On a cool Monday afternoon, the King of Pop stopped into a Palm Beach ice cream shop.
It was Feb. 24, 2003, and Michael Jackson was the talk of the island.
Jackson, who died in 2009, was one of several celebrities who in the past four decades visited Sprinkles Ice Cream — which will open for its last day May 26 before permanently closing at its 279 Royal Poinciana Way location.
Take a look back at Jackson’s visit to Palm Beach County.
What did Michael Jackson order at Sprinkles?
Jackson ordered a soft-serve, fat-free vanilla yogurt.
He could have ordered an award-winning scoop: The restaurant’s triple chocolate supreme flavor was chosen in 2003 by People magazine as “the very best” America’s hometown ice cream.
Sprinkles’ menu now includes more than 32 flavors of ice cream, sorbet and sherbet, along with smoothies, sundaes, milkshakes, teas, coffee and sodas.
How long was Michael Jackson in Palm Beach?
After coming to Palm Beach to scope out real estate before Christmas in 2002, Jackson returned to Palm Beach just before his Feb. 24 visit to Sprinkles, according to Daily News reports from the time.
Jackson’s other public appearances indicate he remained in or visited Palm Beach through at least the end of April of 2003.
What did people say about Michael Jackson’s visit to Palm Beach?
Those who encountered Jackson during his trips to Palm Beach in 2003 said he was gracious, and always more than willing to pose for photos and sign autographs.
On the day he went to Sprinkles, Palm Beacher Joanne Wagner was getting her hair done at Justin And Co., the salon next door. When Jackson walked by on his way to the ice cream shop, Wagner and others told The Palm Beach Post at the time that they ran to greet him.
“I told him I had come from the beauty parlor, and he said my hair looked nice, even though they hadn’t done anything to it yet,” Wagner said in 2003. “I shook his hand and told him I thought he was a good father.”
Jackson also reportedly waited as one excited woman ran from Sprinkles to nearby Publix to buy a disposable camera so she could have her photo taken with the superstar.
Where else did Michael Jackson go in Palm Beach County?
On the day Jackson visited Sprinkles, he also went to Worth Avenue, where he shopped at Bulgari and Napoleon.
That month, Jackson went to Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach for “minor hand surgery,” The Palm Beach Post reported.
During a real-estate shopping trip to south Palm Beach County the next month, Jackson and his team of about six people pulled up to the Publix grocery store near U.S. 1 and Woolbright Road in Boynton Beach after it had closed for the night. There, Jackson bought a birthday cake, champagne, balloons and roses, The Palm Beach Post reported.
Jackson was interested in several local properties, but he didn’t buy any. He toured a spec home near Sloan’s Curve, as well as a 6-acre estate with a 64,000-square-foot main house and two guest houses that was on the market for $55 million at 513 N. County Road, according to Daily News reports.
More: Remember the time Michael Jackson shopped at Palm Beach Mall?
In April of 2003, Jackson once again visited Worth Avenue. He also traveled off-island to the old Palm Beach Mall — now the Tanger Palm Beach outlets — and The Gardens Mall, where he shopped with actor Chris Tucker.
At Finish Line Shoes at the Palm Beach Mall, Jackson bought $1,100 worth of basketball jerseys, sweatpants and sneakers, according to The Post.
At The Gardens, Jackson bought a Hot Wheels Turbo Jet City Racing Set for his son at K-B Toys, and spent about $200 on CDs at Fye.
Jackson attended the Palm Beach International Film Festival and made waves at CityPlace, where he shopped after-hours at the former two-story Barnes & Noble.
What is happening with Sprinkles now?
Sprinkles is closing for good on the island, owner Anson Ainsworth said in a news release.
A planned extended closure to repair the building made it “unfeasible” to keep Sprinkles open, the news release said.
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