In the winter of 2003, during a snow storm that my wife and I decided to leave Cleveland, Ohio and head to Florida. Six months later we moved into our beachfront condominium and immediately encountered four hurricanes named Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. But, hey, it didn’t snow. We entertained ourselves on non-hurricane alert weekends by hopping into our convertible and visiting local beach bars. We had certain criteria even back then. It was great fun and once we started, we never stopped.
Six years later we got the crazy idea to visit all the beach bars in Florida, review each one, and put the results on a web site, FloridaBeachBar.com. Within six months, we visited over 200 beach bars. We met a ton of fun and interesting people and learned that there was more to Florida beach bars than having drinks and listening to live music.
Mention Florida beach bars and it may conjure up visions of college students on the beach for spring break or a local entertainer playing Buffett music in the neighborhood bar serving margaritas while the waves wash ashore. While these things make up some of Florida beach bars, they are only a small part of what these eating and drinking establishments are all about. Florida beach bars are typically by the water, usually the ocean or Gulf of Mexico, with live “trop rock” music, and they offer everything from great seafood to fried everything. Beyond that they are often tied to history, have survived hurricanes, and draw crowds that rally around a lifestyle that is frequently sung about in the songs these entertainers many times write themselves.
It’s easy to assume that Florida beach bars are just another way to suck up tourist’s dollars. But there are numerous stories of owners who were chasing their dreams in Florida. Florida, you see, is unlike most of the states. Sure the weather is almost always warm and the sun shines way more often than not. But Florida isn’t just about the weather and its 1,197 miles of coast line. It’s a lifestyle that is laid back, all about enjoying life, and living in paradise. Beach bars are the perfect place to pull it all together. They are as much for locals as they are for tourists with crowds that range from college kids to retirees.
The beach bar craze began long before Margaritaville. During World War II, the German’s were picking off supply boats and troop carriers along the Atlantic coast of Florida. To solve the problem, ships were rerouted through the Intracoastal Waterway. Panama Hattie's, a North Palm Beach Florida beach bar, tells the story of how after weeks on the ship, sailors and troops would become anxious. Transports would pull up to local Florida watering holes and enjoy wine, women and song. A number of these watering holes still exist today on the east coast of Florida.
It was “Where the Boys Are”, a movie released in 1960 starring Connie Francis, which introduced the country to the concept of spring break and the Elbo Room, a now famous Fort Lauderdale Beach Bar. In the movie four college girls drive to Fort Lauderdale for spring break and do what spring breakers do at a beach bar called the Elbo Room. The bar is still there, older and a bit run down. Fort Lauderdale has since discouraged spring breakers from heading to Fort Lauderdale. But both the city and the bar had a great deal to do with today’s Florida beach bars.
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Elbo Room | Fort Lauderdale – The Elbo Room and Ft. Lauderdale gained popularity in 1961 with release of the movie "Where the Boys Are ", with Connie Frances and George Hamilton. It motivated thousands of additional college students to head to Fort Lauderdale for spring break.
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Key West is a one of a kind place that embodies the tropical Florida life style. It has a long an interesting past ranging from salvaging ship wrecks to being the home of Ernest Hemingway in the latter part of his life. But it was in the 1970’s that a then unknown singer arrived in Key West playing music to tourists for tips. His name was Jimmy Buffet. From that time forward, Key West would never be the same. The locals will tell you that it was Jimmy Buffett that made Key West the tourist destination that it is today.
Aside from tropical atmosphere, the beaches, and the waterways, the hallmark of a great beach bar is the live music. Some beach bars offer weekend entertainment. Others, the really special bars, have music every day of the week and even twice a day. Most entertainers play trop rock (tropical rock). Wikipedia defines trop rock as “music that incorporates elements and influences of rock and roll, reggae, country music, Caribbean and zydeco.” Most often the lyrics are inspired by an island life style. Nav-A-Gator Grill in Lake Suzy is located on the Gulf side of the state and is continually ranked the top trop rock venue in the country.
Florida is a Mecca for trop rock bands. Crowd favorites include; James "Sunny Jim" White, Jim Morris, The Boat Drunks, Jimmy Parrish and the Ocean Waves, and many more. When you travel the entire coastline of Florida you quickly learn that each beach city is different, the beaches are different, and so are the beach bars. Panhandle beach cities and bars take full advantage of the famous white sugar sand beaches and beautiful sunsets.
St. Pete Beach just may have the highest concentration of Florida beach bars, many of which are “old Florida”. The same can be said for Fort Myers Beach. The Keys has a wide variety of bars that culminate in Key West. There you will find famous places like Sloppy Joes, Captain Tony’s, and Margaritaville retail store and restaurant founded in 1985. The very first Margaritaville was in Gulf Shores Alabama. As Jimmy puts it, “It didn’t do as well as the one in Key West”. Florida’s east coast features the high style night life of Miami’s South Beach and the historic Cocoa Beach, TV home of “I dream of Jeannie” and neighbor to the Kennedy Space Center.
Each city and their bars are presented based on our travel and experiences. Current information is available on FloridaBeachBar.com. Enjoy the trip. We did!
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