We left DC every March pale and came back tan. Lunch at The Breakers every day. Our friend Patricia owned the Palm Beach Tavern. That was Palm Beach before it became what it became.
For several years in the 1980s, a group of us made the same trip every March — out of Washington DC, down to Palm Beach, straight to the sun. We stayed at the Heart of Palm Beach, a boutique hotel right on South Ocean Boulevard that no longer exists in its original form. We spent our days at The Breakers — lunch outside every day, the ocean in front of us, the tan starting to build. In the evenings we walked Worth Avenue, window-shopped everything we didn’t buy, and went out at night. Our friend Patricia Rafferty Kennedy owned the Palm Beach Tavern, and visiting her was as much a reason to come back as the beach itself. She was one of those people who made a place feel like yours.
Is Palm Beach Right for Your Trip?
The honest answer across three decades of visits — the 1980s, the mid-90s, and what it is now.
The Breakers
The iconic oceanfront resort that has defined Palm Beach since 1896. Lunch on the terrace overlooking the Atlantic is still the quintessential Palm Beach experience. Worth a visit even if you’re not staying.
Search HotelsWorth Avenue
The legendary luxury shopping street — Chanel, Hermès, Tiffany, independent galleries, the Via Mizner courtyard. Walk it even if you’re not buying. The architecture and the people-watching are free.
Search HotelsMarch
The traditional Palm Beach season runs January through April. March is the sweet spot — full season energy, perfect weather, the whole town operating at its peak. Leave pale, come back tan.
Search RentalsWest Palm Beach
Directly across the Intracoastal Waterway — significantly more affordable than Palm Beach island, with its own restaurant scene and nightlife. Palm Beach beaches are a short drive or bridge walk away.
Search HotelsThe Palm Beach I Remember
Palm Beach in the 1980s was glamorous without being impossible. The Breakers was there. Worth Avenue was there. The money was there. But it hadn’t yet become the exclusive fortress it is today. You could still belong there without a certain kind of net worth.
We left DC in March every year. The timing was everything — you needed that first tan, the psychological proof that winter was over, before you could face the rest of the spring. Palm Beach delivered it reliably. The Heart of Palm Beach hotel was right on the ocean — not The Breakers, which was its own world — but perfectly positioned, the kind of place a group of friends could afford without pretending it was something it wasn’t.
The days had a rhythm: beach in the morning, lunch at The Breakers, beach again, then Worth Avenue in the late afternoon when the light was right for window shopping. We never bought anything on Worth Avenue. That wasn’t the point. The point was the walk — the Via Mizner courtyard, the shop windows, the specific energy of a street that takes itself seriously and somehow doesn’t make you feel bad about it.
Patricia Rafferty Kennedy owned the Palm Beach Tavern — an instant success that she ran with matchless guidance for six years. She was a good friend of my parents, and visiting her was woven into every Palm Beach trip. She was one of those people who made a place feel like yours even when you were a visitor. Palm Beach has always attracted people like that — people who belong there not because of money but because of presence.
On Sundays we went to Mass at the Catholic Church — straight from the beach, still in our beach clothes, probably not what the congregation expected. Palm Beach on a Sunday morning, sunburned and sandy in a pew, is its own kind of memory.
The Breakers
The Breakers has been on this particular stretch of South Ocean Boulevard since 1896 — rebuilt twice after fires, the current Italian Renaissance building dating to 1926. It is one of the great American resort hotels and it has always known exactly what it is.
Lunch on the outdoor terrace overlooking the Atlantic is the experience. Not the most expensive meal you’ll have in Palm Beach — that distinction goes to several Worth Avenue restaurants — but the one that captures the whole point of being there. The ocean, the architecture, the specific quality of March light on the Florida coast. We did it every day and it never got old.
The Breakers today has expanded significantly from what it was in the 1980s — full spa, multiple restaurants, expanded pools, the full luxury resort infrastructure. The bones are unchanged. The terrace is still the terrace. The ocean is still the ocean.
Worth Avenue
Worth Avenue runs four blocks from the Intracoastal Waterway to the beach — the most famous luxury shopping street in Florida and one of the most celebrated in America. Chanel, Hermès, Tiffany, Cartier, Gucci, Lilly Pulitzer, independent galleries, antique dealers, the Via Mizner and Via Parigi courtyards with their bougainvillea and tile work.
Walk it even if you’re not buying. The architecture is extraordinary — Addison Mizner designed much of Palm Beach in the 1920s and Worth Avenue is his masterwork. The Via Mizner courtyard especially — a hidden alley of shops and fountains that feels like it was lifted from a Mediterranean village and set down in Florida. Which is exactly what Mizner intended.
Worth Avenue in the late afternoon is the right time — the light is warm, the serious shoppers have thinned out, and the window shopping is at its best. Allow an hour to walk the full length and explore both Via courtyards.
West Palm Beach
In the mid-1990s, visiting from New York, I stayed at a friend’s condo in West Palm Beach. A different experience entirely from the 1980s Palm Beach trips — quieter, more practical, escaping a New York winter rather than staging a DC spring ritual. West Palm Beach is its own city, not just Palm Beach’s less glamorous neighbor.
Clematis Street in West Palm Beach has a genuine restaurant and nightlife scene. The Norton Museum of Art is one of the best mid-sized art museums in Florida. The Intracoastal Waterway views are excellent. And the Palm Beach island beaches are accessible by bridge — a short drive or even a walkable crossing from the West Palm side.
For visitors who want the Palm Beach experience without Palm Beach prices, West Palm Beach is the right answer. Hotels are significantly more affordable. The island is minutes away. You don’t sacrifice much except the address.
Palm Beach Now
Palm Beach has always been wealthy. It is now among the most concentrated wealth in the United States — a barrier island of approximately 8,000 year-round residents that hosts one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. The season runs January through April. Worth Avenue remains Worth Avenue. The Breakers remains The Breakers.
What has changed is the scale of the money and the visibility of it. Palm Beach in the 1980s felt exclusive but not sealed. The Palm Beach of now is a different caliber of exclusive. The Heart of Palm Beach hotel is gone. Patricia’s tavern is gone. The specific Palm Beach of those March trips exists now only in the people who were there for it.
But the beach is unchanged. The light in March is unchanged. The Breakers terrace is still the right place to have lunch on a warm afternoon with the Atlantic in front of you. Some things about Palm Beach are permanent.
Search Palm Beach and West Palm Beach Hotels and Rentals
Palm Beach island hotels book out months in advance for peak season — January through April. West Palm Beach has significantly more availability and lower rates with easy island access.
Quick Reference: Palm Beach Florida
| Category | The Answer |
|---|---|
| Best time to visit | January–April — peak season, perfect weather, full town operating |
| The anchor experience | Lunch at The Breakers terrace — the quintessential Palm Beach afternoon |
| Worth Avenue | Walk it regardless of budget — the architecture and courtyards are free |
| Best time on Worth Avenue | Late afternoon — warm light, thinner crowds, Via Mizner at its best |
| Budget alternative | West Palm Beach — across the Intracoastal, fraction of the price |
| From Miami | About 70 miles north via I-95 — roughly 1.5 hours |
| From Orlando | About 170 miles southeast via I-95 — roughly 2.5 hours |
| Airport | Palm Beach International (PBI) — 3 miles from Worth Avenue |
| Summer | Hot, humid, off season — dramatically lower rates, quieter town |
We left DC pale every March. We came back tan. The Heart of Palm Beach is gone. Patricia is gone. The specific version of that place we knew exists only in memory now. But the beach is still there, and the Breakers terrace is still the right place to have lunch on a warm afternoon, and Worth Avenue is still Worth Avenue. Some things hold.