Boca Raton's Boca Inn

This Ruby has losts its luster

by TRimer about Ruby Tuesdays

After hearing Anna Quinlin speak at the Boca Arts Festival, we were looking for a place to grab a quick bite and decided to go to Ruby Tuesdays. I have been to other Rubys in other cities - so I figured it would be on par- boy was I wrong. Out of 4 orders they got 3 of them wrong. My father had ordered hot tea and they gave him a glass of hot water (yes- a glass not a mug and no tea bag). My mother's coffee was so undrinkable that she said it tasted like dish water. And the service was terrible-the waiter who I think was also the bartender was no where to be found most of our meal.

Beautiful Boats

by rdywenur

"Boats on the Intracoastal"

You will see many beautiful boats and houses along the Intracoastal.

"Gumbo Limbo"

"Gumbo Limbo Nature Center"

Try to stop at the nature center if possible. It has a butterfly garden, saltwater tanks. (Say hello to Ludvik) nature trail with observation tower which allows you to see a breathtaking view of the ocean and surrounding intracoastal area.

Boca Raton

by TRimer

I am beginning to believe that Boca Raton is just your town from up North (my family is from NY) moved for the Winter. All of my parents friends seem to be down here and the NY accent is very distinct at the "club". Boca is made up of a bunch of gated communities, each with their own distinct architectures and facilities including golf courses, tennis courts, pools and restaurants. Some even have spas. Life in Boca for the typical snow bird consists of figuring out where to eat dinner (the portions are huge) and comparing communities. It is a strange existence for a few months but hey, the weather does not suck.

"Rat's Mouth?"

From the Historical Society:
The meaning of the name Boca Raton has always aroused curiosity. Many people wrongly assume the name is simply Rat’s Mouth. The Spanish word boca (or mouth) often described an inlet, while raton (literally mouse) was used as a term for a cowardly thief. But the “Thieves Inlet,” Boca Ratones, appeared on eighteenth century maps associated with an inlet in the Biscayne Bay area of Miami. It is a known idiom for a pirates cove.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the term was mistakenly applied to Lake Boca Raton, whose inlet was closed at the time. The “s” and later the “e” were dropped from this title by the 1920s, yet the correct pronunciation remains Rah-tone.

"Mizner and IBM"

The town's early history was as the site of Addison Mizner's Boca Raton Hotel, its most prominent building. The "pink hotel" today is visible from miles away as a towering building on the Intracoastal Waterway. The Pearl City neighborhood of Boca Raton was established to originally house the service personnel for the hotel. Japanese farmers converted the land west of the city into pineapple plantations about 1905. During World War II much of their land was confiscated and used as the site of a major training facility for B-29 bomber crews. The airbase was later donated to become the grounds of Florida Atlantic University, many of whose parking lots are former runways of the airbase.

In the 1970s Boca Raton became home to a special subdivision of IBM which was responsible in 1981 for designing the first IBM PC. IBM relocated their manufacturing facilities for the PC to North Carolina and eventually closed down and sold their Blue Lake facility to other tenants.