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BOCA RATON (literally "the
mouth of the rat"), twenty miles north of Fort Lauderdale,
is noteworthy mostly for its abundance of Mediterranean Revival
architecture , a style prevalent here since the
1920s and kept alive in the downtown area by
strict building codes. New structures must incorporate arched
entranceways, fake bell towers and red-tiled roofs whenever possible,
ensuring a consistent and distinctive "look." It all
goes back to Addison Mizner , the "Aladdin
of architects", who swept in to Boca Raton on the tide of
the Florida property boom and bought up 1600 acres of farmland.
Mizner's vision of gondola-filled canals, luxury hotels and even
a great cathedral never came to fruition, but the few buildings
he completed left an indelible mark. In its legendary confines
at Mizner Park , off US-1 between Palmetto Park
Road and Glades Road, the open-air plaza is adorned with palm
trees and waterfalls. The park is also home to the International
Museum of Cartoon Art , 201 Plaza Real (Tues-Sat 10am-6pm,
Sun noon-6pm; $6; tel 561/391-2200), worth a stop for its expensive
collection of political cartoons and comic strip exhibits. The
collection has an interactive area geared toward kids.
A mile north of Hwy-798 (which links downtown with
the beach) at 1801 N Ocean Blvd/Hwy-A1A, the Gumbo Limbo
Nature Center (Mon-Sat 9am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm; $2 donation)
covers twenty acres inhabited by osprey, brown pelicans and sea
turtles. Night turtle-watching tours are offered between May and
July; book well in advance (tel 561/338-1473).
Boca Raton's most explorable beachside
area is Spanish River Park (daily 8am-dusk; cars
$8 Mon-Fri, $10 Sat, Sun & hols, pedestrians and cyclists
free), a couple of miles north of downtown. Most of these fifty
acres of vivid vegetation and high-rise greenery are only penetrable
on trails through shady thickets.
