Post Card From a Palm Beachy Holiday

Palm Beach is more than a dot on the map or a place on the beach; to visit Palm Beach is to wrap oneself in glorious colors and observe.  This tiny island offers the feel of being removed from daily fodder but, is oh so connected since this is the coveted romper room of many world wide decision makers.  It is a wonderful place to get lost walking the tiny tiled offshoots of Worth Avenue or just take in the beauty of what this little jewel box has to offer. Nestled on the eastern coast of Florida, Palm Beach encompasses so much more than just where the .001% have second homes.  (Note to reader: – I am not one.)  Palm Beach is where… time has tried to stand still.  Charm and style still exist on a daily basis. Henry Morrison Flagler completed Whitehall in 1902 after already creating the winter playground flavor of Palm Beach.  Open today as a museum, Whitehall is a showcase of a way of living from which we are far removed but so fun to imagine. The days of families descending on the island for “the season” aboard their private railcars are long gone.   Luckily for us architecture whores, many of the notable estates still remain.  I’ve spent hours walking up and down the quiet streets, obviously with a camera to aid research later.Photo via Palm Beach Daily News

But the splendor of notable personalities relaxing out of the limelight is always fun, one never knows who they’ll bump into while shopping or having lunch at Taboo.  People are just people and here celebrities blend in with everyone else. Really?  If there is one place a poor fashion choice will stand out it is walking down what many refer to as the most fashionable street in the world, Worth Avenue.  Maybe she just got in, changed, forgot to pack an appropriate handbag, and is on auto-pilot to Chanel. Holiday decorations amongst the Palm trees offer a buffet of colorful styles.  Red and green are common enough but so are more non-seasonal color pairings. Nothing wrong with a little Bentley Mulsanne underneath the loggia on Christmas morning. One of my favorite haunts is the Palm Beach Book Store.  They have the best offerings of picture books for the visually inspired and enviable selection of the juiciest and notable biographies. There is no better place to get away, take a holiday (any holiday) and just relax than in the historic open arms of The Breakers.  This was my yummy new Thanksgiving find at The Breakers Seafood Bar, Balvenie 21 year old Scotch aged in a Port barrel… can we say smooth.