With the full spectrum of winter weather about to be history for another year, I cannot help but look forward to summertime bliss and start making plans for my next getaway. Having recently moved from sunny Southern California back to the wintry chill of Washington DC, the doldrums of those dark months just past have beckoned me to seek sand, surf, and water. I know I’ll want to escape to a tropical paradise.

Not that I am high-maintenance (though my wife may suggest otherwise), but I want a vacation that reflects my tastes for the best of everything, yet does not require a second vacation to recover from the first one. In other words … I want it all. After speaking with some friends and researching online, I’ve found it close to home, no passport required, in Palm Beach, Florida. I’ll share with you what I’ve learned and what I’ve got planned.

For us, it’s as simple as flying from BWI — Baltimore airport — directly to PBI — Palm Beach — on a Saturday. We’ll take a week and stay at the most famous resort in Palm Beach, The Breakers. It is the classic classy retreat: it has a 20,000 square foot spa and a luxury shopping concourse (for my “low maintenance” wife), and is situated right on the beach with restaurants, bars, and most importantly, a seaside golf course for me. It’s important for me to have everything I want right there at the resort itself (including an aquarium bar that’s world famous), but there’s also a lot for us to do in the surrounding community.

After playing golf by the seaside at The Breakers, I’ll take my sticks out on The Links at Boynton Beach, which Golf Digest rated as one of the best places to play. Palm Beach is home to more than a hundred courses, so I am looking forward to spending time working on my short game.

We plan to visit the cultural venues in Palm Beach: the award-winning Norton Museum of Art’s exhibits of Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams, the Kravis Center for a ballet performance, and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. We even heard that a fairly new upstart theater company called Palm Beach Dreamworks has some fantastic local actors.

On Sunday of the week we’re there, we already plan on taking a lazy afternoon sightseeing drive in our rental convertible. We plan to drive south on the coastside highway A1A, singing “Margaritaville” from Palm Beach’s own Jimmy Buffet, and enjoy the saltwater pines and ocean breeze. Then, we’re thinking of heading inland to see Palm Beach’s other coast on the 700-plus acre Lake Okeechobee.

For dining away from the resort, we’ve heard about Worth Avenue — it’s the Rodeo Drive of the East Coast — where we’ll probably grab a bite to eat (a friend told me about a Cuban restaurant to die for) and my wife will probably grab some gifts for friends. We’ve also heard there is always something going on in CityPlace and that if we haven’t had a full Cuban meal, we have to catch a Cuban sandwich at Havana Restaurant and a bagel at Flakowitz Bagel Inn.

Leaving behind my memories of Winter in Washington, I want to spend as much time outside as we can. Besides golf, beach, and sightseeing in the convertible, I want a little adventure. There’s a huge park where my wife can take Yoga classes on Thursday morning, while I can kayak the estuaries to see the tropical habitats of native wildlife. Later that same day, we plan on going deep sea fishing on the Sea Mist III, which leaves from Boynton Beach. On another day, I can’t wait to go out into the Everglades and see alligators in one of those airboats they use on the Loxahatchee Everglades Tour.

I found all of this information through a new web site called Beach Vacation Fun . That’s where I found my perfect match, and some valuable free offers and information.

As you can see, I’ve come to the conclusion that Palm Beach has some of the best beach vacation activities anywhere, and that’s what I’m looking for: fine dining, spa, golf, a historic elegant resort, shopping, and adventure for a connoisseur like me, who wants the best of everything. I am excited. Come Winter 2009-10, I know that I’ll be climbing the walls to feel the warmth of the sun, the gentle ocean breeze, and the smells of nature’s rebirth. At least I’ll have my pictures. And my memories. And whatever we bring home from Worth Avenue.