I wrote this Blog when we were still in Florida. We returned home on December 18. We are now in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and I will be putting out another Blog from there soon.

Florida: We enjoyed driving along the East Coast of Florida on Highway A1A between Pompano Beach to Titusville. We were amazed at the absolutely huge spectacular homes along the Ocean.  One wonders who lives there.

We had previously decided would see if we cold at least get CLOSE to President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate or country club……..or something!!  All of a sudden, there was this prominent building of exceptional architecture.  It was incredible. I found it difficult to take photos from the narrow road we were driving on. There was a rather high hedge and it seems every photo I snapped missed the whole of the edifice, but  we knew we were seeing something unusual.  We decided to pull into the driveway…..just a little and look around…..then back out. Well, in just a few minutes, we were motioned to drive on in. We could hardly believe it!  Here we are – in our raggy rental car – going in to this marvelous estate!!! Pulling up to the entrance, there were at least 3 security men. Phil rolled down his window to ask if the President was there…..there was no answer except MOVE ON!! Another of the security men repeated we should MOVE ON AND THAT WE WERE ON CAMERA!!  Wow! We were told to go forward, then to the right and follow the signs to EXIT.  WE DID AS WE WERE TOLD!!  (Later I said to Phil that we should write a note to Trump asking if he saw us on camera at Mar-A-Lago in our raggy little car!!)

 

Mar-A-Lago has an interesting past and present history.  In 1973, cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post donated her 128-room Palm Beach mansion to the U.S. government.  Post was one of the world’s richest women when she finished building Mar-a-Lago in 1927 at a cost of $7 million.  It sits on 20 acres that border the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Florida’s Intercoastal Waterway on the other.

(I am certain this photo does  not give you any idea of what a spectacular place this was….but it was the best I could do. I certainly did not want to be clicking photos where the security guards could see me. )

Post willed her home to the American government upon her death with the intention that it be used as a warm-weather retreat for the president. But in 1981 President Carter returned Mar-a-Lago, which had been declared a National Historic Landmark a year earlier, to the Post Foundation, citing its high annual maintenance cost of $1 million.

Enter Donald Trump. The mogul’s reported first offer for the property—$28 million—was turned down. But he persisted and the market slumped. Trump ended up getting the property for $5 million in 1985, and paid an additional $3 million for Post’s antiques, furniture and books. 

Trump turned Mar-a-Lago into a private club in 1995 and built a 20,000-square-foot ballroom with $7 million in gold leaf. He also spent $100,00 on four gold-plated sinks. There’s gold everywhere you look. (When Trump is in residence, he and his family stay in a private wing of the house.) The house’s “library is paneled with centuries-old British oak and filled with rare first-edition books acquired by the Post family…..that no one ever reads.” 

To raise the American Flag high on the property, Trump paid $100,000 to  a Veterans Association as the height he wanted the flag to fly was outside of the County’s limit. Don’t recall how high it is, but it is way up there showing Trump’s respect for Our American Flag. 

Then last year Trump sued Palm Beach Country for what he called “deliberate and malicious” moves to direct departing flights from the Palm Beach International Airport over Mar-a-Lago. He dropped that suit in November, after the election. It’s a moot point now anyway, as the secret service requested a no-fly zone be established over Mar-a-Lago when Trump is in residence. When he opened Mar-a-Lago in 1985, Trump welcomed Jewish members, African-Americans, and gay couples, who had been prohibited from joining other Palm Beach clubs. 

It is, by most accounts, a profitable business. Trump made$15.6 million from the club in 2014. He reportedly stands to profit even more as president, both through higher fees and through increased interest in the club and its events.

That said, if anyone thinks Trump is President for the ego or the money, they should think twice. He doesn’t need more of either of those things! And to think, we drove into Mar-a-Lago and didn’t get arrested!!

We laughed for miles after this adventure.

For those of you in Minnesota, keep warm!

Anne