Saturday, we toured the Ponce de Leon Hotel, which was build by Henry Morrison Flagler and is now the centerpiece of
Flagler College. Our guided one hour tour included a lecture on the structure itself, the lobby, the dining room and the women's special room.
Completed in 1887, the 540 luxury room hotel catered to the wealthy and was one of the first hotels with electric lighting, installed by Flagler's friend Thomas Edison. Guests included Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt and Babe Ruth to name a few.
Our tour guide pointed out the numerous thematic touches that Flagler and his architect included to make the hotel a unique experience. These include lion heads (de Leon means lion) on the exterior and interior common areas, a fountain with turtles representing the four seasons of the years and 12 spitting frogs representing the months and numbers on the clock. a magnificent lobby floor with one deliberate error and chandeliers in the women's special room each of which was different in some way.
Check out this
link for extensive photos of the building's architectual touches.
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| One of two bell towers holding 8,000 gallons of water |
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| Dome in the lobby Rotunda |
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| Leated Tiffany glass in the dining room |
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| More Tiffany glass |
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| Our tour guide explaining the role and furnishings of the womens' lobby |
On Sunday (April 24), after 7 magical days in beautiful historic St Augustine, we cruised 31 miles north on the ICW to Jacksonville Beach.
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| View of St Augustine just north of the Bridge of Lions (note the hotel's two towers center right) |
As we departed, we passed
Castillo de San Marco, the oldest masonry fort in the US and one that saw action numerous times. The fort build in 1672 has flown the Spanish, British, Confederate and US flags (two times).
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| Castillo de San Marco |
We arrived at the Beach Marina at 4:00 PM after a lovely afternoon cruise with sunny skies, moderate southeast winds and interesting scenery. Beach Marina was recommended by our St Augustine boat neighbors who also owned a recently purchased 2006 48 Sundancer with a pewter hell. Within minutes of our arrival, they were joined by two other 48 Sundancers making for a total of four 48s including ours. Sea Ray would have been pleased.
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| Ubiquitous 48 Sundancers |
Beach Marina is not within walking distance of a historical downtown or any good restaurants. So we got in a cab and asked the driver to recommend a good place. He hit a home run with Eleven South Bistro. We had a lovely dinner on their patio and vowed to return on Tuesday.
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| Raising a glass of Cabernet at Eleven South Bistro |
Our plan called for two days at Beach Marina and then seven days at Fernandina Beach, where Diana would hang out with the Furry Kid while I visited Chicago to attend Kathy Hoffman's Celebration of Life.
Plans changed quickly on Tuesday morning when we called the Fernandina Harbor Marina and learned that they were booked solid for the coming weekend's Shrimp Festival. They indicated if we came today we could stay for the weekend and within an hour we were on our way.
We cruised casually at trawler speed (>9 mph) and covered the 31 miles in just under four hours. This turned out to be a good decision. Fernandina Beach is our kind of town with a vibrant historic downtown just outside of the marina.
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| View of Historic Downtown on Center Street |
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| Court House build in 1892 and still used today |
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| Lesense House build circa 1860, one of the oldest homes Fernandina Beach |
We had a lovely dinner at Brett's, a three star restaurant at the marina, and prepared for seven peaceful days in Fernandina Beach ....., which did not happen. See next article - Murphy strikes again.
Written by Les.
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