Boca Raton Bowl: Cultural Touchdowns in The Palm Beaches

by Joe Capozzi

November 1, 2025

Whether you’re in town for the Boca Raton Bowl or looking for some football-free distraction before the big game, The Palm Beaches offers a deep roster of must-see destinations offering art, animals, history and more!
Close to Flagler Credit Union Stadium, which is hosting the Boca Raton Bowl, the Florida Atlantic University Campus offers a formidable front line of cultural spots, led by the Fogelman Sports Museum, home to 1,200 artifacts including a 1930s-era football signed by Jim Thorpe, a helmet autographed by Bronco Nagurski and a ball signed by the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. Be sure to stop by the FAU Theatre Lab, and the Schmidt Center Gallery and the Ritter Art Gallery.

Off campus and around Palm Beach County, a broad roster of destinations await. Here’s our seven points of interest that will help you score a cultural touchdown.

Lion Country Safari

African Lions (not Detroit Lions) are among the animal stars on the fields of Lion Country Safari, a 4-mile driving tour through a cageless zoo in Loxahatchee, Fla. Make sure the car doors and windows are closed. Giraffes, rhinos and zebras roam freely at Lion Country Safari, even crossing the road in front of your vehicle. Others, including lions and apes, are segregated behind fences or water barriers. In all, the 320-acre park features over 1,000 animals in seven habitats. Feed the giraffes (for a fee) at the Safari World walk-through park. There’s also a petting zoo and amusement park. Lion Country Safari is about 30 miles west of West Palm Beach. For a closer animal experience, check out the Palm Beach Zoo just east of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach.

Flagler Museum

Step into Gilded Age Palm Beach with a visit to “Whitehall,’’ the mansion opened by Standard Oil baron Henry Flagler in 1902. Today, it operates as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, an awe-inspiring example of Beaux-Arts architecture with period artifacts and artwork in 75 rooms across 60,000 square feet. Be sure to check out Rail Car No. 91, Flagler’s personal railway car, a luxurious “palace on wheels” used on the maiden voyage of the Florida East Coast Railway’s Over-Sea Railroad to Key West in 1912. Outside are majestic views of the Intracoastal Waterway and the downtown West Palm Beach waterfront. Just east of the museum is another Flagler masterpiece: The Breakers Palm Beach resort.

Palm Beach County Black Cultural Heritage Trail

From Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park in Jupiter, where African Americans who escaped slavery fought in the Second Seminole War in 1838, to the 110-year-old Pearl City neighborhood in Boca Raton, the 12 sites on this self-guided tour honors the legacy of African Americans in shaping the identity and progress of Palm Beach County. Click this link for a dynamic map to arrange your own tour based on where you are staying or which cultural destinations you want to visit. Among our favorite stops: The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach, offering historical displays and “Ride & Remember” trolley tours; St. Paul AME Church in Boynton Beach; and the Storm of ‘28 Memorial Park in West Palm Beach.

The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum

Celebrate Boca Raton’s centennial with a visit to the Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum downtown, easily spotted by its shining gold dome. The museum covers the city’s rich history – from legendary architect Addison Mizner (who literally put the city on the map) to its rise as a thriving cultural and technological hub as home of the IBM headquarters that rolled out the first personal computers. Pick up a copy of the centennial celebration book Dream City: A Pictorial History of Boca Raton. We also recommend the Boca Raton Museum of Art, less than half a mile north of the history museum, where three new exhibits opened last month showcasing Art Nouveau pioneer Alphonse Mucha, photographer Eduardo Chacon and a collection of pieces from Laurie Anderson, Adad Hannah, Isaac Julien, Christian Marclay, Siebren Versteeg, and Erwin Wurm. The art museum is located in Mizner Park within walking distance of great shopping and dining spots such as Max’s Grille and Kapow! Noodle Bar.

Old School Square

A few miles north of Boca Raton, Old School Square in the heart of the downtown Delray Beach shopping district offers the Cornell Art Museum, where visitors can check out a free exhibit by Chilean contemporary painter Gustavo Novao. If you’re in town on a Saturday before or after the Boca Bowl, the Delray GreenMarket at Old School Square, an open air farmer’s market, offers fresh local vegetables, produce and flowers along with live entertainment.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

Located west of Delray Beach is the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. The park and museum preserves the history of a century-old Japanese agricultural colony in the area. Named after George Morikami, a native of Miyazu, Japan, who donated his farm to Palm Beach County in the 1970s to be used as a park, the 16-acre campus features diverse Japanese gardens, a museum with traditional art and artifacts, and cultural experiences like tea ceremonies. Among the museum’s many annual events: a Lantern Festival featuring a drum performance, an interactive dance routine and visitors releasing their lanterns into the central lake after sunset.

Cox Science Center and Aquarium

The Cox Science Center and Aquarium is undergoing a $140 million expansion in West Palm Beach, but there’s still plenty to see and do — from alligator petting and aquarium feedings to a dinosaur garden and exhibits featuring space rocks, including one from Mars rock and a 232-pound meteorite. Check out Engineers on a Roll, a new interactive area for toddlers with hands-on exhibits, and the 10,000-gallon Aquariums of the Atlantic, home to Queen Angels, Spadefish, Moray Eels, Stingrays, Seahorses and more. A new “Crack the Code” exhibit opened Oct. 12, offering young wannabe secret agents a chance to uncover facts and investigate leads to determine which suspects, if any, can be implicated in the crime.