The Elbo Room was established in 1938 and
has been a Ft. Lauderdale landmark for sixty years. The only
thing separating the bar and the Atlantic Ocean is a two lane
one way road. Due to it's friendly atmosphere and desirable
location, there is no secret to why this cozy watering hole
has been extremely popular. It all began with the WW2 sailors
in the 1940's, then the Spring Breakers from the fifties to
the late eighties, and presently to anyone still reveling
from the good ol' days to the Generation X crowd looking for
a place where everyone knows their name.
The height of popularity for the Elbo Room was definitely
launched by the filming of the movie " Where the Boys
Are ", with Connie Frances and George Hamilton. College
students from all over were flocking to bask in the sun and
meet the girl or guy of their dreams. The phenomenon of Spring
Break continued in Ft. Lauderdale through the eighties and
was documented with a re-make of " Where the Boys Are"
, starring Tom Cruise and Shelly Long...
With Spring Break peaking in 1985 with over 350,000 students,
the city of Ft. Lauderdale was overwhelmed. The city proceeded
to erect a wall in 1987 to keep all people on one side of
the street and cracked down on open containers and underage
drinking. With all these provisions, the spring breakers went
other places. Due to the new attitude the city was taking
on Spring Break, many businesses went bankrupt. The city lost
an estimated 40 million dollars. Through it all, the Elbo
Room persevered. |