Beach Blanket Bingo

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Aim for a hole-in-one at Golf Kitsch in Panama City Beach

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Tiki Time at Mai Kai Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

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Tropical Elvis on Anna Maria Island

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Watch the underwater shows at Weeki Wachee Springs

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Life was so simple and silly in those old beach movies. The toughest thing Dee Dee ever faced was losing her boyfriend Frankie to a brassy blonde (which of course, never happened). While these films preserve a technicolor vision of beach life, you can find remnants of the real deal around the coast of Florida. Follow me to these mid-century holdouts to direct your own beach party.

Golf Kitsch Panama City Beach

The tech overload of video games can’t compete with the giant dinosaur or Easter Island statue at the Original Goofy Golf in Panama City Beach. This 18-hole miniature golf park hasn’t changed much since opening in 1959.

With hula girls, fire-twirling dancers and more tiki faces than you’ll find in Tahiti, this place shimmies with Polynesian surrealism (and the food’s good, too).

Walk Nostalgic Hollywood Beach

Imagine Venice Boardwalk in California, but with a prettier beach and no trash. The 2.5-mile historic Hollywood Beach Broadwalk fronts the Atlantic and a stream of ’50s motels, outdoor cafés and funky beach shops, making it one of USA Today’s top 10 nostalgic boardwalks (2005) and one of Travel + Leisure's top 10 beach boardwalks (2010).

Diner Culture Daytona Beach
It’s not as old as it looks, but this Daytona Beach diner serves up enough chrome, vinyl and blue plate specials to feign authenticity: Welcome to Starlite Diner. After you eat, put the rubber to the sand on Daytona Beach (enter at the end of Route 92; cost is $5 per car). See and be seen as you drive a short distance from sunbathers and beach vendors, or park in the sand and join them.

Motel Swank Treasure Island
The vintage Vegas-style sign out front says it all – the Thunderbird Beach Resort keeps the dream of a yesteryear beach weekend alive. A low-rise with 64 rooms, classic courtyard, tiki bar and tile-edged pool, the getaway rests in the heart of St. Petersburg’s Treasure Island.

Mermaids Live Weeki Wachee
At least in Weeki Wachee Springs they do. Young women with sequined fish tails have performed underwater shows daily in these natural springs since 1947. This roadside theme park invokes retro Florida at its best.

Tropical Elvis Anna Maria Island
Owner Tom Buehler brought the tropical Haley’s Motel back and beyond its ’50s glory, juxtaposing bikes with microwaves and wireless computer access. Just steps from the surf, this Anna Maria Island motel is one of the few remaining on Holmes Beach, now dominated by homes, vacation villas and condos.

Flip Out Islamorada
Long before SeaWorld, dolphins were jumping through hoops at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada. Catch the show and a bottomless boat ride. When you’re flippered out, rest at the nearby La Jolla Resort – its pink, yellow and sea green color palette will take you back.