Flora-Bama Update

[Jahfin]

Buried beach landmark will be bigger and better

By Crystal Bonvillian
Montgomery Advertiser

Joe Gilchrist, co-owner of the Flora-Bama Lounge and Package at the
Alabama-Florida line in Perdido Key, has not reopened the nightspot since
Ivan gutted the building.
-- David Bundy Advertiser

PERDIDO KEY -- The checkered floor of the Flora-Bama Lounge and Package is
barely visible beneath the layers of sand that Hurricane Ivan left in its
wake last fall, but the devotion of the famed bar's owners, employees and
patrons remains firm.

The Weieneth family of Webster City, Iowa, stood alongside Perdido Key Drive
on a sunny February afternoon and gazed in wonder at what is left of the
bar, which is as renowned for its annual tossing of mullets as it is for its
position straddling the Alabama-Florida state line.

"It is the greatest place that ever was," said Charles Weieneth, who, with
his family, spends every January and February in the Perdido Key-Orange
Beach area. "We've come here every year for the past 11 years."

Weieneth said the Flora-Bama, while not an attractive establishment, was
something that "grew on you." His daughter-in-law, Sandy Weieneth, explained
it better.

"Have you ever seen a really ugly mutt dog?" Sandy Weieneth asked. "Wasn't
it still loveable? That's the Flora-Bama."

The "mutt dog" the Weieneths and other patrons love so much was "basically
totaled" by Ivan's 130-mph winds and torrential storm surge, said Flora-Bama
co-owner Joe Gilchrist. The piles of sand that remain in the gutted club are
nothing compared to what Gilchrist found immediately after that devastating
day in September.

"There was four feet of sand all through here," Gilchrist said as he walked
through what used to be Flora-Bama's main room. Aside from an occasional bar
stool, nothing but muck remains in that portion of the bar.

The wooden decks behind the establishment fared better, despite being closer
to the Gulf of Mexico. Their height helped keep them intact since water, not
wind, was the 'Bama's enemy.

"See these fractures?" Gilchrist said, pointing to the outer bricks of the
building, cracked and crumbling all along the back wall. "These were made by
the water crashing up against the walls. We're going to have to rebuild all
of this."

Rebuilding is what Gilchrist, co-owner Pat McClellan and their employees
have dedicated themselves to in the five months since Ivan struck. Gilchrist
said he hopes to be at least partly operational by April.

"We have no idea how long it will take to rebuild," he said. "We haven't
even begun yet."

The new Flora-Bama will be slightly bigger than the building that was
damaged by Ivan. Gilchrist said rebuilding will cost about $1.5 million.

He and the bar's employees, who at peak times number about 150, are eager to
let their loyal customers know the bar that's rocked over the years with the
sounds of musicians like Jimmy Buffett, John Prine and Pete Fountain is not
shutting down anytime soon.

Ronda Kelly, who has worked either full or part time at the Flora-Bama for
the past 17 years, spends her days running a makeshift souvenir shop out of
a trailer parked in front of the bar. A steady stream of visitors shopped
recently for bumper stickers and T-shirts emblazoned with a logo that says
they were "worn by Ivan." Kelly reassured them the bar would be open again
as soon as possible.

"We're just waiting on the insurance," Kelly told them. "We're most
definitely gonna be back."

Until then, thirsty patrons can go to the Flora-Bama's temporary home across
the street, the Silver Moon, which also is owned by Gilchrist.

Preparations are also in the works for the annual Interstate Mullet Toss,
which is by far the bar's most popular event. The tossers and spectators who
come out during the weekend of April 22 will have to settle for tents and
portable buildings on the beach. There are no plans to cancel.

Gilchrist's one worry is how the Flora-Bama will handle the immense crowds
of the mullet toss, which last year, on the event's 20th anniversary, topped
out at about 20,000 people.

"We want to go ahead and have it because it's important to get the community
moving again," Gilchrist said. "But we won't be able to handle the crowds we
usually get. We're asking people to think about maybe waiting until next
year."

There also will be other events in April to help take the pressure off that
weekend, including the 9th Annual Mullet Man Triathlon on April 16 and the
8th Annual Mullet Swing Golf Classic on April 20.

Eumes Griffin of Galliano, La., who attended the mullet toss for the first
time last year, said he's looking forward to making the trip again. Visiting
the 'Bama with his fiancee, Kela Boudreaux, Griffin said he had a blast at
last year's event.

It was as good as any Cajun "fete," or party, he said. Well, almost.

"There were a lot more people involved," Griffin said. "But I can't say they
party better than we do on the bayou."

WANT TO THROW SOME FISH?

The famed Flora-Bama Lounge and Package will hold a number of events in
April, including the annual Interstate Mullet Toss. For more information on
an event, or to see a virtual tour of the storm damage, visit the bar's Web
site at www.florabama.com.

The 9th Annual Mullet Man Triathlon, April 16 at Flora-Bama: The triathlon
consists of a quarter-mile swim, a 15-mile bicycle course and a four-mile
run. Registration, which starts at $50 per person, will be cut off at 500
participants.

The 8th Annual Mullet Swing Golf Classic, April 20 at Soldiers Creek Golf
Club at The Preserve in Elberta: The format for the golf classic will be a
two-person scramble, with food and beverages offered at each hole.
Registration costs $200 per player, and a portion of the proceeds will go to
youth charities in Florida and Alabama.

The 21st Annual Interstate Mullet Toss and Gulf Coast's Greatest Beach
Party, April 22-24 at Flora-Bama: Though the Flora-Bama was destroyed by
Hurricane Ivan, the bar's most popular event still will be held. Tents and
portable buildings will be set up for a mega-beach party.

DID YOU KNOW: The Flora-Bama's annual Interstate Mullet Toss came into being
on the suggestion of one of the bar's regular musicians, Jimmy Lewis, who
witnessed a "cow chip" throwing contest in Texas. Lewis began wondering what
crazy, but abundant, items would suit a similar contest on the Gulf Coast.
The mullet toss was born and is still going strong 21 years later.

Source: Flora-Bama Lounge and Package co-owner Joe Gilchrist,
www.florabama.com

[Ilph]

This is definately one place I need to go before I die.

[Elrod]

They've scheduled the Mullet Toss at the Flora-Bama.


Everything's gonna be all right.

[citcat]

Think it'll be ready to open when I go on vacation down there (May 2-6)?????

[UAHparrothead]

I heard on the radio that beginning today they are going to bulldoze what is left of the Florabama , but the owners promise to rebuild at the same location. This weekend they are holding an Irish wake for the old building.

[citcat]

DADGUMMIT

[Elrod]

Think it'll be ready to open when I go on vacation down there (May 2-6)?????

Famed Flora-Bama Lounge To Be Bulldozed, Rebuilt

Some Flora-Bama employees and musicians are working across the street at the Silver Moon Cafe. It has extended its hours and live music until the Flora-Bama is rebuilt.

[Desdamona]

We stopped at the 'Bama when we were in the area for "Stars" last month.
Bought a coffee mug from the "souvenir stand". It didn't look much worse
than it had the year before when we were there.

Last call for famed border nightspot
Flora-Bama to be razed, will rebuild
April 9, 2005
Sean Smith@PensacolaNewsJournal.com

Hold your glasses high, lads and lasses, and drink a wee toast to the
demise of an old friend, the Flora-Bama Lounge & Package.

A real American beach dive is getting a real Irish wake, planned for April
16 at the Flora-Bama Lounge on Perdido Key.

Then the building, which has survived many nonpaying, brawling
hurricanes since it opened in 1962 at the state line, will get its last call
from a wrecking ball and a bulldozer.

But don't panic.

There will be a new, bigger 'Bama, which owners Joe Gilchrist and Pat
McClellan promise will be "just as low-rent." The 20th annual Interstate
Mullet Toss remains scheduled for April 22.

"We thought it would be best to hold a wake so we can properly say
goodbye," Gilchrist said Friday. "We're expecting quite a crowd."

The date has to be finalized as Gilchrist awaits demolition permits from
Escambia County.

Many hoped the Flora-Bama had survived Hurricane Ivan when they saw
aerial photographs of the bar still standing. But closer looks by emergency
search and rescue crews told a grim tale.

Ivan's storm surge almost gutted the building, filling it with sand piled "bar
high," Gilchrist said.

Flora-Bama employees salvaged as much of the original bricks, photos
and wood as possible. They also preserved dozens of bras that were
signed and hung from the rafters for the new bar, bartender Susan Poston
said.

"It will be awful, seeing it go," Poston said, walking out of the Silver Moon
Cafe to have a smoke. "I understand we need to do it, but it will break my
heart. How many years of my life have I spent inside that building?"

Poston, bartender Cherie Lusk and several regular musicians work across
the street at the Silver Moon, which has extended hours and live music,
until the new Flora-Bama is built.

"It's like we're losing a piece of history," Lusk said, but noted: "The
characters inside it make the Flora-Bama."



I just can't imagine the red tape they'll have to go through to build anything
that straddles a state line!

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

Been a hangout of mine since 1972, I think I'm gonna cry I hope they keep the low-life atmosphere. Some places aren't the same after rebuild, ie Lulu's.

[Brown Eyed Girl]

Been a hangout of mine since 1972, I think I'm gonna cry I hope they keep the low-life atmosphere. Some places aren't the same after rebuild, ie Lulu's.

Guess we need to find a new place for my birthday party....

[PHBeerman]

Been a hangout of mine since 1972, I think I'm gonna cry I hope they keep the low-life atmosphere. Some places aren't the same after rebuild, ie Lulu's.

I am sure as long as you're there it will not be a problem.

[Elrod]

I hope they keep the low-life atmosphere.

I read that they were able to salvage some of the bras.

A bar can never have too of those hanging up.