Established as a luxury vacation destination for the rich and famous in the early 1900s, Palm Beach is synonymous with old-world glamour and new world sophistication. In this exquisite volume, longtime visitor Pamela Fiori shares with readers the heritage of this tropical paradise. From its world-renowned resorts, dreamy estates, and flashy cars to its endless shopping opportunities and impeccable golf courses, In the Spirit of Palm Beach presents a full spectrum of everything the island can offer. An insider s guide featuring Fiori s selection of hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops completes the book. Excerpt from Introduction: If there is one resort community in America that signifies enormous wealth, unparalleled exclusivity, and unmitigated extravagance, it is Palm Beach. Two little words: palm and beach. When combined they conjure up a benign image of nothing more than tropical trees, a deserted expanse of sand, and the soft sound of lapping surf. How sublimely simple.
In truth, that s pretty much what Palm Beach was before the arrival of its modern-day settlers and until a certain Henry Morrison Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil, cast his canny eyes on the island s oceanfront acres in the early 1890s and bought them for $300,000. There s something to be said for visionaries who know what people want before they know it themselves. For Flagler, it was a retreat where the rich could go to escape the bone-chilling winter elsewhere..."