Where the Money Is (Family Reunion Day Six)

Years ago, when Dave and I drove down the east coast of Florida to Miami, I remember blitzing through a wealthy, elegant town on the beach. Later, I learned that the relatives of President John Kennedy own a compound in Palm Beach, and this is still the town where rich New Yorkers come to spend the winter. Dad and I were weary of theme parks, and drove south to explore.

Our first stop was Henry Flagler's Gilded Age winter home. Flagler was a partner with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil, and he was convinced that Florida could be the next Monte Carlo. He had the money and friends to make that dream happen. The same crowd that summered in the mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, wintered in Palm Beach, Florida.

The Breakers dates back to the Gilded Age of the 1880s and 1890s, but it is still an elegant resort hotel today. The Atlantic surf literally breaks at the back door of The Breakers.

Next stop was the Norton Museum, a jewel box of an art museum, so far from New York, Boston, or other major U.S. cities.

I discovered works by my very favorite artists. Bougereau was a Frenchman who painted breathtakingly beautiful, realistic portraits during the 1860s and 1870s. He is notorious as the authority who kept the Impressionists out of the big art shows of the time. His style was waning, but I don't care--I absolutely love his works.

This is a portrait by George Romney, our relative who was one of the "big four" portrait painters in England during the 1700s. The others in the "big four" were Sir Joshua Reynolds, T.E. Lawrence, and Gainsborough.

I love the way Renoir softens and brightens all his portraits with a touch of red. Notice his loose brush strokes and casual finish, compared to Bougereau.

You've all heard how Van Gogh cut off his ear, after a fight with his friend, Gauguin. Gauguin was so horrified that he left Van Gogh and never came back. Van Gogh retired to a home for the mentally ill. This picture was painted by Gauguin soon after leaving Van Gogh. As the critics explain, Gauguin combines, in the face and red hair of Jesus, aspects of both Van Gogh and himself. Gaugin is expressing his pain, love, and complicated feelings for Van Gogh.

After all the man-made beauty and sophistication of the museum, Dave and I loosened up at Lupita's, a mom and pop Mexican restaurant near the beach. The tamarind juice and cheese enchiladas were great.

The Palm Beach beach was glorious. Dave and I strolled along it, passing children playing in the sand, picturesque rocks, and a surf empty except for a lone swimmer.