I might be going along with my husband on a business trip to Boca Raton in April. He will be staying at the Hilton Suites in Boca. Do I have to worry about spring break kids taking over the area when we are there? Does anyone have any ideas for things I could do during the day when he is working? Will the weather be warm enough to lay out by the pool and swim? Is there a good beach nearby? Thanks for your help!

Spring breakers wouldn't normally stay at the hilton. It will be warm enough to lay by the pool and swim. If you like to shop, the Town Center mall is huge. Delray beach is nice, kinda crowded. Red reef in Boca is ok, too.

Boca is a fun place to be. You are also really close to Ft. Lauderdale. The shops on Las Olas are fun. There are also a lot of dining choices there too. The weather will defintly be nice enough to lay out by the pool in April. There are also a lot of good dining choices on the Intercoastal.

I just returned an hour ago from visiting family in the area. There is a nice beach in Delray Beach, just north of Boca Raton. Head over one of the drawbridges (follow any sign from Route 1 to "Beaches") and then turn onto A1A. A long strip of public beach, hidden from road by vegetation along a street lined with parking meters - a quarter for 20 minutes, max 4 hours. Water is cold this time of year, but the beach is fine. No one native to the area is there - they think we are all crazy for going to the beach in the winter.

There is a beautiful Japanese Garden and Museum just west of Rte 95 (Name starts with an M - something like Marikemo). We visited there and it is incredibly tranquil but interesting (except for the wildlife guy trying to humanely remove a big gator from one of their ponds before an event this weekend)

I live in Boca and April is a beautiful time of the year. Sping breakers do not come to this area. It will definitely be warm enough to lie out by the pool. The water may be chilly, unless the pool is heated, which it may be. I agree that Morikami Park is a beautiful place to visit. It is on Jog Rd between Clint Moore Rd and Linton Blvd. Another beautiful place is Butterfly World in Tradewinds Park on Sample Rd in Pompano. If you like to shop, there is Town Center Mall and also Mizner Park, which is an open-air shopping area with many fine shops and restaurants. There is the Festival Flea Market on Sample Road in Pompano (near Butterfly World) if you like bargain-hunting. The shops and restaurants along Atlantic Aveneue in Downtown Delray Beach are fun to explore. The beach in Delray has always been voted one of the best in the country. I am assuming you will have a car. If not, it is not easy to get around since we do not have a public transportation system.
Please let me know if you have any other quesions or need other ideas.

Thank you for your help. To answer some of your quesions, we will have a car but I'm a little worried about getting lost driving alone. I'll probably stick by the hotel when my husband is at work. Are taxis easily available to get around? I have a cell phone so I can call them wherever. Does the Festival flea market that was mentioned sell antiques or just junky stuff? What kind of stores are in the shops in Las Olas and in the Town Center mall?

We'll be there on a Sunday and we will definately go to a beach then. I would like to go to a French restaurant. The max I'd like to spend is about $200 on a meal including a few drinks and an escargot appetizer - of course! Does anyone have a suggestion for French restaurant? My husband won't mind driving to it.

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You don't have to go far to the prettiest and best french restaurant (IMO) in florida. Look at La VIEILLE MAISON. Pretty place with excellent food and wine.

I'll just chime in that it would be a real shame to rely on taxis. Everyone there drives.

The Boca Town Center is a lovely enclosed mall that has Bloomingdales, Saks, Burdines and all the usual mall shops. It has an entrance on Glades Rd and your hotel is on Glades Rd (not sure exactly where) so it would be a straight drive. Before you leave for your trip, plug some addresses into mapquest and get directions. Driving is not difficult there.

I don't know about antiques at the flea market, but if you're into antiques there are quite a few shops in Boca I think along Dixie Highway. There are also some terrific resale/consignment shops in the same area. Hopefully MarciaK can help with exact location. The area I'm thinking of is not far from Mizner Park (also some nice boutiquey shops for shoes, accessories) There's a small art museum at Mizner too.

Boca is also terrific for discount shopping. There's a strip mall with Loehmann's and TJ Maxx (I think it's also on Glades Rd). Also on Glades there's another strip mall with Steinmart's which I also like.

I agree the Morikami is terrific. I was recently there for the first time and got some great pics.

I agree with LMF on La Vielle Maison for fine French food. For something much less grand ($50 for 2 or less if you do an early bird) but still decent, Le Val de Loire in the strip mall in Deerfield Beach (off Hillsboro Blvd) near the intracoastal is quite good French food for the price and their escargot is very good. Now that I think of it, there's a very large antique mall riaght near there at the corner of Hillsboro and US 1.

It is really difficult to get lost in this part of Florida. There are 3 main north-south routes: Rte 95 is main route. Somewhat closer to coast is Rte 1, running roughly parallel. Toi get closer to beach you must cross intercoastal waterway on any one of a number of drawbridges, clearly marked, and go north-south on A1A. In most places there are east-west roads that intersect all 3. If you are at the beach and don't remember which bridge takes you back to Rte 1, follow hurricane evacuation signs - they all lead to bridge. If you are on Rte 1 and want to cross Intercoastal, follow sign to beach.

All roads are clearly marked with big huge signs. With any vague sense of direction, you can do this.

Don't relay on cabs. You can drive...I promise!! It is very easy to get around. The only confusing thing to remember is that Glades Road does not intersect with Military Trail. That is not clearly visable on any of the maps. If you need to get to Military Trail from Glades, you have to turn onto Butts Road and follow it around.
Here is a link to La VIEILLE MAISON.http://www.southflorida.com/dining/1...58109.venueund.

It is from The Sun Sentinel, our local paper. From that link you can look at all kinds of restaurants and entertainment in the area. If you get a copy of the paper on Friday, there is an entire entertainment section full of good information about what is going on.

The Festival Flea Market is really just vendors, not antiques. Not all junk. All merchandise is new, but no antiques. If you like antiques you can check THe Antique Mall at 1025 E. Hillsboro, just East of Federal Hwy. There is also an Antique Mall on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach. The address is 504 E. Atlantic and it is about 2 blocks east of the railroad tracks in downtown Delray.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the everyone! My husband will have a rental car but I'm still not sure about driving there. The antique malls sound fun. I'll probably check them out.