Day 64 - West Palm Beach - A Return to the Cold War Era

We started the day with some housekeeping and laundry before climbing into the dinghy to tour Peanut Island.  The day is very warm but windy, and there is a light chop on Lake Worth.  The waves are following us on the ride over, but we know it will be rougher on the way back when we have to head into them. 

There is a nice little harbor with free dockage on the west side of the Peanut Island and we tied up there.  A paved walkway goes around the island and we followed it over to the Boathouse.  This is where the Coast Guard used to house their boats and is now a snack and gift shop.  It is also where the tour of the Coast Guard Station and JFK’s “Fall-Out Shelter” begins.  After the Coast Guard abandoned the station, the Secret Service used the island as a base when JFK was in town at his “Summer White House”.  During the 1960s, there was a fear of nuclear attack and bomb shelters were built throughout the US.  I remember having drills during middle school in case of nuclear attack. 

 
The Secret Service believed that it was unlikely that the Russians would aim their missiles in Cuba at Palm Beach because the radiation would travel to Cuba.  Therefore, they decided it was more likely that if a missile was aimed toward the east coast, it would ne more likely aimed at Washington, D.C.  If JFK was in Palm Beach and a bomb fell on Washington, D.C., he needed a place where he could be protected until he could safely be removed from the area.  Peanut Island seemed to be a good place to construct this shelter.  So the Navy Seabees, under the direction of the Secret Service built it in less than two weeks in December 1961.  (The Secret Service also built a second fall-out Shelter for JFK on Nantucket Island, but it is not open to the public.)  In 1974, the existence of the “Detachment Hotel” was declassified and public tours of the Fall-out Shelter began in 1999.

We toured the Coast Guard Station house, which is filled with JFK memorabilia and old radio and other equipment from the 1930s-1950s that was used by the Coast Guard.  Then we were led to the shelter, which was built into a hill and has walls made of steel and lead, and is buried under layers of concrete, sandbags and soil.  They could not put the shelter underground because they would quickly hit water since this was an island.  We walked through a corrugated tunnel that makes a 90 degree turn (designed to protect the rest of the shelter for the blast) into the “radiation check room”, where a Geiger counter would test people for radiation.  That room is followed by the ‘decontamination shower.”  There was also a ventilation room with an air handler that was designed to recycle the air in the shelter. 

 

The main room had a desk for JFK, a few bunks and more memorabilia.  There was a bathroom with 3 stalls and the toilets were buckets.  The shelter never had to be used, of course, and was completely cleaned out after JFK’s death.

 

After the tour, we walked around the other side of the island where there is a beach with an artificial reef for snorkeling, campground, and covered picnic areas.  Boats were anchored off shore for swimming and to enjoy the island.

 

As we headed back to Kristin Says in the dinghy, Captain Randy hugged the eastern shoreline, hoping it would not be too rough, but we still got wet.  As warm as it was, we didn’t really mind.  We had a close-up view of the magnificent homes on shore too.

The marina was hosting an “80s” party that night at Roxy’s Rooftop (a bar/restaurant on Clematis Street that has been there since 1936).  We didn’t have any 80s clothes handy but we went anyway.  The roof has a nice set-up for private parties, with 2 bars, booth seating, a dance floor, and “hanging-out” space near the Clematis Street side.  The party was very slow starting, so after a drink and a plate of appetizers, we went to look out over Clematis and met a boater who lives in Ireland but has a sailboat in Palm Harbor Marina.  He proceeded to tell us about a woman who had jumped over the railing to her death – not a topic usually brought up within the first few minutes of meeting someone, but there it was.  After an entertaining but short conversation with him, we excused ourselves and went out to look for the trolley.

 

We took the trolley to City Place for dinner and some live blues at B.B. King’s Blues Club.  I had shrimp with grits and the Captain had barbecued ribs.  City Place was rockin’ with live music in all the bars, a fun place!  No rooftop jumping here!!