Cruising Las Olas Boulevard

After taking a stroll along the Riverwalk in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this past Saturday afternoon, my sister Susan and I decided to cruise down Las Olas Boulevard, that city's main drag, on the way home. It starts out as a high-end shopping district, with many restaurants, bars, and shops, as seen in the photograph on the left. And I must say, the trees in the median lend a nice touch to the atmosphere. It was just after 5:00, and so a lot of people were heading into that district for a bit of Saturday night fun. We were headed east toward the ocean, and the traffic coming towards us from that direction was bumper to bumper. I was very glad I was going the other way and resolved find a different way back to the freeway when we headed home to Stuart. Once you leave the business district, you cross a series of yacht-filled canals, along which are condos, apartments, and very large homes. Eventually you cross the Intercoastal Waterway, and Las Olas ends at Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, which parallels - wait for it - Fort Lauderdale Beach.

On the northwest corner of this intersection stands the Elbo Room, a legendary bar and local landmark, and seen in the photograph on the right. Fort Lauderdale was the birthplace of spring break, beginning back in the mid-1930s. It all began with college swim teams looking for a warm place to train and evolved into the spring break tradition we know today. Fort Lauderdale became the epicenter of this college gathering, and the crowds only increased after the release of the 1960 film, Where the Boys Are. The Elbo Room, which was established in 1938, was featured in this film, and instantly became ground zero for partying students. The peak of spring break in Fort Lauderdale came in 1985, when 350,000 college students showed up. After that, city fathers decided enough was enough, instituted stricter laws, including banning alcohol on the beach, and made it very clear that students were no longer welcome. But as you can see from the photo, the Elbo Room is still very popular and was the site of the Florida Panthers' celebration the night of their 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup championships.

This is one busy intersection. There is always a long line to turn in either direction on Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, and once you turn you can see the crowds walking past the shops and bars, not to mention the throngs across the street on the beach. I wouldn't even attempt to find a parking spot around here, especially on a Saturday night. I simply kept driving north, leaving the crowds and traffic behind until I saw a sign pointing the way to I-95, and headed that way. And so, in case you were worried that the end of spring break in Fort Lauderdale led to its demise, relax. Thanks to the pandemic, huge numbers of people moved to Florida to avoid strict Covid regulations and to work from home in a much more pleasant environment, now making Florida the 3rd largest state in the union. And they all seem to descend on the intersection of Las Olas and Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard every Saturday night.