The magic behind the world's most famous beach bar. Chances are if you're from anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon, you're already familiar with the Flora-Bama. If you haven't made it down, you've at least heard the stories … oh, the stories.
The Flora-Bama is quite arguably the most famous beach bar in the entire country, and it's all for good reason. The history behind this once small hole-in-the-wall package store with a lounge in the back is about as interesting as the characters — some famous, some simply infamous — who've frequented it over the past seven decades.
Right smack dab on the state line
To understand the magnetic draw of the Flora-Bama, it helps to know a little about the history of this establishment that straddles the line between Orange Beach, Alabama and Perdido Key, Florida. Way back in 1962, the State of Florida gave the State of Alabama two miles of prime beach front land in return for the construction of the Perdido Pass Bridge. Along came the Tampary family — father Ted along with his sons Connie and Tony — who decided to build a package store and a small bar. Right smack dab on the new state line.
The Flora-Bama was constructed in 1964, just two years after the new bridge and road were completed. In those days the beaches on either side of the line were a lot different than the hustle and bustle of our modern era, and the Flora-Bama was practically the only bar in the surrounding area. At the time Escambia County, Florida was a wet county, while Baldwin County, Alabama, was dry. This posed a small inconvenience for the Tamparys, but not one they couldn't find a solution for.
Jump ahead to 1978, and local businessman Joseph Gilchrist purchased the little bar and package store. This is when live music began to be a regular staple of the Flora-Bama. In 1986, Gilchrist brought in his business partner, Pat McClellan, and together they worked to grow the audience and popularity of their establishment. By adding appealing events like the Interstate Mullet Toss and the Frank Brown Songwriter's Festival — the latter named after the early night watchman at the bar — the new owners were able to organically build the popularity of their venue.
In 2009, John McInnis and Cameron Price, both formerly in the construction industry, became co-owners of the Flora-Bama, along with Joe and Pat.
Kenny Chesney forgot he had a show
The friendship between McInnis and Chesney began after Kenny had visited Flora-Bama while on tour, playing at The Wharf in Orange Beach. Kenny told us this about the first time he visited:
"Someone found us a boat. We hit Pirate's Cove, then the next thing you know we were at the Flora-Bama, hanging out, laughing and telling stories. We must've been there three hours. Completely forgetting it's a show day. All of a sudden, I looked down and it hit me. 'David, we're an hour and a half 'til Meet & Greet. We gotta get outta here!' We made it, but I tell you what; if we could've moved the show to the next night, and just sat there, that would've been okay with me."
Show up, sit down, grab a cold drink, and just let the hours pass. Come with your friends or find some new ones, but whatever you do, you're gonna have a good time.
On the inspiration for his hit song "Flora-Bama," written alongside country artist David Lee Murphy, Chesney said: "I won't say 'Flora-Bama' wrote itself, but when you have a bar like that, all those details and people, life and love and laughter just tumble into each other. All the images paint a pretty vivid picture, and if you capture that spirit, you've really got something."
Country hitmaker Drake White: "I'm from Alabama and the Flora-Bama has been a part of me as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I used to dream about playing there (we all did) and with sweat pouring down my guitar, a four-beer buzz and a salty, barefooted smile, I have been able to play many times at the historic rite of passage. The Bama is the greatest bar in the world, but it's also a church, a family, and a part of me. I've fell in love, got in a fight, got food, boozed and wrote a song all in the same place on the same day. As far as the Bushwackers go? Two is not enough but three is too many."
Casey Kearney, a popular performer along 30A: "Flora-Bama has its own unique vibe. I love the stages, right by the water, with the boats, the sun and the sand. It's such an iconic venue that I feel like every professional musician should play there at some point in their career."
And John Rich of Big & Rich: "You know they even have church there on Sundays. Where else can you play the main bar Saturday night and then go back to church there Sunday morning?" It's true — you can even get the t-shirt, "My Church Is At The Flora-Bama," in their merchandise store.
Never spent a dime on marketing
We asked McInnis how one little beach bar becomes so well-known around the entire country without ever advertising.
"In the mid '80s Jimmy Buffett, who's a friend and is from the Mobile area, would come over, play and hang out, and he even wrote about Flora-Bama in Tales from Margaritaville. Kenny Stabler would also come over and hang out. He was from Foley, Alabama, and at the time Kenny was telling people nationally that Flora-Bama was the best bar in the world. So now you have the top NFL quarterback in the country, and Jimmy Buffett, telling people, 'Hey, this is the best bar in the world.' Shortly after, Playboy magazine named Flora-Bama the number one beach bar in the United States. And they never spent a dime on marketing."
From demolition to the beach bar business
"In 2004, Hurricane Ivan hit Orange Beach and just destroyed the place. I was working in the disaster clean-up side of our family business, and personally working to rebuild Orange Beach, so I tried to do what I could to help out Joe and Pat in their efforts to rebuild the destroyed Flora-Bama.
"Then in 2009, when I was returning from New Orleans, after managing what was the largest FEMA-funded demolition project in history, where our company literally tore down ten thousand homes damaged by Katrina in Saint Bernard Parish, I was trying to figure out a way to work closer to home in Orange Beach and get off the road. While Joe and Pat were looking for someone to carry the Flora-Bama into the future. So, God just worked it out. I went from being a full-time contractor running around the world, to being a full-time beach bar owner and a part-time contractor."
Thirty thousand people, zero arrests
"You know, we really pulled off something so cool with Flora-Bama Jama. To be able to have 30,000 people on the beach at a concert, in the hot sun, with alcohol, and not have one single arrest or even a fight reported. Just the logistics alone of that event were monumental. Kenny and I rented 500 buses from all over the country just to get people in and out from various event parking points all over the area. It was just so awesome, and we learned a lot from it that we can now use for the smaller shows we do. Right now we're putting on about a dozen of those a year, with around 5,000 concertgoers at each."
There's only one Flora-Bama
Asked whether the name could be licensed to other locations, McInnis was firm. "Sure, we've been asked about that, many times. But even if it would work, it just wouldn't be right to do. There's only one Flora-Bama. You can't reinvent or fabricate that history into some other building in some other place. As for possibly doing something similar somewhere else, sure that could be done, but it wouldn't be called Flora-Bama, and while the structure, laid-back style, and business model might be possible to replicate, the history and heart of the place just can't be."
About 5,000 people a day come through the doors in season — which now runs pretty much from spring break to late October, and seems to be getting longer each year.
The Flora-Bama is probably the most authentic beach bar in the world. But don't take my word for it, just come out and see for yourself.
By Will Estell · Originally published in Beach Happy Magazine, Issue 1
