A Surf Park In The Palm Beaches?

Check out the surf park making waves in Boca. Grandview food hall is reopening. A sneak peak of what's happening this weekend, your weekly scoops, local spotlight and more

October 28, 2025

Welcome to this edition of The Palm Beach Weekender, featuring a weekend events preview, your weekly scoops, a Local Spotlight, and a new section called Beyond The Palm Beaches.

 

In today’s TPBW edition:

  • 🏄‍♀️ A surf park could be opening in Boca

  • 🔦 Local Spotlight: new seafood spot

  • 🌴 Beyond The Palm Beaches: one of the oldest botanical gardens in the country

Weekend Event Preview

Major events coming up that often sell out:

🥃 The Tequila Festival
🧀 Wisconsin Foodie Fest
🍷 Palm Beach Food & Wine Festival

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Weekly Scoop

🚧 Road closure in Palm Beach Gardens
A section of Prosperity Farms Road, from Frenchman’s Passage to Hood Road, will be closed from October 27 through November 28 for repairs to a collapsing storm drain pipe. Drivers will be detoured to Ellison Wilson Rd, PGA Blvd, and Donald Ross Rd during the closure.

🍦 New ice cream shop opens in Gardens
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream has officially opened in Downtown Palm Beach Gardens. They are known for their delicious (and sometimes wild) flavors made with high-quality ingredients. The shop will be serving sundaes, scoops, milkshakes, pints to go, and even ice cream sandwiches. You can find them at 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Ave, right next to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria.

🎉 Grandview food hall is reopening
The Grandview Public Market food hall in the Warehouse District (now known as Caroline Station) closed back in July, but it’s now making a comeback, with fewer vendors and a new focus on events and entertainment. Former tenants like Ramen Lab, Zipitios, and others have teamed up to bring the food hall back to life. No official name or reopening date has been announced yet.

🛒 BJ's Market coming to Delray
BJ’s Wholesale Club is bringing a new grocery concept to South Florida, BJ’s Market, and it’s opening right here in Delray Beach. BJ’s Market will be about half the size of a standard BJ’s club and will operate more like a traditional grocery store. The store will be located at 14535 S. Military Trail in the space once occupied by Winn-Dixie.

🏓 Boca now has covered pickleball courts
Last week, 18 new covered pickleball courts opened at Patch Reef Park in Boca Raton. The facility is equipped with lights, ceiling fans, bleachers, and sound equipment. 

🏄 A surf park could be coming to Boca
Boca Surf Park, a proposed surf and recreation park at the North Park recreation site in Boca Raton, wants to bring world class surfing to South Florida. The project plans to offer surf sessions for all ages and skill levels year round, plus some features like family and youth pools, a clubhouse, a beach front bar, sand volleyball courts and more. It’s designed to be a gathering place for families, aspiring surfers, and anyone looking to try something new.

Local Spotlight

Palm Beach Lobsters & Seafood

📍 Palm Beach Lobsters & Seafood, 2501 N Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach
💵 Price Range: $$

A little while back, I shared with you a new seafood restaurant that was opening in the Northwood Village, Palm Beach Lobsters & Seafood. Well, I finally was able to check it out last week, and loved it!

The place is run by a local father and son duo who have been diving for lobsters and fishing right here in Palm Beach County for years. Their journey started during the pandemic, when they began selling their fresh catch directly to family and friends from their garage. Word slowly began to spread, and before long, they had a full thriving delivery and catering operation, and now serving up the same fresh seafood at their very own restaurant. 

The restaurant sits in the heart of Northwood Village, inside a fully renovated 95 year old building that’s been transformed into a charming, casual seafood spot. When you arrive, you’re greeted by a cool pirate map mural of South Florida on the side of the building before stepping into a mostly outdoor dining area. The place was very clean, and the staff, owner included, are very welcoming.

We ordered the Hot Buttered Lobster roll and the Blackened Mahi sandwich, and both were delicious. The bread was soft and fresh, the fires were some of the best I’ve had in a long time,  and you could taste how fresh the mahi and lobster were. There’s just something about fresh seafood that takes something so simple to a whole other level.

If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by. It’s not the fanciest seafood restaurant you’ll ever visit, but it is one of the best to capture the charm and authenticity of what a true South Floridian, family owned seafood spot is meant to feel like.

Beyond The Palm Beaches

McKee Botanical Garden

📍McKee Botanical Garden, 350 US Highway 1, Vero Beach
🎟️ Cost: Free - $20 (buy tickets here)

There’s no better feeling than wandering through a garden filled with tropical blooms, butterflies, and nothing but the sound of birds and flowing water. If that sounds like your kind of morning, add McKee Botanical Garden in Vero Beach to your list.

Why you’ll love it:
- Home to more than 10,000 plants
- One of the oldest botanical gardens in the state
- Features one of the largest displays of water lilies in the country

The historic garden was founded in 1929 and was once one of Florida’s top tourist attractions. It originally spanned 80 acres along the Indian River, but even after several decades of success, it shut down in 1976 and most of the land was sold to developers. The remaining land (18 acres) was then purchased by the Indian River Land Trust in 1995 and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. McKee is rich in history, I will share a few links below to learn more.

You’ll wander through shaded paths and over a few charming bridges lined with lots of beautiful orchids, tropical plants, and ponds covered in water lilies. There are also many sculptures and architectural pieces throughout the garden, including their iconic giant mushroom and my personal favorite, the beautiful 35-foot-long, 5-foot-wide kalantas mahogany table from the Philippines located inside the Hall of Giants.

One hidden gem that often goes unnoticed sits just outside the garden in the parking lot: a giant cypress tree stump that was cut down and brought to McKee for display. The stump weighed 12 tons and spanned 13 feet across. It is reported that the tree it came from was over 3,000 years old.

McKee Botanical Gardens is one of those places you’ll want to revisit throughout the year to catch different plants in bloom and experience the variety of events they host each season.

We are actually approaching their Jungle Lights event, when the entire garden transforms into a stunning, immersive holiday light experience. You can learn more about their events here.

Links:

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