I was once again down in my Southern Command Center in Savannah from whence the S.O. and I made a weekend road trip down the Florida Atlantic Coast to Palm Beach, where one of her sons lives.
The travel itself was a cinch. Straight down I-95 from start to finish. It being January and tourist season in FL I would have expected a lot more traffic than we got. One (relatively) new benefit is the existence of Buc-ees, now in Florida. Buc-ees was formerly a Texas-only asset, but in the past few years they have spread throughout the South. You can think of Buc-ees as a sort of rest stop theme park. Everything you would normally find at say a Pilot or a Loves is cranked to 11 at Buc-ees. The food is rest stop food, but better. The jerky options are endless. The assorted t-shirts and hats and knick-knacks are even more cheesy. And most importantly, the bathrooms are huge and CLEAN. It's really quite remarkable -- Disney levels of maintenance and service. And, I suspect, quite profitable. The one in Daytona Beach is packed from morning until night. Most of my respectable friends would likely sneer at it, but I think it's quite an achievement, speaking as someone who has spent his fair share of time waiting in line to access a filthy, partially functional solo men's room in a gas station and hoping the sad looking burrito in the warmer isn't toxic. God Bless Buc-ees.
In my view I divide Palm Beach into three distinct areas. First is Palm Beach island proper. This is what most people think of. It's where Worth Avenue is and where The Donald's Mar-a-Lago is and where lifestyles of the rich and famous are a reality.
Once on the Mainland, you are in West Palm Beach. If Palm Beach is the front of the house, West Palm is the back of the house. There are some gritty areas where the folks who staff the hotels and restaurants and resorts live, but it's not without charm. There are a couple of very nice commercial areas in West Palm Beach. There is City Place -- an upscale open air shopping and recreation mall. Very cool spot. They have a central lawn with live music, an AMC theater, even an outdoor Soul Cycle, in addition to an endless supply of restaurants and stores, including the national chains. A few blocks north of that is Clematis Street -- more youthful and party oriented, the shops are funkier and bars louder.
The Third area is Singer Island, the island immediately north of Palm Beach proper, with the main town being Palm Beach Shores. It's a nice, homey spot. Call it upper-middle class vs. the ultra-high end Palm Beach to the south. Most everything is a short walk to the beach. It's a good compromise between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach.
Accommodations-wise, West Palm is pretty standard Florida rates. Moving to Palm Beach Shores you get a noticeable increase in prices due to proximity to the beach, but not outrageous. On Palm Beach Island you get places like The Breakers for $2500 per night. When I hit the lottery, it will be one of my first stops.
Though our tri[ was brief and family-visit oriented, we were able to steal away one day for a brief walk down the storied Worth Avenue. Yes purchases were made, although mine were confined to gelato, then a drive south on A1A among the luxury estates along the oceanfront to my favorite town on the Atlantic Coast, Delray Beach.
Now, it had been a decade or so since I had been to Delray and let's just say an awful lot of people must have shared my opinion. My memories of a quaint beach town were dashed. It was crowded as everywhere else on the Coast. And yet, it retained its charm. It's an easy walk down Atlantic Ave with its shops and restaurants, ending in a pavilion on the beach. What was a flagship Marriott hotel has been replaced and renovated by the Opal Grand Resort where you can grab a delightful drink and snack at the open air Drift bar. Despite the changes, Delray remains my favorite spot on the Atlantic side.
But nothing during this trip changed my preference for my beloved Gulf Coast. I can't honestly say the Gulf side is less busy. I know traveling down I-95 (Atlantic) this trip was vastly easier and faster than a similar trip down I-75 (Gulf). The Atlantic Coast has a few oases of sanity. I'm told places like Port St. Lucie or Vero Beach are not yet insane, and perhaps that's true. But I just don't think the ocean side has anything to compare to, oh, Boca Grande or Crystal River.
There is just a level of intensity on the ocean that isn't there on the gulf. The suggestion has been made that it is because East Coasters settle on the ocean side and midwesterners settle on the gulf. So be it. I don't intend to buck that trend.
