Eighty-six and only a 17 percent chance of rain, which is about as clean a Friday as September gives us ☀️ Shovels are finally in the dirt at North Park, Council sets the tax rate Tuesday, and Gumbo Limbo is open on Labor Day.

Let's get into it.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District put shovels in the dirt Thursday on the east side of North Park, the 212 acre site at 5800 NW 2nd Avenue that used to be the Boca Teeca golf course. The district bought it in 2018 and residents have been waiting ever since. First phase is trails, a dog park and a playground. A skatepark and pump track are drawn up but still need city approval.

Source: The Boca Raton Tribune

Council meets Tuesday at 10:45 AM at the 6500 Building to adopt the final property tax rate and the 2026-27 budget, which starts October 1. If the brochure that landed in your mailbox this week left you with questions, this is the meeting where the number stops being proposed. Same agenda covers Old Floresta infrastructure, the 32nd Street seawall, and a master plan for the Downtown Civic Area and Memorial Park.

Source: The Boca Raton Tribune

Open 9 to 4 on Monday, off its normal schedule, so the holiday has a free outdoor plan built into it. Before that, BioBlitz Bonanza runs Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 3, free, at 1801 N Ocean Blvd. Art projects and activities first, then out on the trails counting pollinators. Walk in, no reservation. Parking is tight and reserved for visitors, so use the metered Red Reef West lot if the lot is full. No pets.

Source: City of Boca Raton

If you are in town this Labor Day weekend, here is exactly what to do 😄 Live music every single night, a pool party, karaoke until 2 AM, and a market with a flamingo.

Four nights, four completely different rooms. Friday at 8:30 it is Ticket To The Moon, an ELO tribute worth turning up early for. Saturday at 8:30, Souljam, six pieces of jam band and a real dance floor. Sunday at 7, the Brenda Johnson Birthday Bash, with part of ticket sales going to charity. Monday at 7, Country Night sends Labor Day off with $4 craft pints and a $12 bacon cheeseburger. They run to 2 AM Friday and Saturday. 6450 N Federal Highway.

Source: Crazy Uncle Mike's

La Piscine takes over the pool at WET by Meat Market, the Renaissance, 2000 NW 19th Street. Eight hours of sun, cocktails and poolside food. Cabanas and daybeds if you book ahead, so RSVP and you will have somewhere to put your towel.

Source: Meat Market Boca Raton

818 Tune does Chinese street skewers and private karaoke rooms, which is exactly what you want at eleven o'clock on a Saturday. Grab a room, order another round of skewers, stay too long. 7860 Glades Road, Suite 120. Sunday and Monday they run to 1.

Source: 818 Tune

SoFlo Market turns one on the City Hall lawn and is throwing itself a party about it. Vendors, live music, a bounce house, and a flamingo mascot named Flo who will pose for pictures with your kid. The $10 Kids Fun Pass buys all day play and hands you $10 in SoFlo Bucks to spend right back with the vendors.

Source: The Boca Raton Tribune

FAU opens the season at Florida. Go Owls 🦉 The home opener is the Saturday after, September 12 against Navy at Flagler Credit Union Stadium, 7:30 on ESPNU.

Source: FAU Sports

The Hen and The Hog opens at 7 every day this weekend, Labor Day Monday included. They smoke the meat fresh every morning, and the brisket turns up in a skillet, on a Benedict and over nachos 🍳

Biscuits and gravy and chicken and waffles are what the regulars order, and the regulars are right. Outdoor seating, dogs welcome, and there is almost always a wait, so put your name down before you are hungry.

2151 N Federal Highway. Open 7 to 3 daily. Latino-owned and women-owned.

Source: The Hen and The Hog

SweatHouz West Boca puts an infrared sauna, a cold plunge and a vitamin C shower in a private suite you book like a hotel room 💧 Sixty minutes, and you can bring someone in with you, which makes it a plan rather than an errand.

New guests get in for $25. After that a single session is $60 and memberships run $89 to $219. Open all four days. Saturday 8 to 8, Sunday 8 to 6, Monday 7 to 8, so you can go before the beach or after the barbecue.

8220 Glades Road. Call or text 561-210-1422.

Source: SweatHouz West Boca

Belle Cose is a small women-owned boutique tucked into Royal Palm Place, and the buy is resort wear that carries you from a boat to lunch to dinner without a change of clothes 👗

Racks of prints, cover-ups and easy dresses, plus shoes and jewelry, and the kind of owner who will tell you straight when something is not right for you. That is the whole reason to shop small.

304 Esplanade, Unit 51B. Open Sunday 11 to 5, closed Monday, so your window is Saturday and Sunday. 561-961-4569.

Source: Belle Cose Boutique

Everyone in Boca is about to spend four days in the pool, which is precisely when the pump decides it is finished 💦

Florida's Best Pool Service is veteran-owned and open Saturday and Sunday 9 to 5, so a Saturday problem can be a Saturday fix. Quotes come back online, no waiting on a callback. Service starts around $125 a month.

333 NE Mizner Boulevard, Suite 7. 954-347-1120.

Source: Florida's Best Pool Service

Your business here. One sponsor per issue, clearly marked, right next to the briefing Boca actually reads. Reply to this email.

Happy Labor Day weekend, Boca. If you do one thing, make it Saturday night at Crazy Uncle Mike's or a karaoke room at 818 Tune, and let Monday sort itself out.

Something we missed? Hit reply, we read everything.

The Good in Boca Team

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