![]() By GERRY BARKER North Palm Beach Life The Historical Society of Palm Beach County held a reception and gala for the opening of "Wish You Were Here: Tourism in the Palm Beaches" in partnership with The Palm Beaches Thursday night, Nov. 14. It featured music, food and plenty of memories and activities showcasing Palm Beach tourism through the years. There were live animals from Busch Wildlife, interactive exhibits and flight attendants to greet you. Resident artist Kyle Lucks was also there to talk about his works. More about the exhibit from the website: "Wish You Were Here will transport you with celebrities, artifacts, and stories about experiences that residents enjoy year-round. Every day in paradise is an opportunity to be a tourist at home. Play tennis after work or attend a golf tournament. Feel pampered at a resort spa. Take a weekend cruise. Enjoy cuisine from every corner of the world. Chill on the beach. Take in a museum exhibit! "Using new technologies, Wish You Were Here will allow visitors to get up close and personal with history. Flip through the pages of a 140-year-old diary on your phone. Listen to the jazz music that emanated from the Sunset Lounge nearly a century ago. View never-before-exhibited paintings by the Highwaymen. Learn the evolution of America’s national pastime, baseball, in Palm Beach County and see memorabilia from the region’s most prominent players of golf, tennis, and polo." All Pam and I can say afterwards is, "Wish you were here." 'Wish You Were Here' Gala Photos ![]() By GERRY BARKER Photos by Gerry Barker There are words that are synonymous with luxury, and that applies to Bal Harbour. This small enclave on the northern tip of Miami Beach has long been a magnet for celebrities and shoppers seeking the finer things in life, and now you can experience it without navigating the traffic on I-95. The Bal Harbour Shops Access Pop-Up Tour arrived in the Palm Beaches this week, popping up at CityPlace in downtown West Palm Beach, where it will remain until Jan. 15, 2025. This is its fifth stop on a tour that has included Raleigh, Sarasota, Walton County, Florida and Greenville, South Carolina. Utilizing modular shipping containers for retailers, shoppers will enter a lush, tropical, open-air garden, complete with koi ponds and palm trees, replicating the Bal Harbour experience created by Stanley Whitman in 1965. Covering 17,000 square feet, it also includes "covered walkways with cooling fans, a retractable canopy, and 'The Whitman,' an exquisite dining venue that seats 150 guests, offering a full bar and lounge." Among the brands represented are Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffany, Balmain, Golden Goose, Gianvito Rossi, Wolford, Santa Maria Novella, Assouline, Elisabetta Franchi, Etro, Lanvin, Scanlan Theodore, Monnalisa, and Addict. In the press release, Matthew Whitman Lazenby, President and Chief Executive Officer of Whitman Family Development, said “We’re thrilled to bring the tropical, luxury shopping and dining experience of Bal Harbour to West Palm for the first time." Regardless of when you visit, be sure and schedule a night-time call -- there's something especially magical about strolling the gardens and shops after dark, especially when there's a full moon overhead. While making a stop at Balmain, Pam and I sampled their collection of fragrances, and we both came away knowing what we wanted for Christmas. Santa, are you reading this? Preview Party Photos ![]() By PAMELA BARKER North Palm Beach Life How did it all begin, this morning ritual of waking up and brewing a hot cup of java? Will that first cup, and others coming after, really shock us into a state of awakeness, or is it simply something we rely on to ease us into another day? Does sipping our favorite brew really energize us? More on that in a minute, because you may find it surprising how it all began. If you are a coffee sipper at all, you are probably well aware of the on-going controversy of the K-Cup pods. The pods are available in a plethora of flavors and strengths, from all over the world. The issue with pods? They are plastic and are not recyclable. The world does not need more -- even tiny pods -- in our landfills. Before I get to a new, innovative, style pod by Cambio Roasters, let me say you do not have to use plastic, disposable pods to use a pod-style coffeemaker. Available at a reasonable price, reusable pods have been available for years. All you have to do is fill the pod with any ground coffee, pop them into the maker, and press start. The coffee is discarded and the pod washed and ready for another cup. They seem to never wear out. But, let me tell about a new pod on the market by the makers of Cambio Roasters. The important thing you need to know is, these pods are made from aluminum and are recyclable. Recently, I received two boxes to sample, and as I care about the planet, I was intrigued. The creators of Cambio Roasters, Kevin and Ann, left corporate life to start something rewarding, and they did. At the top of their website, it states their dream very clearly with these words: “Behind every hard--working startup brand are unusually big-hearted people passionate about their products, taking a chance on a dream. That’s us.” Learn more about their fascinating story here. www.cambioroasters.com Now, as for the coffee, I received light roast and dark roast special dark. Wanting to give the sample my very best effort, I drafted friends David and Steve to join in the brew-fest. ![]() As for me, the light roast was tasty, but as a bold coffee drinker, I preferred the darker roast -- very pleasant to the palette and not overwhelming. The lighter roast was clear and smooth, but a bit too light for my taste. Chiming in, my fellow-sippers had this opinion: “The light roast had a tea-like quality that was too light for our taste." -- Steve “The special dark had a full and complex flavor profile -- bold without being bitter.” -David The three of us agreed we are all-in on the philosophy of Kevin, Ann and their team of dream-makers. Recyclable pods are going to be with us for a long-time to come. Before I leave this review, have you ever wondered how all this coffee drinking to get you jumped up in the mornings got started? We can all thank an Ethiopian goat herder, Kaldi, who first discovered the potential of coffee beans. As the story goes, the goats ate the berries, got energized and did not sleep. In the end, we can thank the monks, because Kaldi reported his suspicions to the local monastery who made a drink with the berries and stayed awake for the hours and hours of praying. Soon enough, all the monks were indulging in a hot cup of coffee. So, whether you are in a monastery centuries ago, or like the creators of Cambio Roasters, dreams come true if you have passion. By Gerry Barker Photos/Video by Gerry Barker In the Palm Beaches, celebrating the holidays is usually lights strung around palm trees or a giant tree made of sand. There's never been an outdoor ice skating rink -- until now. Welcome to "Rinkside at The Ben," featuring not only outdoor ice skating, but also a winter wonderland of shops, food and music. Hosted by The Ben, an Autograph Collection hotel in downtown West Palm Beach, it made its debut Saturday, Nov. 2 and will run through March 1, 2025. "We're excited to be able to offer something unique that nobody else in the area is doing anything like this," said Bernardo Neto, The Ben's general manager. READ MORE. ![]() (Ballet Palm Beach) By GERRY BARKER Norfth Palm Beach Life Ballet Palm Beach got their 2024-25 season off to a strong start with the trio of performances at the Kravis Center Rinker Playhouse this weekend, highlighted by a passionate and stirring production of "Carmen." Originally based on an 1845 novella by Prosper Mérimée, featuring the popular and well-known music from the Georges Bizet's 1875 opera, its featured dancers -- Lily Ojea Loveland as Carmen and Ihosvany Rodriguez as Don Jose -- enthralled the audience with their sultry and sensual artistry. "Carmen and Other Works" opened with an original piece, "Mozart Intermezzo," where the company's dancers set a lighter mood, followed by choregrapher Gina Patterson's "Fractured," an interpretive work that combines ballet and modern dance in what is truly art in motion. Ballet Palm Beach returns to the Kravis Center for everyone's holiday favorite, "The Nutcracker," Dec. 6-8 at Dreyfoos Hall. For more information, visit their website at https://balletpalmbeach.org/ |
ABOUTExploring what to see and do in North Palm Beach and the South Florida area. Your hosts are Pam and Gerry Barker. GERRY PRONOUNCED GARYArchives
April 2025
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