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Boca Raton:
A City in the Pink (and Mink)

To visitors and residents, Boca Raton is anything but miserly when it comes to history, tradition, and modern elegance. But this special south Florida city is definitely 'Miznerly' when it comes to its past and vibrant present.

Dreamers, risk-takers, moguls, and millionaires all contributed (and contribute) to Florida's Boca Raton, but none influenced the city more than Addison Mizner. With architecture often done in vibrant pink, the Mizner touch is everywhere and it's certainly not miserly. This is a city that's at home in pink and real or designer faux mink.

Boca Raton (Spanish for 'mouth of the rat') was little more than a place on the map until Henry M. Flagler extended his railroad from West Palm Beach through Boca to Miami in 1895. In fact, it is only called Boca Raton because an 1823 mapmaker mistakenly moved a Miami inlet named 'Boca Ratones' too far north on his drawing. The English version of the misplaced name stuck.

Except for a few Spanish explorers, pirates, and Native Americans, nothing much more stuck around in Boca Raton until the railroad brought the first settlers. A few hearty farmers who had been frozen out in north Florida pulled up stakes and moved to Boca Raton to raise citrus and vegetables for the winter market.

Addison Mizner's arrival in south Florida in 1918 changed the region Boca Raton forever.  At the recommendation of his friend Paris Singer, heir to the sewing machine fortune, Mizner moved to Palm Beach from New York for health reasons.

As Mizner recuperated, he and Singer began planning a convalescent facility for wounded officers returning from the war. With Singer's money and Mizner's architectural skills, they built the swank Everglades Club in Palm Beach. This led to commissions from the area's elite for Mizner to design their great mansions. Frank Lloyd Wright once said that many architects had imagination, but only Mizner had the courage to let it out of the cage.

Mizner also ventured to Boca Raton and decided his future lay there.  He and his brother, Wilson formed the Mizner Development Corporation. The company acquired 17,500 acres of Boca Raton property and proceeded to create what they called, 'the greatest resort in the world,' a happy combination of Venice and heaven, Florence and Toledo, with a little Greco-Roman glory and grandeur thrown in for good measure.

The Cloister Inn, which would eventually become the famed Boca Raton Resort & Club, opened its doors in 1926 at a cost of $1.25 million, the most expensive 100-room hotel ever built at the time. Mizner designed an elegant 'pink palace' structure in an imaginative pseudo-Spanish style with courtyards and furnished it with his private collection of rare antiques from old churches and universities in Spain and Central America. The Cloister's luxury and ambience quickly attracted royalty, Wall Street wealth, movie stars, and the ranking hierarchy of the international social set, including General T. Coleman du Pont, Harold Vanderbilt, George Whitney, Florenz Ziegfeld, Al Jolson, and Elizabeth Arden.

However, the glory of The Cloister Inn lasted just one season. The land boom was already faltering and signs that the upcoming Depression were on the horizon. Mizner's investors became apprehensive and demanded the reorganization of his company.

After numerous owners and a decade later,  Boca Raton Management Company replaced VMS as the general partner for the now renamed Boca Raton Resort & Club. Since then, ongoing multi-million dollar renovations have taken place at the world-class property.

Set within a backdrop of casual Boca elegance, the resort's amenities include two 18-hole championship golf courses, 30 tennis courts, several pools, state-of-the-art fitness centers, a half-mile stretch of private beach, a wide range of dining, a full-service marina, a variety of watersports, and much more.

Mizner's legacy lives and breathes on the property through its architecture, elegant furnishings, many Mizner touches, and even a 'Mizner Room' just off the lobby, which is filled with memorabilia from those early Boca days. But you'll find Addison Mizner's influence throughout the city, with historic, modern, and often pink reminders seemingly around every Boca Raton corner.

Town Hall is a great place to start an exploration of Mizner's modern-day Boca Raton. Mizner envisioned an entire community that would reflect his Mediterranean Revival style of architecture and he included the 1927 Town Hall in his plans. The building is now the headquarters of the Boca Raton Historical Society.  There's also the Historical Society's library, which includes a permanent exhibit of historic maps, photographs, documents, and Mizner memories. This Historical Society also presents special exhibits and traveling exhibits, but visitors will be especially interested in their scheduled "Guided City Tour" (on a trolley), historical tours of the Boca Raton Resort & Club, as well as other even more extensive tours.

Just down the street, get directions and a map for a free driving tour of the Old Floresta Historic District. Just several blocks in size, this small residential area is filled with Mizner-designed and -influenced homes that provide wonderfully varied examples of his unique style. Keep in mind, however, that these are private residences. Nearby, the Boca Raton Museum of Art and the Children's Museum are both popular stops.

Downtown Boca's village-in-a-city, Mizner Park features dozens of shops, restaurants, and much more, all in pretty pink Mizner-influenced buildings set in a bustling village atmosphere. Check out the huge selection at Liberties Fine Books & Music, designer duds at Nicole Miller, and one-of-a-kind gifts at Celebrations of Boca. With lots of pink (and mink) it's Boca at its best.

Of course, there's much more to modern Boca than swanky shopping. Located in a large pink Mizner-style building on the edge of Mizner Park, the International Museum of Cartoon Art provides much more than a good laugh.  Founded by Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey, the mammoth museum's permanent collection, which is the largest in the world, includes more than 160,000 original drawings, 10,000 books, and more than 1,000 hours of video and film dating back to the first efforts to create animation. Through permanent galleries, changing exhibitions, and special events, visitors can experience the nostalgic pleasure of being with old and new friends in comic strips, comic books, and animation, including Mickey Mouse, Flash Gordon, Batman, Dumbo, Little Orphan Annie, Beetle Bailey, Superman, Popeye, Garfield, and many others.

Other attractions and entertainment possibilities in Boca Raton include: the Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex; the Royal Palm Polo Sports Club; the Sports Immortals Museum; Boomer's Family Recreation Center; Loxahatchee Everglades Tours; Musicana Supper Club; Little Palm Theatre; Boca Pops; Jan McArt's Royal Palm Dinner Theatre; and more upscale shopping and dining at Town Center at Boca Raton. Along with the Boca Raton Resort & Club, other excellent accommodations options include: Boca Raton Marriott (800-528-1234); Boca Teeca Lodge (561-994-0400); Crown Sterling Suites (561-997-9500); La Boca Casa (561-392-0885).

On the dining front, you're in for an eating treat. Mizner Park boasts many excellent restaurants, including Max's Grille (561-368-0080) and Baci (561-362-8500). Another hot choice is definitely Gigi's tavern, oyster bar, and cafe, with brasserie-style beer and Karl Alterman-created fare. Out at Town Center, Maxaluna (561-391-7177), south Florida's first Tuscan grill, is still going strong after eight years. Other fun options include Addison's (561-391-9800), located in Mizner's beautiful old administration office complex, and Pete Rose Ballpark Cafe (561-488-PETE), with more than 50 TV screens, often tableside, and the live broadcast of "The Pete Rose Show".

From the pink of Addison Mizner to the red of Pete Rose, Boca Raton passes any visitor's tests with flying colors. Everyone knows a winning city when they see it in pink or mink.