Where the Elite Meet

Where do the elite meet? Palm Beach of course! Way back in the late 70's early 80's, when we used to spend the winters in the Lake Worth and Jupiter areas, we knew this area quite well. We would ride our Honda MB5's and do lots of exploring. We would also go snorkeling at the very northern end of the island at a place called Annie Eggleston's dock. Annie was the dockmaster for 38 years and was quite a character. We saw all sorts of fish around her dock pilings and we would use a slurp gun and catch fish to put in our saltwater aquarium. Now the wood dock has been replaced with just a concrete dock and Annie hasn't lived and worked there since 1984. We drove by in Mustang Sally but there is nowhere to even park anymore. However, meandering through the Royal Palm lined streets and seeing all the mansions was great for reminiscing. 

This cut through the rock reminded us of the Bahamas...

Our goal was to take a walk on the Lake Trail, which is a 5 mile long walking and bike trail along the eastern shore of Lake Worth. We found a perfect spot to park and eat our picnic lunch on a bench overlooking the ICW.

Walking to the south we went by the famous Palm Beach Biltmore Hotel.

Heading back to the north, it was lined with extravagant homes that were barely visible with their huge privacy hedges.  The landscaping certainly was pretty though. 

We didn't make it the whole 5 miles, but the trail was also quite busy and we had to walk single file due to all the cyclists. We were ready to get out of the hubbub of Palm Beach and after driving back to the mainland, we followed the road north along the western side of Lake Worth. This led us right to the Florida Power & Light power plant. We remembered there used to be a small park next to it, where you could walk out and see the manatees that congregate at the warm water outflow of the plant, especially in cold weather. Well, that has really changed with a larger park and a fantastic educational center! 

Unfortunately, there were no manatees in the outflow basin because it is warm out, but there were tons of fish that you could even see on the underwater webcam that was provided in the center. The outflow water was 87 degrees making the water in the basin 78 degrees, and the air was 80 degrees. We went up to the second story observation deck and got a great view of the power plant with the Port of Palm Beach in the background. The stacks used to be higher and painted red and white, which were the landmark we always looked for when coming back from the Bahamas on our boat.

We also watched the dredging project with Peanut Island in the background, plus a barge filled with sand cruising by.

This was another one of those nostalgic days with some new experiences thrown in to make it even more memorable!

😎