Fort Lauderdale has a lot of bars. Only one has mermaids swimming past the windows. Built in 1956 when the property was the Yankee Clipper Hotel, a building designed to look like an actual cruise ship, The Wreck Bar was conceived as a Spanish galleon shipwreck sunk at the bottom of the sea, complete with porthole windows peering directly into the hotel pool. The idea was simple: let guests drink while watching swimmers drift by. Someone quickly figured out that professional mermaids were considerably more interesting than random hotel guests doing the breaststroke. More than 60 years later, the mermaid shows still run Thursday through Sunday, and the bar has entertained everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio to The Beatles. It appeared in Where the Boys Are (1960) and Analyze This (1999). After a 0 million restoration, it reopened in 2017 as the B Ocean Resort. Some things are genuinely irreplaceable.
Thirsty for more? Dive into the Bum’s full guide to the best beach bars in Florida.
