Playing tourist in our own town! A weekend in West Palm
Earlier in the month my in-laws visited south Florida for the first time to see our new house & hang out on the east coast! We wanted to show them around some of our favorite spots & things to do in the area and figured it would be a perfect time to highlight those favs here on the blog! Sharing all of the things we did over their week long visit, compressed into a packed 4 day itinerary!
Day 1
Coffee & pastry at Aioli - local bakery with the best pastries & bread in town. Our favs are the housemade english muffins (recent discovery, they sell out super quick though), classic sourdough bread (+ turkey avocado sandwich if you’re wanting lunch), crack coffee (latte made w cinnamon & cayenne), cinnamon buns. They have two locations - one downtown West Palm (convenient if you’re staying in the city) and another south of the city on Dixie near Forrest Hill Blvd.
Lunch at Field of Greens on Palm Beach Island - my go to is always the ‘full of life’ salad - Arugula, spinach, roasted chicken, quinoa, craisins, almonds, cherry tomato, mint, feta, lemon & olive oil, basil honey. Something about the mint & feta with the basil honey dressing is sooo yummy. full of veggies and filling!
After lunch, stroll around the shops on Royal Poinciana Avenue - Main St is the cutest gift shop with tons of colorful & themed displays. If you’re girly you will LOVE
Stroll Worth Ave, see the clock tower & beach
Dinner at home! ~if you’re wanting dinner on island - Pizza Al Fresco off of Worth Ave has excellent pizza & Italian food and is in a super cute area~
day 2
Our second morning with our in-laws in town was super rainy, so we stayed in for most of the morning and ventured out around 11am when the weather improved. We started the day at Hive - walking around their huge giftshop & eventually settled in for lunch. Their coffee is really delicious - I love a classic vanilla cappachino/latte or their horchatta latte is tasty too if you like sweeter/milder coffee. The restaurant was full so we ordered takeaway from the bar but usually my favorite brunch items are their avocado toast, breakfast sandwich, avocado green bean salad & anything from their pastry cabinet (there is crack in the chocolate chip cookies).
Stroll around Flamingo Park & El Cid historic districts - charming residential area perfect for a post-lunch walk! A lot of the homes are historic from the 1920s and on, so we love to browse and admire the architecture and landscaping!
Dinner at The Pink Steak - somewhat of a tucked away located in the Joseph’s Classic Market plaza - the pink steak is a swanky restaurant & bar with a lux & intimate feel. Very Palm Beachy vibe with bright florals & flamingo icons decorating the space. Steak is their specialty but I think their sushi is super fresh too. This time we also tried the asparagus and the mac and cheese sides, plus the burrata salad which were all fantastic. We’re not the dessert at restaurants type usually but I’m sure it would be elite.
Day 3
Lunch at Pura Vida
Woke up early & took a neighborhood stroll - early spring is so beautiful in Florida & luckily we were blessed with great weather *mostly during their visit. We strolled through the historic homes along the south side of the city, more SoSo/College Park Lake Worth area. This area is super quiant, very quiet, has large sidewalks in some parts which is lovely
Brunch at Pura Vida is the perfect stop for salads, sandwiches, bowls. Their portions are pretty decent which helps to justify the hefty prices LOL. I love their tuna poke bowl, salmon bowl, and wraps. Their smoothies/acai/coffee don’t hit for me but that’s mostly personal preference. Follow up with a sweet treat at The Salty Donut!
Tour Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse - one of the things that’s great about living in the area is that there’s always so many events and happenings which is great to have when family visits! We were so excited that my mother-in-laws trip aligned over Kips Bay! If you’re unfamiliar, the Kips Bay Boys & Girls club brings together a collection of leading interior designers to “transform luxury homes into immersive exhibitions showcasing the finest in furnishings, art, and design innovation.” It’s literally a Barbie dreamhouse with endless sights. Each room is decorated by a different designer but somehow the house always flows well & it’s a great opportunity for inspiration as well as learning what’s new/developing in the world of interior design. This was my third time going but the organization’s 9th year hosting in Palm Beach (& many years more in New York where it began)!
Snack at Celis Juice in Nora - first time going to this new location and it was beautiful! I used to work at Celis in college so seeing the menu again made me nostalgic & I was so proud of all the improvements/adaptations they’ve made! I got the berries & cream smoothie, but my all time favorites are the power toast, chocolate funk with chocolate protein sub coconut water, 8oz cacao bowl with almond butter!
Dinner at home!
DAY 4
Early morning walk along Lake Trail on Palm Beach - we started at the Royal Poinciana Plaza & grabbed coffee from Sant Ambroeus - one of my top 3 favorite coffee spots in the area + their pastries and food are top notch if you’re needing something more filling. My father-in-law is obsessed with tropical plants/palm trees so he was enthralled by all of the landscaping and gorgeous water views along the trail!
Boat Day! We rented a boat for a few hours in the afternoon and cruised along the intercoastal. My whole family (including Henry, our 2y/o cavalier & Charlie, my 6 month old nephew) so the boat was full LOL. Being on the water is so special/a huge part of living in FL! For lunch on the boat, we ordered Buccan sandwiches to go and ate them on the boat - Buccan is so popular so I’m definitely a broken record mentioning them but they are popular for a reason!
Apps/drinks/dinner at The Breakers. Quintessential Palm Beach - a must see if you’re visiting + appreciate architectural design & impeccable hospitality. The seafood bar is a live aquarium which is a big attraction so we got drinks there and walked around the property as we waited for our dinner res (you have to put your name in, they don’t take reservations in advance). We ended up eating at the Seafood Bar and most of us got the local catch which featured snapper that night. The food is good but I prefer the food at HMF instead - the vibes there are more moody but the food is better imo.
