D O :: Flora-Bama

I am obsessive about research.  I am constantly googling for the "must see" places.  I strike up conversations with people in the grocery store about their favorite restaurants and have a running list in my phone of places to check out.  Then I read a zillion Yelp reviews to learn the ins and outs before we go.  Since before we even got to Florida, the number one thing I kept hearing over and over from people is you have to check out the Flora-Bama.



Flora-Bama is a giant....compound, for lack of a better word, right on the beach on the Florida/Alabama state line.  It has over 20 bars and four live bands playing at the same time! (Jimmy Buffet wrote the song "Bama Breeze" about this place!)  This weekend they were having Shindig on the Sand, which meant live music all weekend so of course we thought it was the perfect time to check this infamous place out!  Especially when we realized it's only five miles from our house!


Flora-Bama completely lived up!  You have to understand - this is not your hoity-toity bar, it's a little bit trashy.  They have bras hanging from the ceiling! ha ha There are all types of people here: from dancing in swim suits to sipping wine in stilettos, rednecks and bikers to frat boys and bachelorettes.  But that's what makes this place so fun.  You can just come and have a good time -- even dance in your bikini right after taking a dip in the ocean!  After exploring a little bit, Rob and I got a couple of bushwackers and braved the heat and sat in the sand and listened to a few songs.  Before I got here, I had never even heard of a bushwacker; now I am obsessed.  They taste like alcoholic frosty's!  When we got too hot, we just went inside to drink and eat oysters, nachos and fried shrimp.


The one artists that we did know playing was Taylor Hicks.  (Yes, like Taylor Hicks from American Idol lol)  It's funny because you would have thought Taylor Hicks was Justin Beiber...people were going crazy over him lol  Of course, I had to go and hear him sing his cover of "Takin' it to the streets" ;)  Fun fact: The day after he won American Idol my sister made and wore a "Soul Patrol" t-shirt to {elementary} school! HAHAHA  Could not stop laughing when my mom reminded me about this!


Overall, we loved the Flora-bama and can't wait to go back!  This beach lifestyle is so different than our lifestyle in Virginia but I think I can get used to it ;)