Go On a Walkabout

Boca Raton is a special place. You can tell the instant you cross into Boca city limits: The high schools don't have bars on the windows, and the shopping centers become shopping centres. Though the city is now home to plenty of year-round residents, it is still known for the...

By Rebecca McBane

October 20, 2011

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Boca Raton is a special place. You can tell the instant you cross into Boca city limits: The high schools don't have bars on the windows, and the shopping centers become shopping centres. Though the city is now home to plenty of year-round residents, it is still known for the flocks of snowbirds that migrate there every winter. This year, the locals are welcoming the snowbirds in style with a two-night, one-day festival Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the heart of downtown Boca Raton. It's called Meet Me on the Promenade, and the free event is designed to introduce the newly redesigned walkable downtown area.

The festival is so overpacked with events that there is not enough space available to give it... justice. Highlights include the opening event at 6 p.m. -- besides a ribbon cutting, there will be the "Official" Downtown Boca Bop Community Line Dance. Sure to be a hit with the teens who are always complaining that their parents don't line-dance in public with them enough. Anyone who wants to participate should join the dress rehearsal at 5 p.m. The rest of the evening will be filled with family-friendly activities and live entertainment in Sanborn Square. Saturday begins bright and early at the Mizner Park Amphitheater with the American Cancer Society's Tenth Annual Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. Registration starts at 7 a.m., and the walk gets going at 8:30 a.m. To register in advance, visit putonyourpinkbra.com/bocaraton. You can also visit the Boca Raton Green Market in Royal Palm Place between 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the local restaurants and shops will have promenade specials, and the Sanborn Welcome Center will be open to visitors beginning at 10 a.m. There will be free parking and a complimentary trolley for those who just aren't into all that walking. For a rundown of the many, many events, call 561-393-7782, or visit downtownboca.org or the Facebook event page.
Fri., Oct. 21, 6 p.m., 2011

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Rebecca McBane is the arts and culture/food editor for New Times Broward-Palm Beach. She began her journalism career at the Sun Sentinel's community newspaper offshoot, Forum Publishing Group, where she worked as the editorial assistant and wrote monthly features as well as the weekly library and literature column, "Shelf Life." After a brief stint bumming around London's East End (for no conceivable reason, according to her poor mother), she returned to real life and South Florida to start at New Times as the editorial assistant in 2009. A native Floridian, Rebecca avoids the sun and beach at all costs and can most often be found in a well-air-conditioned space with the glow of a laptop on her face.

Contact: Rebecca McBane

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