Palm Beach - A Little Known Secret

What We Already Know
Palm Beach is an island, chic and quiet. It thumbs its old bluenose at Miami's glitzy South Beach. It shrugs off L.A.'s Rodeo Drive with its exclusive Worth Avenue, where art galleries are pricier and polo players spicier. The privileged winter residents shop at smart boutiques, never carry cash, and Party on yachts the size of HMS Queen Mary. Dinner at home is akin to an evening with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. You can pass it on the highway and never know it's there.

Best selling author James Patterson enjoys living on Palm Beach thanks to the regular folk who buy his books. The Kennedy estate has become the Palm Beach Historical Society, not yet open to the public. And while Donald Trump cannot be called old money, no one ever told him that, and no one ever will.

Culture
There are the standard but good culture spots: the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, the Hibel Museum of Art, the Royal Poinciana Playhouse, and the coveted Palm Beach Invitational International Piano Competition each spring.

It Ain't Just For The Rich
Palm Beach has elegance and grace, secret places and quiet places. How beautiful are its hidden gardens, how welcome its refineMent and tranquility to visitors from the hectic mainland. Crossing the Flagler Street Bridge from West Palm, the first thing you'll do is slow down and breathe. Directly to your left is a haughty sounding entity called The Society of The Four Arts. Palm Beach likes titles that include society and royal, but we don't care. The Four Arts is a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1936. Every season, from November through April, it presents notable Speakers, concerts, films, educational programs, and art exhibitions. If you go there in May you can enjoy it without the crowd.

The Four Arts
When you walk into the silent library there's no one there but a lady at the front desk; she barely nods. You take the elevator to the second floor and you are in the Children's Library, which is hosting a rare photography show of the Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan in the Himalayan Mountains. There's no one there. In mere seconds photographers Tom Sterling, Kathleen Sweeney and Dr. L. Samuel Wann whisk you to one of the remotest places on earth.

Cloud Kingdom
You are no longer in sun-drenched Palm Beach. You are in "The Cloud Kingdom" of the Drukpa people. You are in the presence of lamas. You hear the constant flapping in the wind of prayer flags. WoMen weave multicolored blankets for winter, children's faces are red as apples. Glassy-eyed yaks gaze at you from medieval hill towns where red robed monks till the soil. You are in what is now called, "the last Shangri-la." And yes, it's quiet and you're breath is slow and even.

The Garden of Oriental Delights
Across the lane from the library building are countless concealed gardens, one merging into another. You walk through an exquisite wrought iron gate. There's some activity in the temple garden of the Chinese female Buddha of Mercy and Compassion, Kuan Yin. A live photo shoot is taking place in and around a sacred pool with a blond model posing for the cameraman. Watching over the action are sculptures of Kuan Yin looking beautiful and serene while the unfortunate model wilts in the sun.

Other than the camera crew, no one else is there. Splashing fountains and murmuring pools are surrounded by hundreds of species of tropical plants that attract chirpers on the wing. A multi-colored mosaic tile bench is waiting for someone, and shady walkways lead to secret gardens within gardens.

Your Own Walking Tour
You'll find more local flora in the botanical Pan's Garden on Hibiscus Avenue, where a beautiful bronze of Pan playing his pipe guards the entrance. But it's the many gardens you'll want to discover. Some are hidden behind homes of residents; others will surprise you in unexpected courtyards that lead to shops and galleries and more gardens. The architecture of the town is old refined elegance, strongly influenced by 20th century architect Addison Mizner and his Moorish-Mediterranean-style.

A Town Dedicated to the Pursuit of Green
The local folks and enormous capital devoted to maintaining nature and the environMent, as well as the cultural enrichment of the population, are what continue to make Palm Beach a treat to be enjoyed by every visitor. But it is the ocean and sparsely populated, well-maintained beaches that continue to lure me here.

Pristine and magnificent, fringes of sand dunes with hammock flora line the powder white beaches. The frothy dark blue pounding surf turns languid teal in summer. Unlike some other cities and towns on the coast, the road that runs along the beach front is residential-no shops or restaurants clutter the natural splendor. Palm Beach has strict codes that even the Donald finally agreed to when he succumbed to moving his Mar-A-Lago flagpole inward from the oceanfront; big news here.

Time to Dine
Now that you've fed the soul without spending a dime, you can follow me back across the Flagler Street Bridge and head west by northwest to Palm Beach Gardens and some of the best restaurants for people who work for a living. In addition to P.F. Chang and Seasons 52, there are many restaurants costing more and many for less, including the ever-popular vegetarian Sweet Tomatoes, 1900 West Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.

In case you've won the lotto and want to remain on the island, I've listed a few Palm Beach suggestions for the upper crust palate.

Café Boulud
The Brazilian Court (attended a conference here; fab place)
301 Australian Avenue
Palm Beach, FL 33480

Four Seasons Resort
2800 S. Ocean Blvd.
Palm Beach, FL 33480

Bice Ristorante
313 1/2 Worth Ave.
Palm Beach, FL 33325

Nightlife
Taboo (sort of expensive)
221 Worth Ave
Palm Beach, FL 33480

McKenna's Place (sort of nice sports bar)
4636 Jog Road South
Palm Beach, FL

If you can get in for just a peek, visit The Breakers Hotel on Palm Beach. Established in 1896, it is THE Florida landmark from the pioneer days of Henry Flagler. The Sunday Brunch will have you shell out a mere per person. Ouch! Just think of all you've enjoyed without spending a dime.

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