DEL.ICIO.USFor the Boston Globe
Published on: 04/27/08
Palm Beach, Fla. — Estates stretch from the ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway and bougainvillea blooms like dandelions. The clear blue Gulf Stream runs close to shore, and there are walls of glossy ficus hedges.
Here a fabulous excess belongs to another time: a small, medium and large poodle to every Bentley convertible, country clubs with saltwater pools and trash pickup every weekday.
 Palm Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau |
| More than 250 merchants, including brands such as Gucci, Cartier, Valentino, Hermès, Christian Dior and Giorgio Armani, have stores on Palm Beach's opulent Worth Avenue. |
On a walking or cycling tour of this city that Henry Flagler, the founder of Standard Oil, founded in the 1880s, you'll see a lot — including three kinds of caviar at the drugstore. Don't miss these views:
• The four miles from the Sloan's Curve condominiums to Worth Avenue are known as the estate section. Right after the Southern Boulevard bridge (drawbridge No. 1) is Mar-a-Lago, built from 1924 to 1927 on 20 acres by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Since 1985, the 110,000-square-foot estate has been the private home of Donald Trump and since 1995 of his Mar-a-Lago Club as well. Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley spent their honeymoon in the house's 75-foot-high tower suite overlooking the ocean.
• After a few miles, the mansions blend into townhouses and boutiques, then the shopping district from Worth Avenue to just past the Breakers Hotel. Worth Avenue is Palm Beach's stand-in for Rodeo Drive. Window-shop at Chanel, Gucci and Hermès, ogle the art galleries with originals by Red Grooms, Matisse and Fernando Botero and browse the locally owned Kassatly's for linens and lingerie, or Maus & Hoffman, the place for Brioni and bow ties.
• Parallel to Worth is Australian Avenue. Both dead-end at the yacht-filled town marina and the middle bridge (drawbridge No. 2). Most of Palm Beach's restaurants are in this part of town. Cafe L'Europe is the place to people-watch, car-watch the exotic supercars at the valet stand, feast on the caviar bar and groove to the baby grand piano. Just across the middle bridge you can find treasures like Cuban takeout at Havana, falafel sandwiches and grape leaves at the Middle Eastern Bakery and Grocery, fish tacos at Lupita's and Italian soul food at Marcello's La Sirena.
• Keep going and you reach the polo fields in Wellington where Prince Charles visits, and then the endless sugar cane in Belle Glade, where feral boars run wild.
• A couple of miles past Worth Avenue is the north bridge (drawbridge No. 3) and the northern part of urban Palm Beach. Here, the Breakers Hotel is aging gracefully, its guests eating stone crabs at the seafood bar and at night watching dolphins in the spotlights.
• In Flagler's day the North End was a jungle. Heading north from town you pass under a canopy of banyan trees and then estate section-size houses, including what is known locally as "Trump's folly." Trump bought this more than 40,000-square-foot oceanside palace at auction in 2004 for just over $41 million. Renovated by Season 3 winner of "The Apprentice," Kendra Todd, it was originally listed for $125 million and is still on the market.
• The city dead-ends at the Palm Beach Inlet. Manatees swim back and forth and yachts pass in and out. Look across the chop at the Port of Palm Beach, at the high-rise condominiums on Singer Island and at the beer-drinking day boaters. Look out at the real world.
IF YOU GO
Driving: Palm Beach is about 600 miles from downtown Atlanta, about a nine-hour drive.
Flying: Expect to pay about $200 round trip from Atlanta to Palm Beach.
Information
Palm Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau: 1-800-554-7256, www.palmbeachfl.com.
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