With paradise like weather, good cost of living, and beaches on three sides, Florida can be a lazy state. What is there to get you moving fast down here? Besides an alligator in your pool, there's no reason to have a fast paced life down here in the Sunshine State. The traffic in Miami takes care of that.
A recent poll just picked three well known cities in Florida as three of the top five laziest cities in America. Who's on top?
Boca Raton has been dubbed the laziest city in America, a new study says.
“The Beverly Hills of Florida,” as it’s sometimes called, joined two other Florida cities on Realtor.com’s “Top 10 Cities Where Lazy Folks Can Thrive” list. Orlando and Miami were included as numbers 2 and 5.
What makes a city lazy, do you ask?
According to Realtor.com, number of restaurants that offer delivery, number of day spas and massage therapy centers, average hours of sleep and average work hours per week were all included as factors that contribute to a city’s laziness. The availability of service phone apps and average cost of a cleaning service were also measured. – sun-sentinel.com
I've relaxed quite a bit since I moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but now I learn that 15 miles away from my home is the laziest city in America? This deserves a visit.
I had visited Boca Raton one time before, via boat up the Intracoastal Waterway to Lake Boca, an amazing time full of boating and boys all enjoying the sun wading knee to waist deep water on the natural sand bar in the middle of the Intracoastal.
I loved my experience on Lake Boca so it was refreshing to find that the room I was given at the Waterstone Resort & Marina overlooked the Intracoastal. What had use to be the Boca Bridge hotel, The Waterstone felt like a new establishment, just 2 years new under the Doubletree by Hilton umbrella. In talking with Jennifer Graham, Director of Sales & Marketing, and Roseann Grippo, General Manager, Being under the Doubletree and Hilton brings many perks, but it also allows the hotel to be who they want to be. There's the soft branding of the more well known names that allows the Waterstone to be a boutique hotel "inside a Doubletree."
The quality and variety is there within this 139 room venue, which includes 10 Executive Suites, and one Presidential Suite, and even a pet friendly floor. The Waterstone is a Four Diamond Hotel – Only 5.7 percent of the nearly 28,000 hotels Approved by AAA make the Four Diamond list, and once again, the hotel is only 2 years young under this management / ownership. Grippo did mention the hotel is owned 90% by a father and son team, and usually finds the son local, involved, supportive, and energetic about the betterment and quality of the location.
The Waterstone does have a good connection to the water, hence the reason for it's name, showing a marriage of the water and stone. They offer 2 restaurants right on the water as well as chances to get onto the water with rentals of boats, jet skis, kayaks, paddle boards, as well as opportunities to go scuba diving, sailing, fishing, and catamaran cruises. And if you are already on the water, you can order food from the Waterstone Bar & Grill and pick it up dockside. Don't worry, the dock can accommodate your boat, up to 80 ft.
We did get to go to other venues. One place that was wonderful in its ability to awe was the Wick Theatre and Costume Museum. I am not a huge fan of show tunes and Broadway musicals like some of us out there, but I can hold my own in a conversation about the art so a tour of a museum that specialized in costumes from original musical and revivals I thought would be interesting, but it was amazing. Normal pricing for a tour and luncheon was about $38. Next time I will look into doing a TLM, a tour, luncheon, and matinee in their attached 320 seat theater for about $98. Along the tour, you were up close and personal with full cast costumes from Dracula, Camelot, How to Succeed in Business …, A funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Titanic, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, 9 to 5, Porgy and Bess, and so many more. It cost $100k to $1 million to acquire full cast costumes from shows. High schools and other production houses can rent the costumes for up to $75k per production. Definitely check out their schedule for just after our tour, they were shutting down the museum for major redesigning of the venue. I will definitely go back to see more of their collection.
Unlike anything you have seen before, the Costume Museum at the Wick Theatre is an astounding exhibit of the finest costumes ever brought to the Broadway stage by the most honored and respected designers in the history of the American Musical Theatre. This incredible venue houses a collection of original costumes from over 35 Broadway productions and revivals with an estimated value of more than 20 million dollars. The collection has been featured on The Today Show, in People magazine and was the subject of a spectacular photo essay in Vogue magazine by renowned photographer, Bruce Weber.
“For the past 38 years, I have had the privilege of collecting wardrobes from the most prestigious and successful Broadway productions in history,” said Founder and Executive Producer Marilynn A. Wick. “My passion for preserving this cornerstone of the American theatre inspired me to envision the rehearsal and prop storage area at the rear of the theatre as the dramatic showcase where over 100 years of our history can be preserved and appreciated for years to come.”
We were as well fortunate enough to have dined at the Farmer's Table, attached to the Wyndham Boca Raton. I'm not one for seeking out sustainable or "farm to table" restaurants, but I was very happy with this selection. I usually find them overpriced and sometimes limited on what can be offered, but between drinks, apps, entres and desserts, we were all quite satisfied with both quality and price. Cost was less than most Fort Lauderdale restaurants of lower quality. This restaurant is highly recommended, but make a reservation, just in case. Just 16 miles from my house? I'll be back.
I had other commitments that kept me from enjoying all that Boca Raton had to offer, I know, going against the laziness of the city. With theatre events at the Wick, excellent food options at the Farmer's Table, and a great place to stay at The Waterstone, there are many reasons to come back. I work in Miami and live in Fort Lauderdale and I've never really thought about going north of FLL in order to enjoy Florida, unless it's all the way up to Orlando, but its ease to get to from Fort Lauderdale and Miami, will make Boca Raton a location I will visit again and soon.
999 East Camino Real
Boca Raton, FL 33432
561.368-9500
Facebook – Waterstone Resort & Marina – A DoubleTree by Hilton
Twitter – @WaterstoneBoca
Pinterest – Waterstone Resort & Marina – A DoubleTree by Hilton
Instagram – waterstoneboca
Email: info@thewick.org
Box Office: (561) 995-2333
7901 North Federal Highway – Boca Raton, FL 33487
http://www.farmerstableboca.com/
Phone: 561-417-5836
Hey, Instinct, I miss seeing
Hey, Instinct, I miss seeing if or how many comments are on each post. I enjoy reading the comments. Please bring that back.