West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach in South Florida, separated from neighboring Palm Beach by the Lake Worth Lagoon, was once a sleepy destination for seasonal tourists and an agricultural region. It’s now the hub of Palm Beach County, with about 1.3 million residents. It offers a less-crowded lifestyle than the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area, with most big-city amenities and far fewer drawbacks.
The region is making efforts to reinvent itself as the "Research Coast" and has lured several branches of West Coast biotechnology companies. The area also has had a respectable high-tech history, from IBM, Motorola and RCA to Pratt and Whitney and Piper Aircraft. In addition, many national corporations have their headquarters there. Healthcare is a key employer, but service industries and agriculture still are important.
Something For Everyone
The subtropical climate and beautiful shores describe a place that began attracting the rich and famous a century ago and continues to attract generations of wealthy residents as well as snowbirds and vacationers.
Downtown’s Clematis Street and CityPlace districts abound with restaurants, shops, bars and clubs. The Norton Museum of Art displays American, European and Chinese art, including Impressionist paintings. Nearby, the 4-theater Kravis Center for the Performing Arts hosts concerts, plays, dance and opera.
Love the outdoors? This place is made for you! If you’re a surfer, divers, boater, kayaker, fisher, bird-watcher, skater, runner, biker or just someone who enjoys sitting outside with a cool drink, getting mesmerized by the waves crashing on the shore – come on down!
A Rigorous History
Editorial Credit: Dominick Corrado / Shutterstock.com
Palm Beach became known as a winter playground for the rich and famous thanks to Henry Morrison Flagler, one of America’s great industrialists. Flagler extended his railroad to the Palm Beach area in the 1890s, sending real estate prices soaring, and things were never the same. Palm Beach Island has become the exclusive winter home of millionaires, multi-millionaires and billionaires.
Before the building of the railroad that brought tycoons to Palm Beach, tough folks carved out a living here. The legendary Barefoot Mailmen delivered mail by walking on the beach between Lake Worth and Biscayne Bay starting in 1885. There was no road, so the mailmen walked the 136-mile round-trip, which took six days. The "barefoot route" was used until 1892, when a road was constructed between Palm Beach and Miami.
Trapper Nelson came to the area in the 1930s and lived off the land by trapping and selling furs. He owned land on the northwest fork of the wild Loxahatchee River and built a camp and zoo there. Tourist boats from West Palm Beach brought visitors to see Trapper wrestle alligators, and celebrities such as Gary Cooper and Gene Tunney, as well as society heiresses, visited the jungle hideaway.
In 1968, the state acquired and has preserved Trapper Nelson’s land. You can still visit Trapper Nelson’s camp, accessible only by boat, and be given a tour by a park ranger. Or rent a canoe upstream and feel as if you’re going back in time through a large stand of cypress on a daylong trip that takes you past Trapper Nelson’s.
Palm Beach Island
All this history means Palm Beach Island is an interesting place to visit, and there are plenty of things to do on Palm Beach Island. After you gawk at mansions and ficus hedges sculpted into works of art, you can also do a little snorkeling, biking and visiting museums.
The opulence of the island of Palm Beach is easy to spot. The pets are so pampered that there are four dog-watering fountains built around the town including one on Worth Avenue that is a picturesque basin made from Italian ceramic tile.
Of course, you see the flashy new Bentleys and Rolls Royces around town, but year ‘round residents tend to favor a nicely kept older Jaguar as their “beach” car.
You have to look hard for the Publix; in Palm Beach Island, the only sign is its name subtly carved into the entrance.
Worth Avenue
Worth Avenue, home to luxury stores such as Hermès, Jimmy Choo, Chanel and Gucci, is a pleasure to stroll, even for those not into shopping. The charm comes from the nine “vias” or pedestrian walkways that lead off the avenue into courtyards filled with fountains, bougainvillea, Old World tile-work and more shops.
The vias are where you will see how architect Addison Mizner captured a bit of Venice here. Via Mizner, by the way, leads to a lovely courtyard with an excellent and affordable Italian restaurant, Pizza Al Fresco. Look carefully in the courtyard and you’ll also spot the grave of Mizner’s pet monkey Johnnie Brown.
While on Worth Avenue, be sure to admire the Living Wall at the corner of Worth Avenue and South County Road. The verdant vertical garden, added a few years ago, cost a quarter-million dollars and contains 10,000 plants.
My Favorite Palm Beach “Eats”
Surfside Diner
Diners are an American tradition and have a history of offering good food at reasonable prices. Their forebears were prefab restaurants that, during the 1940s, were sold as “kits.” Mostly built in the east and Midwest, they were gleaming chrome, neon-lit beacons that served customers at counters.
Photo Source: surfsidediner.com
Their main customers were men working in the neighborhood factories, truck drivers, and others who had little time to eat. But as the factories closed or moved, so did diners. Many of these pre-fabs were mobile and could move, but they still had to change and made the switch to more family-oriented menus.
While there are still a few of the old-style pre-fabs left in America, diners today are not quite the same but still fill one of the original niches: To provide good, American-style food quickly at more cheaply than at the average restaurant.
The Surfside Diner in Palm Beach, Florida is a great example of this new aesthetic. Palm trees sway outside the establishment, a bright white one-story building stands out from the blue skies of Palm Beach. Inside tables line the large windows that illuminate the interior, and outdoor dining is available.
But what about the food? You’ll find something for everyone at the Surfside. Soups and salads are on the menu, along with diner-staple burgers – beef, turkey, veggie, and even the meatless Impossible Burger.
Lunches don’t stop there, though. There’s also a nice selection of flavorful favorites, such as tuna melts, BLTs, reubens, pulled pork, etc., and less-than-usual diner fare, e.g., a grilled chicken burrito, fish tacos, and quesadillas. Daily specials will tempt you with culinary creations. Also offered are go-withs that run from soft drinks and shakes to wines, beer, and “bubbles,” which include mimosas, Bellini, Prosecco, and variations.
And what would a diner be without a large breakfast menu? Surfside has you covered. Pancakes, French toast, hot or cold cereals, eggs, and breakfast sandwiches tempt breakfast lovers. But there are also other great menu items, such as avocado toast, a breakfast casserole, and a selection of “Benedicts,” poached eggs served in a variety of combinations.
The Surfside Diner is open daily from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. for the breakfast and lunch crowds. If you’re in Palm Beach, I recommend at least one visit for a true diner experience. The Surfside Diner is located at 314 South County Road, Palm Beach, FL 33480.
Ta-boo!
Back in the 1950s, an advertisement for Ta-boo, a see-and-be-seen must on the Worth Avenue cocktail circuit, boasted that “people from North, South, East and West” were talking about the island’s “smart” hotspot for A-listers and celebrity pop-ins like Jackie Gleason calling out his party-starting “Away we go!”
Photo Source: taboorestaurant.com
Times have changed – for one thing, Ta-boo had a four-digit phone number back then, but one thing’s for sure: Whether in passing or with kudos, people still are talking about Ta-boo--and especially this week as the restaurant celebrates its 75th anniversary.
When Ta-boo opened, just days after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, local newspapers lauded the Worth Avenue newcomer for its “unique South Sea Island atmosphere.” The Palm Beach Daily News reported on Dec. 18, 1941, “A large number of guests of interest is expected to christen the newest of Palm Beach smart spots.”
Ta-boo, which had its own package store next door back then, quickly became an “it” place, even for a German submarine commander, who disguised himself and sneaked ashore for a couple of drinks. At least, that’s the story. Ta-boo is a gusher when it comes to such enduring anecdotes, some of which are true while others are, perhaps, apocryphal.
There are the Kennedy yarns (Joseph P. and Gloria Swanson supposedly locking themselves in the bathroom for some alone time) or the night Ethel Merman and Eddy Duchin held court with song and banter. Or the day heiress Barbara Hutton supposedly requested a soothing drink after a bender and a bartender concocted what became known as the Bloody Mary. Or the night Frank Sinatra strolled in and the Ta-boo pianist launched into the theme from The Godfather.
Ta-boo Restaurant is open daily from 11:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. and is located at 221 Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, FL 33480. Reservations are strongly recommended for dinner service