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."

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?

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.

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/