Great Loop: West Palm Beach

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Clematis Street


February 24th, 2022

West Palm Beach (WPB) 1s a great stop for cruisers.  Unlike Miami, overnight accommodations are affordable.  Free in fact!  There are two municipal piers to which you can tie free for the day, and if you are brave,  remain overnight.  They are placarded against overnight use, but it was not enforced while we were there.  We spend one night on the pier and moved to the anchorage to have a quieter and more restful night's sleep.  People were on the pier fishing and talking all night.


Amy Marie at the Municipal Dock

The anchorage is wonderful.  Great views of both West Palm Beach and Palm  Beach including the Flagler mansion.  It is especially nice as sunrise and sunset.  Again, the anchorage is free, and you can dinghy to the municipal pier to spend the day ashore.  


West Palm Beach skyline from the anchorage



Music in the Park

WPB has a good vibe. Clematis Street is the center of activity.  Something is happening everyday.  We enjoyed music in the square, and the Farmers' Market.  We also enjoyed riding bikes around Palm Beach.  We walked the beach on the Atlantic side, rode bikes through the neighborhoods full of  mansions with impeccably groomed yards.  The homes were really magnificent.


Flagler's Whitehall Mansion & Museum


Inside Whitehall


The Conservatory


We also took a day to visit Whitehall, the Gilded Age mansion which Henry Morrison Flagler built in 1902 for his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan.  Flagler and his railroad, a project which he began as a second career at the age of 72, was the person most responsible for the development of the east coast of Florida.  His story is a fascinating one, and well worth exploring.  Our visit to the mansion/museum helped us understand the man and his accomplishments.  He clearly wanted to leave a legacy, which he did.

On our departure from the Palm Beach area, we had a chance to  pass acres upon acres of superyachts and their attendant "toy haulers".  These days it is not sufficient to have just a superyacht with helipads and a hidden garage of toys.  You must also have an equal size "toy hauler" to carry even more examples of conspicuous consumption.  All of the vessels were flying flags of jurisdictions with advantageous tax laws.


Toy Hauler and Superyacht

We travelled many miles north before the mansions with waterfront views started to thin.  Much of what we could see from the water is not viewable when travelling Florida by car.  


We anchored off this home one night

The plush homes and superyachts are all behind locked gates.  From the water you can see it all and even anchor nearby.  Doing so gave us the illusion of being part of the "scene", even though our boat was smaller than the "dinghies" on the superyachts.

It was fun imaging......



Amy Marie is quite a bit smaller than a entry level superyacht


Sunset on the edge of a squall


Bike Ride to the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach


Walking Palm Beach


Fireworks - West Palm Beach



Trip Log





Comments

  1. Keith and LindaMarch 8, 2022 at 5:26 PM

    Great pictures to compliment your blog! Once again, thanks for sharing!
    Keith and Linda

    ReplyDelete

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