Post #594918 by TikiTomD on Sat, Jun 25, 2011 6:09 AM

Porpoise, totally agree with you about Flagler Beach. It’s really special, a beach town right out of the 1950s. It’s been referred to as the “Peter Pan” of Flagler County as it is the city that refuses to grow. The birth of nearby Palm Coast in the 1960s preserved the charm and funkiness of the place by attracting all the uncontrolled population growth, condos, gated communities, yacht clubs, hotels, big box stores and chain restaurants. Flagler Beach retained its mom-and-pop, one-of-a-kind motels and cafes. I spent my childhood and early teens here in the 1950s and 1960s, so I have first-hand memories of then and now.

On whale sighting, it’s a great location to observe highly endangered North Atlantic right whales, especially from the pier. They migrate to just offshore between December and March of each year for birthing and nursing their calves.

A Flagler Beach hometown girl, Frieda Zamba, was the four-time women’s pro surfing champion of the world during the 1980s. Believe she lives in the Satellite Beach area now.

Flagler Beach is on a coastal barrier island and was originally known as Ocean City Beach, but the US Postal Service requested its name be changed to avoid confusion with like-named places in New Jersey and Maryland, so in 1923 it was renamed in honor of Henry Flagler (the railroad magnate), a personal friend of the founder, George Moody.

In 1929, the town fathers established an emergency airfield with a flashing beacon several blocks west and extending to a block north of where the Blowfish Bar is now located. Two years later, one of the most famous aviators of all times, Charles Lindbergh, made an unexpected landing there...

Charles Lindbergh next to his Army biplane in Flagler Beach

The Evening Independent November 28, 1931

The Lewiston Daily Sun November 30, 1931

Lindbergh returned again for a longer stay in 1934. Amelia Earhart landed at this same field in 1936, as did Admiral Richard Byrd in 1932. The airfield was abandoned circa 1945, but you can still hike the marshy preserve that was the site of it over a boardwalk to the Intracoastal Waterway.

At the center of town for more than 80 years, the Flagler Beach Pier has been rebuilt many times after hurricanes shortened its nominal 1,000-foot length. Its current length is 806 feet. Since the 1960s, it has featured an A-frame entry, but no tikis.

There are some great seaside “tiki” bars and cafes here. One of my favorites is The Golden Lion, established by Tony Marlow, an expatriate Brit from London by way of St. Kitts... love the Thai fish tacos here, and the tropical cocktails are pretty good, too.

Another great place for fish tacos and fish burritos...

Flagler Beach is very much an escape to another place and time, in common with tiki culture. The public décor of the place is, however, principally a coastal nautical style, somewhat dominated by surf culture icons (boards, woodies, etc), with a sprinkling of Caribbean elements. There are a few tikis to be found, usually in a mixed setting, such as this one a block south of the Blowfish Bar...

The iconic Polynesian pop landmarks of the area, cited in Sven Kirsten’s Tiki Modern, are another 15 to 20 miles to the south along coastal Highway A1A in Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach.

But, if you like pirates, Flagler Beach has pirates...

-Tom