If The Flora Bama Walls Could Talk

Over 500 quotes from the hallowed walls of the Last Great American Roadhouse on the Gulf of Mexico at the Alabama-Florida Line.

The definitive guide to the nation's toughest football conference; the Bible of SEC Football, the fascinating history of the nation's toughest football conference told by one of the best storytellers In the business, Dr. Chris Warner. Tailgater’s Guide to SEC Football Volume V – The definitive guide to the history and traditions of the 14 schools of the Southeastern Conference (2020). Contains profiles of great players and coaches, school histories, recipes, famous alumni, where to shop and golf, etc. The Bible of SEC Football. $15.95 Paperback, 320 pages. Synopsis: “Dan Jenkins, author and sportswriter, simply summed up the popularity of the game of football in the South with the following statement: “To Southerners, football is as essential as air conditioning.” The irreplaceable “Voice of the Volunteers” on radio during the 1950’s, George Mooney, once stated, “…No matter where I was broadcasting from, I found the fans in the South to be knowledgeable, fair—and yes, loud and frenzied. They are very proud of their rich football heritage. And they are very proud of their schools, their teams—and the deep pride that goes with being from the South.” Late legendary college football commenter Keith Jackson, in describing the SEC Football experience, once aptly stated that” …there are few instances of alleged entertainment and relaxation that can match a college football game in stirring the deepest flames of partisanship and outright provincialism. And down South you can color that partisanship passionate!” Southeastern Conference Football is the paragon of the college athletic experience. During its storied, 87-year existence, the SEC has evolved into the most impressive league of organized, intercollegiate gridiron competition in the history of the United States. No other Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference can boast of the many accolades and attendance records that the SEC currently holds. Furthermore, the Southeastern Conference has produced more All-American football players than any other conference. This book is dedicated to all the Southern people who live for Saturdays in the fall, for those individuals who plan their business and personal engagements around their favorite team’s football schedule; for those who always experience a rise in their body temperature when they enter the stadium; for those who shed a tear during the singing of their alma mater; and especially, for those who know all the words to their school’s fight song. It is for the people who wake up early on Sunday morning after a win so they can read each and every one of the sports columns about the game they witnessed the day before. It is for all those who enjoy good company and good food in the parking lot before the game, as much, and if not more, than the food and company at a fancy restaurant. These things that we hold dear – all true SEC fans know and love, and look forward to each autumn. It’s that time of year when the heated summer temperatures begin to fade and yield to colder days, when the leaves begin to change color, and when the youthful partisan spirit within us all crackles like the kindling of a well-planned winter fire.

A “lucid, often pithy” history of the eastern Gulf Coast vacation destination by an Alabama native who is “a talented storyteller as well as a scholar” (Washington Times). In The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera, Southern historian Harvey H. Jackson presents a cultural history of the coastal region stretching from Mobile Bay and Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Panama City, Florida—an area known as the “Redneck Riviera.” Jackson chronicles the evolution of the are from the late 1920s, when it was sparsely populated with small fishing villages, through to the devastating BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. With both personal and historical perspectives, Jackson explores the area’s development as a middle- and working-class vacation destination following World War II, the building boom of the fifties and sixties, and the emergence of the Spring Break “season.” He tracks the hurricanes that destroyed historic construction, the building boom that brought high-rise condos, and the effects of the 2008 housing market crash. While his major focus is on the social, cultural, and economic development, he also documents the environmental and financial impacts of natural disasters and the politics of beach access and dune and sea turtle protection.

In the 1930s, the Federal Writers' Project sent mostly anonymous writers, but also Zora Neale Hurston and Stetson Kennedy, into the depths of Florida to reveal its splendor to the world. The FWP and the State of Florida jointly published the results as Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State, which included twenty-two driving tours of the state's main roads. Eventually, after Eisenhower built the interstates, drivers bypassed the small towns that thrived along these roads in favor of making better time. Those main roads are now the state's backroads—forgotten by all but local residents, a few commuters, and dedicated road-trippers. Retracing the original routes in the Guide, Cathy Salustri rekindles our notions of paradise by bringing a modern eye to the historic travelogues. Salustri's 5,000-mile road trip reveals a patchwork quilt of Florida cultures: startling pockets of history and environmental bliss stitched against the blight of strip malls and franchise restaurants. The journey begins on US 98, heading west toward the Florida/Alabama state line, where coastal towns dot the roadway. Here, locals depend on the tourism industry, spurred by sugar sand beaches, as well as the abundance of local seafood. On US 41, Salustri takes us past the state's only whitewater rapids, a retired carnie town, and a dazzling array of springs, swamps, and rivers interspersed with farms that produce a bounty of fruit. Along US 17, she stops for milkshakes and hamburgers at Florida's oldest diner and visits a collection of springs interconnected by underwater mazes tumbling through white spongy limestone, before stopping in Arcadia, where men still bring cattle to auction. Desperately searching for skunk apes, the Sunshine State's version of Bigfoot, she encounters more than one gator on her way through the Everglades, Ochopee, and the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters. Following the original Guide, Salustri crisscrosses the state from the panhandle to the Keys. She guides readers through forgotten and unknown corners of the state--nude beaches, a rattlesnake cannery, Devil's Millhopper in Gainesville--as well as more familiar haunts--Kennedy Space Center and The Villages, "Florida’s Friendliest Retirement Hometown." Woven through these journeys are nuggets of history, environmental debates about Florida's future, and a narrative that combines humor with a strong affection for an oft-maligned state. Today, Salustri urges, tourists need a new nudge to get off the interstates or away from Disney in order to discover the real Florida. Her travel narrative, following what are now backroads and scenic routes, guides armchair travelers and road warriors alike to historic sites, natural wonders, and notable man-made attractions--comparing the past views with the present landscape and commenting on the changes, some barely noticeable, others extreme, along the way.

Bushwhacked at the Flora-Bama A Character-laden History & Tales from the Last Great American Roadhouse... The Legendary Flora-Bama Lounge & Package Store By Chris Warner with Joe Gilchrist. It has been called one of the last great American honky-tonk roadhouses, the perfect blend of beer and whiskey, laid back and wild, where you wipe your feet on the way out, an otherwise tattered, white sandy blip on the teeming gulf coast radar that for more than three decades has served as a romantic, raunchy, roadside respite for good music, good times, good views and most importantly great people. According to its uniquely colorful originator and operator, Joe Gilchrist, the legendary Flora-Bama Oyster Bar & Package Store is many things to many people...a place where all walks of life bikers, judges, professional partiers, politicians, dignitaries, derelicts, diplomats and coquettish coeds converge to embrace a special brand of unmitigated pleasure. And that s the way it should be, according to the muse-like Gilchrist, who for the past 50 years has piously lived his often-repeated mantra: Life is meant to be enjoyed. Gilchrist s simple formula for fun and frolic of bringing different people together in a beautiful spot to enjoy the universal language and tonic of music and laughter has made his tropical watering hole a global icon among expatriate dives. Playboy has called the loveable, makeshift hodgepodge of wood, rope and canvas America’s Best Beach Bar, and during Mullet Toss Weekend in April, or the ever-bustling Fourth of July weekend, you ll be lucky to find elbow room, much less an idle bar tender. In this book Joe Gilchrist tells the amazing history of the Flora-Bama, its inauspicious start, its phoenix-like rise, and tragic, near-demise at the destructive hands of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Moreover, Gilchrist chronicles his quixotic run as a fun-loving and free-wheeling entrepreneur during what was undeniably a much simpler time, as well as his thoughts about the uncertain future of our great country and free market capitalism, in what is today an increasingly difficult small business climate. More than a spicy expose on cherished Southern comforts untold, this book is a lasting tribute to the magical, music-filled Mecca that has entertained millions, as well as a provocative, wisdom-filled analysis of integrity of our current class of American political leadership. This book will forever alter the way you view The Bama, Joe Gilchrist, and the United States of America.

What do four LSU fraternity brothers, three Auburn sorority sisters and a Birmingham volunteer church group have in common? They’re on a road trip to the iconic Flora-Bama Lounge & Package to first experience the world-famous Interstate Mullet Toss! Unbeknownst to them, they’re on an unprecedented collision course for fun, sun and subtle fame—meaning their lives will certainly never be the same. The Flora-Bama’s new owners, against the wishes of their minority partner, have cut a lucrative Hollywood deal to produce a “no-holds-barred…anything goes” documentary on the zany, voyeuristic beach party known for string bikinis, cold beer, frothy bushwhackers and of course, thrown fish. The filmmakers have coughed up major dough, and have been given full reign of the quintessential beach bar and its patrons for the duration of the risqué four-day event. What they witness and capture on film is wilder than anything Tinsel Town could have scripted. In their quest for a memorable time the college kids find unforgettable adventure. Amazingly, all the frat guys hook up with people who look better than them. The unfortunate fact for one is that unbeknownst to him, his significant other—a gorgeous church volunteer and preacher’s daughter—is underage—by almost two years. After a raucous night, an arrest lands the two in the local hoosegow, where that latter, salient fact is painstakingly revealed, warranting a more serious charge. The desperate kids seek and find help in the iconic bar’s founder, Joe, who uses local resources to try and ease them out of the jam they precariously find themselves. However, the gig is complicated by the fact that Hollywood producers have trained their cameras on the developing story, spooking the entrenched power players within the good ole’ boy network who will determine what level and brand of Southern-style justice is ultimately served—if at all. The loveable bar owner, Joe, and his inner circle of unique characters, musicians and connected island dwellers are challenged like never before to save not only the reputations and records of the kids he has befriended—but for posterity, the character of his beloved beach bar and the community it faithfully supports. A fast-paced yarn reminiscent of its predecessor, “They Met at the Alabama-Florida Line,” is the second fictional tome by Chris Warner set at the world-famous Flora-Bama Lounge & Package. It is another romantic, satirical tale seeking to draw semblance to Southern living, art, failed politics and pop culture.

Veteran journalist and author of The Commandos Douglas Waller chronicles his rare and intimate experience with the training program for Navy pilots in this “engrossing saga that will likely become an unofficial recruiting tool for naval aviation” (Publishers Weekly). Waller, who was granted permission to participate in the pilots’ grueling training regime, has written an absorbing behind-the-scenes account of the physical and psychological trials endured by the most specialized group of pilots in military history. From his bird’s-eye view in the passenger’s seat, Waller follows pilot trainees through two years of intense preparation. He offers vivid illustrations from the fray: hair-raising aerial dogfights; stomach-swallowing dive-bombing runs; high-speed tactical maneuvers grazing the desert floor; and numerous nerve-twisting aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings. In addition to his own experiences and those of the group of trainees he joins, his research is based on interviews with hundreds of other students and their instructors. Hurtling through the air at death-defying speeds, these pilots-in-training struggle to maintain their composure while withstanding conditions that are designed to challenge them to the very limits of human endurance. Waller’s deftly drawn portraits of the men and women he encounters in this singular culture of elite pilots are as satisfying as his adventure narrative. The pilots, whose grit, determination, and mental agility operate on an elevated threshold, come into sharp focus behind Waller’s keen lens: their aspirations, awe inspiring. Air Warriors combines an examination of the modern Navy, recovering from past sex scandals, with a portrayal of a privileged cadre of men and women whose ambition and commitment coexist within a tightly knit group. Waller is able to capture images of these pilots training, living, and fighting with an acuity and intelligence that are often absent from Hollywood and television treatments of this diverse and fascinating subculture. Air Warriors takes us inside the cockpit and behind closed doors for the real story of the making of a Navy pilot.

A candid, compelling, and rollicking portrait of the pirate captain of Margaritaville—Jimmy Buffett. In Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, acclaimed music critic Ryan White has crafted the first definitive account of Buffett’s rise from singing songs for beer to his emergence as a tropical icon and CEO behind the Margaritaville industrial complex, a vast network of merchandise, chain restaurants, resorts, and lifestyle products all inspired by his sunny but disillusioned hit “Margaritaville.” Filled with interviews from friends, musicians, Coral Reefer Band members past and present, and business partners who were there, this book is a top-down joyride with plenty of side trips and meanderings from Mobile and Pascagoula to New Orleans, Key West, down into the islands aboard the Euphoria and the Euphoria II, and into the studios and onto the stages where the foundation of Buffett’s reputation was laid. Buffett wasn’t always the pied piper of beaches, bars, and laid-back living. Born on the Gulf Coast, the son of a son of a sailing ship captain, Buffett scuffed around New Orleans in the late sixties, flunked out of Nashville (and a marriage) in 1971, and found refuge among the artists, dopers, shrimpers, and genuine characters who’d collected at the end of the road in Key West. And it was there, in those waning outlaw days at the last American exit, where Buffett, like Hemingway before him, found his voice and eventually brought to life the song that would launch Parrot Head nation. And just where is Margaritaville? It’s wherever it’s five o’clock; it’s wherever there’s a breeze and salt in the air; and it’s wherever Buffett sets his bare feet, smiles, and sings his songs.