We spring broked at Palm Heights this year. I have a friend associated with the project, which is what took me there the first time in 2024. I was skeptical about the place as it had been breathlessly covered in the press, and it seemed (from afar) to be a bit of an Instagrammer haven. I pictured arriving to copious photoshoots and servile husbands trying to capture outfit pics on the beach during golden hour.
There were a few sunset pics that were snapped, sure; but the overall vibe was laidback (no one was “too cool”) with a sweet, sincere staff that was genuinely invested in your good time. Add excellent food and a great gym to the mix, and I was sold. We booked our return for this year on the way out the door last year.
The crowd this year, as last, was varied. There were families on spring break (the property is super family-friendly but chill about it), old couples posted up all day on beach chairs reading historical fiction, several mother-daughter duos, groups of girls in thongs and bad sunglasses who mostly looked at their phones the whole time, a young couple from Kentucky on their honeymoon (the husband was so nice my wife was convinced he was a murderer) and Tom Sachs and his wife Sarah Hoover, which lent some cultural cache. It was like White Lotus. I liked the mix - it didn’t feel corny and it didn’t feel too cool, which is much worse.
The water in Grand Cayman is crystal clear. I didn’t know water like that existed until I was well into my thirties. Well, I knew it existed in theory, but I had never seen it until I went to Cuba for a friend’s bachelor party and we went snorkeling in the Bay of Pigs. It was an epiphany. I grew up vacationing in Clearwater Beach, Florida. And no shade on Clearwater Beach, but it ain’t got the luminescent waters of the Caribbean.
Every time I get in water like that now, as an adult, I can’t help but take a moment to be amazed and thankful.
Fit Vs. Fun
My dad always used to say he had “a body built for fun,” which was his way of saying he would never be the guy in the group to say no to a burger or a cold beer. He has pretty much delivered on this promise my entire life. Nowadays he is much more chill, slowed by aches and pains (after years of burgers and beers), but in my teen years, when his powers peaked, you could pretty much guarantee he would bring the party. My friends loved to hang out at my house, and in my college years, I made some solid memories partying with my father.
I couldn’t help but think about this as I sat shirtless on the beach. My goal on any beach is to be neither the fattest nor the fittest. I like to be down the middle - a guy who is classically fit in the way your friend’s dad who jogged regularly might have been in the 1980’s: fit, but not ripped, sort of like Marlon Brando in this pic from Mutiny on the Bounty days.
Sure, he’s super fit, but not insanely so. He looks like a normal dude who is in good health but still makes time for a cheeseburger here and there. As opposed to, say, Jake Gyllenhall in Southpaw or pretty much any movie he’s ever been in:
Impressive, I guess. But also, kind of weird? And there are guys like this just walking around the world's beaches like it’s normal to be that buff. I see a few at my gym every day, guys whose pecs are so big it looks like you could get a good enough grip on the underside to rip them off.
I guess what I’m saying is: take it easy. No need to calorie count, or workout for two hours a day. Don’t listen to the bozos clogging your Instagram feed hawking creatine gummies and gym hacks. Just get a decent pair of running shoes, go for a jog a few days a week, and lift some weights. Live your life, embrace balance, and allow yourself a little fun.
Let’s go back.