As always, first thing’s first - if you haven’t already, subscribe to our 100% free newsletter - up to date, news, stories & the latest in Palm Beach County…

But today, in addition to the latest, we’re also talking about the history of the area.

Starting with the oldest steakhouse in Florida.

Okeechobee Steakhouse, Florida’s Oldest Steakhouse

Okeechobee steakhouse is still standing, in its original location, on Okeechobee Boulevard. In 1947 it opened as Okeechobee drive-in, founded by the Lewis family, in a wooded region to the west of downtown West Palm.

Now, instead of a wooded region, the steakhouse is across from Palm Beach Volkswagen and next to Kliggy’s Karts (golf cart dealership.)

But while the scenery has changed, the excellent food & atmosphere has stayed the same. Still owned by the same family, and converted full time into a steakhouse in 1974, the service and cuts are absolutely incredible and worth a trip if you haven’t been.

Especially if it’s your birthday, where you get a credit for the cheapest steak on the menu ($55) with your meal. I have been known to take advantage of this deal myself, on yearly occasion.

The bread is also unbelievable. The best restaurant bread I’ve ever had, hands down - and they bring all the steaks around to the table before you order so you get a good look at everything and can make an informed decision. The drinks, as well, get the job done.

This place has always piqued my curiosity as its location simply does not match the high level of quality inside, which you’d typically only expect on Palm Beach Island around these parts.

While they have not sponsored me for this piece, if I’ve moved you to investigate further, you can look them up right here.

While you’re reading, feel free to share with a friend who you think might enjoy!

The Most Underrated Cuban Coffee In Town

The most underrated coffee spot is hidden in plain sight, right inside … a gas station.

Several years ago, I was working as a door-to-door salesman in the payment processing industry - I was canvassing the neighborhood off Dixie highway. I stopped into a local law practice to try and sell them but also to ask where I could grab a decent coffee in the area, and was pointed up the road to this place.

“Not the big place on the corner right here, you go down, past the train tracks, and it’s inside the Marathon gas station.”

I was skeptical at first but their advice was on the money.

If you’re ever in the neighborhood off Forest Hills Boulevard near Dixie, especially during the morning, pull off the road at the gas station across from Forest Hills Grill and get a coffee and an empanada - you know the stuff is good because it’s always busy and nobody speaks English in there.

Don’t mix it up too much, get a basic hot coffee, and enjoy - it’s also inexpensive compared to a lot of places you can go that are more “in the way.” It’s the real deal.

Plus you get to gas your car up while you’re there ! Win-win.

You can check out their website here.

The Peanut Island Boating Scene …

One of my favorite “phenomena” since living in the area is the Peanut Island boating scene -

While I’m sure the island itself has interesting things to offer (see, JFK’s secret bunker) the northern shore of Peanut Island is a scene entirely of its own.

There are many places on Earth you can pull a boat up to and have a good time. But Peanut Island is so consistently busy that every time I go, there’s a man on a boat, going around selling hot pizzas by water. The demand is that high.

Whenever you’re out there, there are no less than 20-30 boats full of people, playing music, enjoying the water, milling around the sandbar, generally hanging out. You can see starfish, manatee, various fish, and of course you can also bring a case of beers and get sunburnt if that’s more your style.

Last time I went, there were 10-12 boats pulled up to hear an impromptu concert from someone who seemed to be semi-famous, based on the way he was addressing the crowd over the microphone. He was playing covers of anything and everything, including a guitar based version of a famous Eminem song.

I even have a theory that there are full time house boaters out there, floating in the bay, doing whatever they do. There are one or two boats that look more like docks, which never move too far, and seem technically habitable.

The coast guard cruises around the area, so they must have a pulse on it, but the mystery of these floating shelters remains. It’s not the place to be if you’re looking for some peace and quiet, but maybe they serve as a good respite for the pizza guys?

On the whole, it’s one of the more “unique” scenes in Palm Beach County, and you can always appreciate it from a distance as well by looking off the bridge that connects Riviera and Singer Island (top of the picture.)

The First Residents of Palm Beach County

As far as American history goes, Florida was settled first in the St. Augustine area, then Flagler built the railroad down the coast, established the Breakers, helped found Miami, etc etc …

But that’s a topic for a different edition. Because 12,000 years before Flagler started building this area into what it is today, Florida was settled by various Native American tribes, pushed south as a result of the ice age.

There were many tribes in the area, some smaller ones living along Lake Okeechobee, and others inhabiting our immediate geography - interestingly, the Tequesta tribe was also down here, although they inhabited the region between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Of course, Tequesta in the northern part of PBC is named after them - presumably.

These tribes were hunter-gatherers feeding both off local plants, deer, and also marine life including sea turtles and alligators.

Many years later, an English ship ran aground north of Jupiter, featuring none other than Jonathan Dickinson - who now has a state park named after him right around where the shipwreck must have occurred.

In his book, he detailed that the natives had a watch post atop a shell mount in modern day DuBois Park in Jupiter, across from the lighthouse. The site is still marked by the DuBois house, although most of the shells are gone, used to pave roads many years ago.

As America expanded, native lands were encroached on, and eventually the Seminole tribe which then dominated the area was forced to cede after a series of wars which concluded in 1850.

Around this time, Major William Lauderdale led a group of volunteers south, hacking a supply trail along the way before establishing “Fort Lauderdale.” Their trail was creatively named “Military Trail.”

Of course, Military Trail still runs north/south all through Palm Beach County, and Fort Lauderdale is now famous for having one of the most inconvenient airports in the country, as well as Las Olas !

In all seriousness, it interests me to learn the roots of the place that we residents spend our lives in. When you’re next running an errand on Military Trail, you’ll have some additional context.

Next week I’ll take you more into the modern day of the county - new development, another chicken caesar wrap recommendation, and whatever else comes across my desk prior to next Wednesday.

If you enjoyed reading, all I ask is you share with a friend at the button below:

If you’d like to contact me, my email is [email protected] - I’d love feedback, recommendations for places to review and topics of interest … and if you would like your business to be featured, you can let me know as well.

I’m also going to try out this new comment button - if you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them below! I am not a “coder” so I don’t know where that button will go. I hope it works.

See you all next Wednesday, and thank you again for reading.