June 5, 2026 - South Florida, Bahamas Cruise
Flagler Whitehall Mansion

We took off from BWI on our first flight on Southwest Airlines since they have shifted to assigned seating.  I didn't pay for seating upgrades and we were pleasantly surprised to be seated together, about mid-plane, and even a window seat.  We did have to pay $35 for one bag, however.  As you know, baggage always used to be free on Southwest.

Shortly after takeoff, I looked down and saw this massive airport.  Of course, it is Dulles International Airport.  You can see the Uvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum at lower left.
   
An hour or so later I saw all this water to the west and wondered what could it be?  I was disoriented for a minute or two until I realized it was the Gulf of America and we were flying down Florida's west coast for some reason.
 
Clearwater is at center.  That's Old Tampa Bay at bottom.  St. Pete - Clearwater Airport is visible just left of center.
   
A good look at St. Petersburg.   Left of center is Albert Whitted Airport, St. Pete Pier and the Port of St. Petersburg.  Just west of them -- the large white dot -- is Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball club.
   
We arrived at Fort Lauderdale Airport, picked up our rental car, and headed north to the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach.  Whitehall, as it is also known, was the stately Gilded Age–era mansion built by business tycoon, Henry Flager.
 
By sheer luck, we arrived on "Founders Day" and admission was free!  They even gave us a free copy of the Flagler's Museum: an Illustrated Guide!
 
 
   

The big and ornate Grand Hall, a 5,000 square-foot reception hall, was designed to be the largest of any room in a Gilded Age private home.

At center, to the left of the Grand Staircase, stands a green marble table topped with a bust of Caesar Augustus.  The bust reflects the admiration back then many wealthy Americans had for ancient Rome and symbolized their belief that the United States represented the peak of Western civilization's development, namely arts and culture.

The ceiling depicts the Oracle of Delphi imparting Apollo's message of divine inspiration through arts and literature and the two paintingts flanking the central dome depict dawn and dusk.

This room reminded me very much of the European palaces we have seen.

The Grand Staircase was closed off so we did not get to tour the second floor, which was a private living space for the Flaglers, their guests, and domestic staff.  In addition to the Master Suite, the second floor originally included 14 guest rooms, 12 servant bedrooms, 17 modern bathrooms and Mrs. Flagler's Morning Room.
   

A portait of Henry Flagler, painted in 1899 by society painter Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta.

I knew Flagler built Florida's first railroad but that was about it.  It turns out he was one of the tycoons; a Gilded Age business stud.

Born in 1830, he was a self-made businessman who eventually co-founded what became the Standard Oil empire with John D. Rockefeller.  While Rockefeller focused on refining operations, Flagler was instrumental in raising capital from investors, negotiating favorable railroad shipping rates, organizing the company's expansion, and developing the business structure that made Standard Oil exceptionally profitable.  By the 1880s, Standard Oil controlled most of America's oil refining industry, making both men extraordinarily wealthy.

After visiting Florida for health reasons in the 1880s, Flagler believed the state's warm climate could attract wealthy tourists. He invested much of his fortune in developing Florida's Atlantic coast.  His accomplishments included extending the Florida East Coast Railway from Jacksonville to Miami and eventually to Key West, building luxurious hotels that established Florida as a winter resort destination, helping create modern cities including Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, and financing streets, utilities, churches, schools, and other civic improvements.  Many historians consider him the single most important figure in Florida's development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Miami was almost named Flagler after Henry Flagler.  When the new city was incorporated on July 28, 1896, many of the roughly 500 eligible voters wanted to name it "Flagler" in honor of Henry Flagler. By then, Flagler had extended the Florida East Coast Railway to Biscayne Bay, financed streets, water and electric systems, built the Royal Palm Hotel, and invested heavily in the new community, making its rapid growth possible.  However, Henry Flagler refused the honor. He insisted that the city retain the historic name "Miami," derived from the Miami River (itself based on the Indigenous name "Mayaimi").

Perhaps Flagler's boldest project was extending his railroad from Miami to Key West across more than 100 miles of open water using bridges and causeways. Completed in 1912, it became known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." Although much of the railway was destroyed by the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, many of its bridges now carry the Overseas Highway (U.S. 1).

Whitehall, was completed in 1902 as Flagler's winter home. It was a wedding gift for his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan.  The house featured 75 rooms, electricity and elevators, indoor plumbing, imported European art and furnishings and lavish entertaining spaces.

Flagler died of injuries sustained in falling down a flight of marble stairs at Whitehall in 1913, at the age of 83, just a year after the Overseas Railroad was completed.

 
   
Also in the Grand Hall, on the right side, is this portrait of Jean Flagler Matthews, Henry Flagler's granddaughter.  In 1959, she saved Whitehall from demolition.  At that time, she established the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum non-profit corporation, which purchased the building in 1959, opening it as a museum in 1960.
   
Off the left side of the Grand Hall is the Library, used by Flagler as a reception area for guests and business associates.
   
Flagler family portraits hang in the Library.
   
Another painting of Henry Flagler above the fireplace.
   

The Music Room featuring a domed ceiling painting which is a copy of Guido Reni's "Aurora," a renowned masterpiece of the Italian Baroque.  Also present is a 1,249-pipe organ at the end of the room.  A resident organist was hired each season to play it as music was a popular form of entertainment during the Gilded Age.

Mrs. Flagler hosted bridge parties, took afternoon tea, and held meetings of the Fortnightly Club.  The room also served as an art gallery.

Check out those fancy chandeliers.
   

The Grand Ballroom, decorated in the style of Louise XV, and scene of Palm Beach's most elegant parties.

Above the doors and windows are lunette paintings created specifically for Whitehall and who alternate between Watteau-style pastoral scenes and Boucher-style scenes witwh cupids.
   
Standing in front of Flagler's private Railcar, Railcar No. 91 in the Flagler Kenan Pavilion.
   
Map of the Florida East Coast Railway, built by Flagler.
   

Since Flager was a railroad expert, having built one through Florida all the way to key West, he of course had a top-of-the-line railroad traveling car.  Heralded as "A Palace on Wheels", this railcar was built in 1886.  It was only one of Flagler's three private railcars, mind you.  Flagler used this railcar to survey his railroad empire.  In 1912, he traveled along the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) to Key West to celebrate the phenomenal engineering feat of the completion of the Over-Sea Railroad, a historic overwater engineering marvel.

Notice the oak paneling in the railcar's traveling office (salon).  This was as luxurious as it got during the Gilded Age.  It was the Gulfstream G700 of its day.

The railcar also had a master bedroom, master bathroom, guest quarters, and kitchen.
   
Outside the pavilion, which overlooks the Lake Worth lagoon.
   
A better look at the Lake Worth lagoon, which is also the Intracoastal Waterway.
   
An outside view of the pavilion, which recreates the ambience of a Gilded Age railway palace.
   
The Dining Room, designed in the French Renaissance style.  The Flaglers entertained large parties in this room for lengthy, elegant dinners.  Flagler sometimes dined here with male associates from financial, literary and legal circles.  The Irish rug was specially woven for the room and is recessed into the parquet floor.  The wall coverings are green silk, reproduced from the original fabric.  The room is constructed from Jamaican satinwood -- a material that is now extinct.  The fireplace mantle incorporates elaborately carved culinary references such as shells, poultry, crabs and fruit.
   
Blurry picture of the elaborate cast plaster ceiling, with beams painted to look like wood, and decorated  with fruits, vegetables, and rosettes incorporatiing romanticized dolphins.  .
   
A better look at the fireplace, with a painting of a French aristocraft hanging above it.
   
This is the Breakfast Room where the Flagler family had breakfast each morning.  They also used the room for more intimate meals.  Th
   
The Drawing Room - a gathering place for music and conversation.  The room is adorned with silk fabric and wood paneling decorated in the Louis XVI style.  Above each door and mirror is a cameo of Marie Antoinette, who was seen as an archtype of style and feminity by Gilded Age society women.  Aluminum leaf highlights the plaster ornaments in the room.  For much of the Gilded Age, the process of extracting aluminum economically had not yet been perfected and as a result, aluminum was more expensive and precious than gold.
   
Another look at the Drawing Room.
   
Whitehall was designed around a central courtyard.
   
At the Courtyard's center is a copy of Giovanni da Bologna's "Venus" modeled after an ancient Greek statue and commissioned by the Medici family for the Boboli Gardens in Florence.
   
Cool flower!
   
Another look at Whitehall's facade.
   
Aerial photo of Whitehall by Rich Andrews (Wikipedia).
   

Departing the Flagler Museum, we headed back south to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport to pick up Dave and Jenny.  As you may recall, they were our traveling companions on last year's Greece trip.

Tonight's lodging was in Doral, on the west side of Miami.  For dinner, we ate "Peruvian" in downtown Doral.  Three of us had the famous Estofado de Pollo -- Peruvian Chicken Stew.  Downtown Doral was a happening place, with lots of restaurants and people.
   
Looking out at Doral from our lodging balcony.
   
 
   
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