Whoever named Boca Raton (pop. 74,764), which translates literally as the “Rat’s Mouth,” clearly didn’t have an ear for future promotional bonanza, but despite the awkward name the town has become one of the more chichi spots in the state. As in Palm Beach, Coral Gables, and Miami’s South Beach, the best of Boca dates from the 1920s, when architect and real estate promoter Addison Mizner, flush from his success building Mediterranean-style manors in Palm Beach, created a mini Venice of resorts and canals, which survives mainly in the shocking pink palazzo of the Boca Raton Resort ($200 and up; 561/447-3000), on the southeast side of town at 501 E. Camino Royal.
Downtown Boca has been turned into a massive stucco shopping mall, but it’s worth braving for a look inside the ornate Mizner-designed Town Hall, on US-1 (old Dixie Highway) in Palmetto Park downtown, which now houses the local historical museum (closed Mon.; free).
US-1, the main route through town, also holds the very popular Boca Diner (561/750-6744), serving above-average coffee shop fare at 2801 N. Federal Highway; the early evening “Early Bird” scene here is straight out of Seinfeld.
Hwy-A1A misses most of Boca Raton, cruising past along the densely pine-forested coast. The beaches are accessible but hard to find; one well-marked stop along the way is the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center (Mon.–Sat. 9 am–4 pm, Sun. noon–4 pm; free; 561/338-1473) on the inland side of the highway, a mile north of Mizner Park. A variety of native Floridian landscapes have been re-created here, letting you wander at will past coastal dunes, mangrove wetlands, and rare sabal palm hammocks. Across Hwy-A1A, Red Reef Park is a popular surfing beach.
