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| Andrea and the Victorian Dianne |
Our always on-time trains transported us to our first
exploration of the day, the Hotel Ponce de Leon. The magnificent hotel was built in 1887
by Henry Flagler, the millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder. Flagler is credited with opening up
Florida to tourists, as he built hotels and extended the railroad all the way
down the coast to Key West. Thomas
Edison, Flagler’s friend, built generators to provide electricity to the hotel,
even before the White House was electrified. In 1968, the hotel became part of the newly formed Flagler
College, The college has restored and maintained the treasures of the original
hotel, including Tiffany windows and chandeliers, painted domed ceilings,
hand-carved dining chairs, and marble inlaid floors. Our tour guide was a lively soon-to-graduate senior who
pointed out the many priceless furniture items, light fixtures, and paintings
in the building. The former hotel
currently houses the freshman women, who dine in what must be the world’s most
elegant college dining hall.
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The historic hotel, built in the
Spanish Renaissance Style |
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The elegant dining hall, with handcarved
chairs and 79 Tiffany windows. |
After our tour we crossed the
street to the luxury Casa Monica Hotel. The hotel concierge provided us a tour of the hotel,
including two of the beautifully furnished rooms. The hotel opened in 1888 and was bought a few months later
by Henry Flagler. Even Flagler
could not escape the Great Depression and the hotel closed in 1932. In 1999 the hotel reopened as one of
the country’s 4-Star hotels. We enjoyed an excellent lunch at the
hotel before returning to our lodgings.
After all the touring and sightseeing,
it was nice to have an afternoon of free time. Of course Andrea and I decided to continue our touring. Because we had rented a car for the
week, we decided to drive down the coast, enjoying the beach views and
exploring the restored Fort Matanzas, a small block house fort that was
constructed in the mid 1700’s at the mouth of the Matanzas inlet to ward off
the British encroachments on St. Augustine. We also stopped at another beautiful white sand beach where we let
the waves wash over our feet.
Tonight’s entertainment was another of the week’s
highlights, as we were treated to a performance at our hotel of “The Three Mrs.
Flagler’s.”
Dianne has created
this one-woman show in which she portrays, in full costume of course, the three
very different wives of Henry Flagler.
As written in the advertisement for a performance of the play at the
dinner theatre at the Casa Monica Hotel later this spring, the play “
tells the story of empire builder Henry Morrison Flagler.
His tremendous accomplishments during the glorious Gilded Age are seen through
the eyes of his three captivating wives. As each tells her own story, the true
Henry Flagler comes alive.”
As I wrote earlier, Dianne’s talents provide this program with so many
special moments, and this evening was definitely one of those moments.
After our tour we crossed the
street to the luxury Casa Monica Hotel. The hotel concierge provided us a tour of the hotel,
including two of the beautifully furnished rooms. The hotel opened in 1888 and was bought a few months later
by Henry Flagler. Even Flagler
could not escape the Great Depression and the hotel closed in 1932. In 1999 the hotel reopened as one of
the country’s 4-Star hotels. We enjoyed an excellent lunch at the
hotel before returning to our lodgings.
Tonight’s entertainment was another of the week’s
highlights, as we were treated to a performance at our hotel of “The Three Mrs.
Flagler’s.” Dianne has created
this one-woman show in which she portrays, in full costume of course, the three
very different wives of Henry Flagler.
As written in the advertisement for a performance of the play at the
dinner theatre at the Casa Monica Hotel later this spring, the play “tells the story of empire builder Henry Morrison Flagler.
His tremendous accomplishments during the glorious Gilded Age are seen through
the eyes of his three captivating wives. As each tells her own story, the true
Henry Flagler comes alive.”
As I wrote earlier, Dianne’s talents provide this program with so many
special moments, and this evening was definitely one of those moments. 
In the afternoon we were taken to the city marina where we
boarded the Victory III for a scenic cruise of Matanzas Bay. The narrated one hour cruise provided
us with a different and very beautiful view of the city’s historic landmarks
and natural setting.
We met our busses at Constitution Plaza and headed back over
the Bridge of Lions after a very busy day. While this program is rated as an easy trip, there is some walking
and significant standing, and we all had tired feet! Andrea and I had just enough energy to walk out on the pier
near our hotel for beautiful views of the ocean and beach. 
This morning we all enjoyed a full breakfast in the hotel’s small restaurant – fruit and juice, a buffet of typical breakfast items, plus made-to-order eggs and omelets. We
then gathered in our meeting room where Dianne, dressed in an appropriate
period costume, gave a lecture on the early Spanish Colonial history of the
Florida coast. We then boarded two
small tour busses that took us into the city. We transferred to a trolley for a seventy minute narrated
tour of the city, providing us with an excellent overview of the sites and
history of America’s oldest city.
We will be returning to many of these places later in the week. We stopped at the train depot, now part
of the trolley tour agency, for a box lunch before reboarding the train for our
next destination. 
The busses returned us to the hotel in the late afternoon
where we had enough time to relax or spend time at the pool and hot tub. I opted for a walk on the wide beautiful
beach, watching the surfers and families enjoying the waves and warm
temperatures. At 5:15 we all
walked a short distance to a local seafood restaurant for dinner where many of
us enjoyed their signature fried shrimp dinner.
We arrived in the city in the late morning, parked in the
attractive city garage near the historic district, and headed for the visitor
center. After acquiring maps and
some suggestions, we walked through the historic city gates, part of the
original defense wall surrounding the city. The gates lead to St. George Street, lined with original and
reproduction homes and shops, with some dating from the 1700’s. Today the shops along the narrow
pedestrian-only street are pretty touristy, with the better antique shops
located a short distance away. We
decided to explore a couple of the locations that are not part of the official
Road Scholar program. So we paid
to enter and explore the “Oldest Wooden School House” and also the Colonial
Quarter attraction. The latter has
two acres of historical buildings, with interactive displays, a watchtower to
climb for views of the city, boat building demonstration, and costumed
interpreters. We had fun learning
to fire a musket.
