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The Flagler Museum is the Gilded Age incarnated. So it's fitting that the Palm Beach icon – once the home of railroad magnate Henry Flagler – is hosting a Mother's Day Tea. After all, the celebration of Mother's Day began in 1914, during the Gilded Age.
The tea, which started more than a decade ago, will be served on May 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and on May 13 from noon to 3 p.m. It will be awash in sophistication and designed to evoke the elegance of entertaining during the Gilded Age. Moms will receive a special corsage to honor them as they dine in the Café des Beaux-Arts inside the Flagler Kenan Pavilion.
The food will be just as splendid. The array of delicacies will include gourmet tea sandwiches, traditional scones, sweets and the museum's own Whitehall Special Blend tea.
The pavilion, designed in the style of a 19th century Beaux Arts railway palace, sports panoramic views of the West Palm Beach skyline across Lake Worth.
Be sure to leave time to explore the museum, including the pavilion, which was built in 2005 specifically to protect Railcar No. 91, Flagler's private 1886 railcar. It gives visitors a glimpse of luxury travel during the Gilded Age.
The museum, known as Whitehall when the Flaglers lived there, drew this accolade from The New York Herald when it was built: "It's more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world." O
For more information, call 561-655-2833 or visit flaglermuseum.us.