagram, Jameson8670, quietly grew to thousands of followers who wanted real-world ways to join the story.

Resilience threads through the heart of this episode. After the hurricane, Jameson’s familiar presence turned attention into action—volunteers organized by a follower helped clear and demo the home in those first, overwhelming weeks. That response wasn’t a fluke. It came from the goodwill built during years of small, sincere moments—pets for toddlers and seniors alike, gentle visits with people who needed a calm companion, and the reliable comfort of seeing the little car glide by the surf.

If you’re hungry for a feel-good story rooted in real community, this one’s for you. You’ll walk away with fresh appreciation for how simple rituals create belonging, how local businesses can elevate hospitality through empathy, and how a dog in shades can remind us all to leave the crabby behind and lean into sunny, shared moments. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a smile, and leave a quick review to help more neighbors find the show.

Jameson
Alice & Adrian Barrett
Instagram-@Jameson8670

Ft Myers Beach-Good Neighbor
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 00 (00:36):
Here's your host, Pablo Jimmy Geller.

Speaker 02 (00:39):
All right, here we are.
Welcome, Fort Myers Beach, goodneighbors, to another session
of our podcast.
Today we've got Adrian andAlice Barrett and our little
buddy Jameson.
Welcome.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Well, you know, Jameson'sbecome an icon on the island.
So uh we kind of want to sharethe story of how it all came

(01:01):
about, right?
So let's start off.
You know, uh, how did you guysinitially find Jameson?

Speaker 01 (01:09):
Alice wanted a dog because it was lonely in the
house by myself.
Somebody else was outsideplaying all day and he wouldn't
come in the house.
So I wanted a companion.
So um one night I talked to himabout it, and he said no, and I
got mad at him and I orderedher.

Speaker 02 (01:31):
All right.
Order what through Amazon?
What'd you order on?

Speaker 01 (01:35):
Um find a pub.

Speaker 02 (01:37):
Really?
Okay.
She came from Sarasota.
Really?
So she's a natural-bornFlorida native.
I love that.
I love that.
That's hard to find.
And uh she ordered her, we wereliving in Illinois at the time.
Okay.
So she had her flown up toIllinois from Sarasota.
And about three weeks later, wecame down to Florida to be

(01:58):
snowbirds again.
Wow.
Jameson came back home.
Wow.
And when did you permanentlymove down here then?
Uh sometime between 2016, 2017.
It took a long time to move,right?
But uh yeah, we becamefull-time Florida residents

(02:19):
legally in 2016, but it tooktill almost 17 before we got
here permanently.
Wow.
Wow, and now you're Florida.
Always Fort Myers Beach?
Always Fort Myers Beach.
Love it, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So I'm from Illinois originallytoo, so I understand.
We don't like shoveling snow,we don't like me doing anything
anymore.
I love to see snow on Facebookin the and then tag your

(02:44):
neighbor or your friends upnorth and say, Hey, uh, here's
the beach view today.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaking of the beach, so howdid Jameson become so famous
here in Fort Mars Beach?
Well, actually, it's theglasses.
Okay.
We had her out on the beach andshe got sand in her eyes.
Uh and it got infected, and wetook her to the vet.

(03:04):
The vet scolded us for nothaving eye protection for
Jameson.
Really?
So we got her sunglasses, andshe walked the beach for years
with sunglasses, sometimes pink,sometimes razors, right?
And uh then a covet came alongand we got her a little car to

(03:25):
drive.
So now she drives a car on thebeach because she doesn't walk
that far, right?
And she's got a lot of friendson the island too, then, right?
Yes, she does.
Yes, she does.
A lot of different people outthere.
So I guess does she have anyfavorite spots or areas that she
likes to go or likes to visit?

Speaker 01 (03:46):
Every restaurant there gives her bacon.

Speaker 02 (03:51):
We love bacon, right?
She always comes out, they giveher water, right?
Before they serve us, she'sthey serve her water, and then
she gets her bacon.
Wow, it was it was kind offunny.
Um, there was one restaurant uhthat we went to, and uh I
posted on her Instagram accountthat we were at that restaurant

(04:16):
and uh Jameson didn't havebacon, and she was sad.
The next weekend we went intothat restaurant and the
bartender brought her out bacon.
They monitored their socialmedia, and uh but he also

(04:36):
informed us that that was thelast time she was getting bacon.
It wasn't good for her fromthen on.
She got chicken breast.
Oh, moving on.
There you go.
See, it's like prime riversteak, right?
That's good stuff for you.
Healthy.
Wow.
So she's should she have anyfavorite places to to visit or
stroll, or where do you usuallytake her?

Speaker 01 (04:59):
Well, we usually walk from here up to the pier.

Speaker 02 (05:03):
Okay.

Speaker 01 (05:04):
Then we stop at La Ola.

Speaker 02 (05:07):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 01 (05:08):
And then we go to uh the tiki hunt.
Okay.
We used to go to the whale whenit was open.

Speaker 02 (05:14):
Soon.

Speaker 01 (05:15):
Soon and then we go to Diamond Head, Sandy Bottoms,
and then we come home.

Speaker 02 (05:21):
You've got the road, you gotta have a little road,
you get some good exercising,exposure, and yeah, for her, as
long as she's there with us,that's all that counts.

Speaker 01 (05:30):
Somebody comes over and gives her a pet, more to it,
right?

Speaker 02 (05:35):
Because I say I see you guys grow up on quite a bit,
you go out to the beach quite abit, and yeah, you know, people
love to come.
People that come back yearafter year wanna want to see it.
Yes, many of the people out onthe beach say their visit will
not be complete if they don'tsee Jameson, the pirate, and
tuba boy.
Well, see, there we go, right?

(05:55):
Right, see, you're an iconhere.
People just love to see you,but she does have a uh Instagram
page, right?
Yes, yes, Jameson8670.
Okay, very nice.
I I created it almost as ajoke, not dreaming that right
people anything, right?
Right, yeah, and I thoughtmaybe 20 followers, yeah.

(06:17):
Who's gonna follow a dog?
She's got over 4,000 on her.
See, it's it's funny what takesfire on what's catches on
nowadays.
But again, people are justlooking for positive, good
things to do down here in FortMyers Beach, and Jameson is one
of them.
Put a smile on people's faces,and that's what it's all about.

Speaker 01 (06:37):
That's why we started it.
It was right after COVID.
We got her the car, we took thelittle walk, and COVID,
everybody was really crabby allthe time.
Because we're locked up inbetween COVID and the elections,
they were really, reallycrabby, and we just kind of
looked at each other and went,we got something that's gonna
make people laugh and giggle.

(06:59):
Right.
Let's go make people laugh andgiggle and feel good about
themselves instead of so crabby.
And that's what it's about,right?
That's that's why we startedthe car.

Speaker 02 (07:08):
The positive vibes and everything, and it's like
it's like the way I dress, youknow, people recognize me with
my clothes.
And if I don't wear them,people are like, You feeling
okay?
Are you okay?
And I'm like, Yeah, fine.
What are you talking about?
Um, but they went, yeah, it'sgood to see the smile on their
faces and their reactions.
Yes, yeah, we can bring a lotof that to people.
And that's like uh uh after thehurricane.

(07:29):
Uh needless say she lost hercars.
Oh, right.
And uh they were out in therubbish pile at the street.
Uh Beach Talk Radio had a dealwhere they're giving out 30
generators.
Oh, our daughter-in-law gotonline and she snagged us one of
them.
The people delivered thegenerators.
They saw the car and they go,Oh, are you Jameson's daddy?

(07:53):
Yeah.
We got to watch the newscastand right, yeah.
We knew it's no good.

(08:14):
The house was yeah, the waterwas over the wow.
So that's crazy.
Yeah, but you know, we're up onthree years with that right
now.
So yeah, we want to keep thatin the past and move forward and
be positive.
So does uh Jameson have anylocal vets or groomers that we

(08:35):
want to, you know, give anyprops to?
Or well, her vet is an IndianCreek over here.
Okay, yeah, they take good careof her, and uh needless say
they all love to see her, andshe comes in dressed with her
glasses.
Anytime she leaves the house,you know she has to have her
glasses on.
You're going out clothes,right?

(08:56):
You gotta have them on.
That's a good thing.
And uh we go to Costco's, thegreeters at Costco recognize
her, right?
They know her by name, right?

Speaker 01 (09:05):
We go to public set everybody knows her there.

Speaker 02 (09:08):
Oh, see, you're famous.
Yeah, very good.
So if Jameson could talk, whatdo you think she'd say about
life on Fort Myers Beach?
She'd go the struggle is realthen.
I prefer it here to any placenorth, right?

(09:28):
Right?
Who wouldn't want to be on thebeach, right?
Life on the beach is great.
Bringing smiles to people'sfaces.
So how has Jameson's popularityaffected you guys now when you
go out?
Well, it affected us because uhafter the hurricane, yeah, uh

(09:51):
one of her followers who had mether barely a month and a half
earlier contacted us and wantedto know did we need help?
And I said, I probably needmore help than what I know.
She organized volunteers tocome here every day for the
first like three weeks to helpclean the place up, demo it, and

(10:14):
everything.
Right?
So her popularity has helped uswhat it is.
Wow, exactly.
Yeah, I could see that youknow, recognition and people
people want to help.
And that's the good thing aboutthe community here.
Yeah, most people have goodhearts, they want to help each
other, and that's what communityshould be all about.
Yes, and you know, it's I lovewhat you guys do and sharing
Jameson with the community andthe tourists and everybody

(10:37):
again.
It's about putting smiles onpeople's faces.
It's come to the beach, behappy.
That's what it's about, right?
Yeah, there's a lot of goodthings happening down here, so
more people need to come hereand then and visit.

Speaker 01 (10:48):
So get that happy vibe.
Yeah, leave the crabby onenorth.

Speaker 02 (10:53):
Yeah, that's it.
It's it's cold and crabby, andwe don't want that down here,
right?
Exactly.
And those good western peopleare good people, so it's gotta
stick together and be happy andfocused.
So um, we mentioned Instagram.
Where can uh people coming tovisit or locals?

(11:13):
I mean, you mentioned yourlittle route, but what's the
best time or way to catchJameson out and about?

Speaker 01 (11:18):
Definitely on Saturday.

Speaker 02 (11:20):
Definitely on Saturday.

Speaker 01 (11:21):
We leave here at noon on Saturday, so from noon
to five o'clock.
It takes us that long just towalk around.

Speaker 02 (11:28):
Well, you can your exercise up there, right?

Speaker 01 (11:31):
Exercising, drinking, and a lot of style.

Speaker 02 (11:35):
I'm sure, I'm sure, right?
People love to take pictures ofher, right?
A dog and a pink cheek.
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
And she's so well behaved inthere, too.
She's so accustomed to it, it'sgreat.

Speaker 01 (11:46):
And she will want you to pet her, no matter you're
a month old to a hundred andwhatever.
Right, right.
Just pet me.
If you have a special needsperson, he's very good about
taking the dog up and sittingright and sit him next to him so
the person, the handicappedperson could pet him too.

Speaker 02 (12:09):
Right, that's beautiful.
I love that.

Speaker 01 (12:11):
Or elderly people, yeah, for both.

Speaker 02 (12:14):
So, how long did it take to train her to be good in
the energy?
One day.
Really?
Uh, the first day we get her inthe car going out.
Uh-huh.
When I would stop, she'd hopout.
I'd put her back in.
Yeah, the second day she's setin the car.
Wow.
Go forever.

(12:35):
Smart, a quick learner.
We love that.
That is awesome.

unknown (12:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 02 (12:40):
And how old is Jameson?
A little over 13.
Wow.
Okay.
All right.
Very good.

unknown (12:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 02 (12:47):
That's a that's it.
She's a senior citizen now.
Right, right.
Did you get a discount?
Extra bacon when they stopbacon.
That's it.
You know, you go to IHOP andget you know, you get extra
bacon now.
That's a good thing.
Yeah.
Well, very good.
Any last words for ourlisteners today?
Just enjoy life, enjoy thebeach.

(13:09):
If you see Jameson, give her apet.
That's it, right?

Speaker 01 (13:13):
Yeah.
Fine people.
Really, there is people thatcome down just to see her for a
lot of reasons.

Speaker 02 (13:21):
Right.
And like you said, it putssmiles on people's faces, puts
them in a good mood.
And that's why we're at thebeach.
Like you said, leave the Krabbybehind, focus on the good vibes
and the sunshine.
It's sunny today.
So yeah.
Well, very good.
Well, we will see you.
We'll see Jameson out and abouthere in the Fort Myer's Beach
neighborhood.
But uh love if you're by, comeby and stop by, say hi, take a

(13:44):
picture, and uh put a smile onyour face.
And that's that's uh Beach TalkRadio has uh been by, right?
And Jameson drove out to thestreet to see him.
Oh, there we go.
Very nice, very nice.
See, you gotta say hi toeverybody.
You love that.
Very good.
Well, it thank you again forbeing such good neighbors.
It's been a pleasure getting toknow you and learn a little bit

(14:06):
more about Jameson.
And we'll see you out cruisingthe beach here soon, right?
Yes.
Very good.
All right, thank you.

Speaker 01 (14:14):
Thank you.

Speaker 02 (14:15):
I just play that.
I ended up later.

Speaker 00 (14:21):
If you loved what you've heard, share it with a
friend and keep the good vibesgoing.
Until next time, stay salty,dominate a good neighbor.
Also, dominate your favoriteneighbor, like it's zero four.