The Gold Coast

Popularly known as the Gold Coast, the area north of Miami to West Palm Beach is a 70-mile stretch of some of the most developed and expensive real estate in the country. It includes the cities of West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale.The name actually refers to the gold-laden Spanish ships that sometimes wrecked off shore. However, it could also be for the long stretches of gold sand found here.

Fort Lauderdale, no longer the party town of popular imagination, is today a sophisticated yachting center and bubbling social scene. To the north, Boca Raton and Palm Beach are quiet, exclusive communities, their mediterranean Revival mansions inhabeted almost entirely by multimillionaires.