Day 137 - February 15, 2013: West Palm Beach and Palm Harbor Marina

During a brief pause in the early morning rain, I quickly pulled the anchor, and we continued up towards West Palm Beach. There were several bridges, some very high (30-40 ft) and some quite low (10-12 ft). By lowering the radar mast and VHF antenna, Great Laker is very low at 12 1/2 ft, and we only needed to call for an opening at two of the bridges.

The skyline in West Palm Beach is similar to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, with a combination of apartments, high-rise condos, office buildings and hotels. We chose Palm Harbor Marina because it sits right at the west end of the bridge between West Palm Beach and Palm Beach. This is another luxury marina which has a 45-ft. minimum on slip charges (ouch). Every yacht here is way larger than our 34-ft. coastal cruiser.

West Palm Beach and Palm Harbor Marina

We had learned that Henry Flagler was largely responsible for the development of the east coast of Florida and the Keys. He built many of the first large resort hotels and, of course, the railroad down to Key West. His first Florida home was in St. Augustine, but in 1902 he built a winter home named Whitehall, as a wedding present for his third wife, Mary Lily, here in Palm Beach. The New York Herald described it as "more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world." At more than 50,000 square feet, it is more than 1.6 times as large as the incredible estate, Vizcaya, that we saw in Miami.

Henry died in 1913, and Lily died in 1917. From 1925 to 1959, the home and a new ten-story addition was operated as a hotel. It was then sold to a non-profit corporation which removed the addition, restored the estate, reacquired the furnishings which had been sold at auction, and preserved it as a museum.

Henry Flagler's wedding present to Lily

Settled within seven acres of gardens and palms along the ICW, the three-story estate is built around a courtyard, and every room is designed with a different period of European style. It was very modern for 1902 with electric lighting in Tiffany chandeliers and central heat with a thermostat in every room.

Grand staircases

24 karat gold leaf ceilings

Music room with organ

Large open rooms

Later, we walked over to see The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea. The original church, built in 1889, was the first Protestant church in southeast Florida. The present church, in the Gothic Style, was built in 1925.

We also explored the luxurious, beautiful and historic beachfront Breakers Hotel which was opened by Henry Flagler to accommodate travelers on his Florida East Coast Railway.