Flagler Museum: Gold Telegram

Palm Beach, Florida

The Flagler Museum was formerly an opulent mansion of Henry Flagler, the millionaire who built an it-can't-be-built island-hopping railroad from Miami to Key West in the early 20th century. The current "overseas highway" to Key West uses the railroad's old bridges and roadbed.

Flagler's railroad, which ran all the way down Florida's east coast, brought vacationers to The Sunshine State and made possible Florida's early tourist attractions.

Visiting the Flagler Museum is mostly a gawk-fest at the excessive decor of the superrich, but there are a few oddities -- such as the luxurious train car that Flagler use to travel to Key West for the first time in 1912, and the gold telegram he received that congratulated him on his accomplishment.

Only a year after his triumph, Flagler died in a bathroom in his ostentatious house -- just like Elvis did later at Graceland. The bathroom usually isn't part of the formal tour, but if you ask politely you might get someone to give you a peek.