City Guide: Boca Raton

BOCA RATON dazzles with beauty.

Boca Raton is a gateway destination to slip into a man-made fairy-tale environment. It is like a city from a postcard with its unique-style houses featuring red roof tiles, arches above the doorstep and porches with huge windows, yet like the houses Boca Raton's natural environment has also been shaped and enhanced by human hands.

But you need a stay there to see the city's mix of artificial and natural beauty. Be it a room in cheap hotel in Boca Raton to a luxury offer all are available with maps, photos and secure forms at Booked.net.

The artificial feel came from when Adison Mizner's interest shaped the city of Boca Raton. This famous architect changed a grimy town in to luxurious resort. First of all, he bought about 1500 acres of land and established Mizner Development Corporation in 1925. Adison Mizner intended to make Boca Raton a distinct experience compared to other destinations of the time.

Consequently, the architect shaped a city with a distinct Mediterranean style and fulfilled his goal to "make a building look traditional and as though it had fought its way from a small unimportant structure to a great rambling house." Further, this unique style caught on, with Boca Raton being the first pioneer at this field.

Today you can trace how the flavor of Mediterranean, combined with a modern appearance, sets Boca Raton apart from other cities on a sightseeing tour. Attractions include;

• Morikami Museum, a very interesting museum of Japanese art and culture

• Boca Raton Museum of Art houses some fine traveling exhibits

• Sugar Sands Park, a great playground to entertain with kids at jungle gym, carousel, ball parks

• Red Reef Park, a fun-filled playground with man-made reefs about 10 feet off shore

• Mizner Park has boutiques, eateries, and some art

The city earned its name accidentally when a mapmaker marked it on the maps as Boca Raton. Then Thomas Moore Rickards made his home there in 1895, building the first house in the area. He sustained himself through trading using rail after the railway has arrived there in 1896. It was a turning point in the city's development as families boosted Boca Raton and it started taking its shape.

The main occupation in the region was trading oranges, various vegetables, and pineapples, but this growth was disturbed by regular hurricanes that devastated the area. It was the main reason that early settlers abandoned the area and it remained uncultivated till architect Adison Mizner breathed new life into Boca Raton.

Today the city serves as luxurious summer retreat, so you are welcome to Boca Raton with advance booking at Booked.net.