COMMUNITIES
fire, it has three dining rooms, a swimming pool
and full-service marina.
While other barrier islands became known
as luxury seaside resorts, South Beach is better
known for its rustic charm, with places like
Archie’s Seabreeze, which originated in 1947
as a shack that sold beer and was later bought
and expanded in the 1960s by Archie Summerlin.
Today, the eclectic restaurant on State Road
A1A still offers outside dining and music on
the weekends.
Chuck and Elodie Tabor opened another
landmark South Beach restaurant, Chuck’s Seafood,
14
in 1961. “It was about the only place you
could get anything decent to eat,” said Elodie
Tabor McCready. “It was a bar and we kept
the bar open. We served fresh fish and shrimp.
People would come for lunch from the hospital
in their uniforms. People came by boat and
canoe. We had a bigger menu than anyone else.
We really stayed busy.”
LARGE DEVELOPMENTS
Like much of the rest of Florida in the 1950s,
the advent of air conditioning opened up South
Beach for development. And people began to
build houses. With the 1970s came the begin-
PHOTOS BY ED DRONDOSKI
Elodie Tabor McCready, top, relaxes at Chuck’s Seafood, a landmark restaurant on South
Beach since 1961. Damaged in the 2004 hurricanes, the building has been completely
restored and is open for business. Archie’s Seabreeze on State Road A1A is popular on
weekends for beer, food and music.
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PHOTO BY SU L. ANDERSON