Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): May 23

Day 78 - Big Boats & Bigger Houses

Palm Beach Town Dock

We continued our travels through the very affluent area of Florida known as the Gold Coast today. This area includes the cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale as well as West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Pompano Beach and Hollywood. The name Gold Coast comes from the coins that occasionally wash up on the shore in the area. This is due to a large number of Spanish Galleons that sank off the coast. However, the term is also used to indicate the fabulous wealth that has accrued in the area, especially near the coast east of U.S. 1 or, some would say, the Intracoastal Waterway. It’s unbelievable how many magnificent homes there are one after another, mile after mile. We traveled almost fifty miles today and it looked like we were driving down a residential street, with beautiful homes on both sides. There were also canals going off the ICW that had even more homes. No industry here, just amazing homes and yachts. We had 21 bridges today...only had to have three opened and we didn't have to wait long for any of them.

We are at the Palm Beach Town Dock which is at the end of Worth Avenue. Worth Avenue is Florida's version of Rodeo Drive, fun to window shop, but didn't buy anything. We walked along the beach and then had dinner at Pizza Alfresco. We are definitely the smallest boat in the marina. The majority of the large yachts we saw today are registered under the Cayman Islands flag; I guess they save on paying taxes that way.

This is what our view looked liked today...mile after mile after mile of beautiful homes