Resort Life: Chapter XLI, 1973
Palm Beach + Hobe Sound + Medway Plantation + Down East + Fishers Island + La Costa + Hawaii By Augustus Mayhew
On New Year's Eve, the Coconuts party was held at Club 265, formerly Marshall Grant's on Royal Poinciana Way. Mary Sanford stepped into 1973 wearing ostrich feathers. Head coconut Chris Dunphy stood at the door welcoming "fun, substantial and glamorous people." Lethal yellow threatened the resort's iconic coconut trees; gas shortages curtailed taking the Bentley to Publix. For the first time, The Breakers opened year round.
In March, Ari and Jackie O arrived for a month aboard the Christina. Known for their conspicuous privacy, the couple docked the 325-foot yacht in the turnaround basin, reaching the island with launches to the Sailfish Club. By July, the Town Council was ready to pay $5 million for the Par Three Golf Course. At Peter Dinkel's, a cheeseburger was $1.80; honey ice cream was 75 cents (Yikes, I can remember the honey ice cream!); and, coffee was 25 cents. In September, Marjorie Merriweather Post died. Much to the dismay of the locals, she left Mar-a-Lago to the federal government.
For Ellen Ordway, the year would bring the loss of some of her closest friends — Nonie Phipps, Michael Phipps and Tom Shevlin.
January 1973
"A very sad and distressing day in all our lives …"
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