View From The Top: Family Vacation

A weekend at The Boca Raton goes from Beachside to Harborside Pool Club, with fun for everyone.

Soon after my husband, Joshua, dismounted the FlowRider board, a rumor began spreading that he was a world-class surfer. In truth, it was entirely created by him and then advanced by my 6-year-old daughter, Fallyn, and 4-year-old son, Adrian, to their newfound Harborside Pool Club friends and every kid within earshot of that crew. As hyperbolic as it might sound that my husband—a one-time collegiate athlete whose current dependence on core-strength classes has become a recurring joke within our family—aced his first-ever FlowRider foray, it was not completely a lie. Truth is, you could say that Joshua did better than the average rookie.

Despite never having surfed in his life, Joshua took to the rushing, near 40-mph FlowRider waves with determination. Mostly determination to not break his clavicle, but determination nonetheless. He couldn’t have been in better hands than with the FlowRider guides, who gave him point-by-point instructions
and the overall comfort of knowing that the wave simulator is a fun, easy-to-enjoy experience. After receiving the basic guidance, like keeping more weight on the back foot, the instructor gave Joshua a reassuring smile and let him shred. And shred he did. In front of his biggest fans (his kids), and the group of elementary-age riders who were grouped in with him during this beginner session. As the oldest member of this group of riders by several decades, my husband proved that no matter your age, you should always have fun.

FlowRider was one of the countless activities that awaited us outside our Tower guest room. Our family couldn’t have asked for a better location to set up our base camp, which included views that literally took my first-grader’s breath away. We checked into our room after working a long week, as the dusk hours overtook the Boca Raton skies. Upon entering our room, my daughter immediately became enamored by the sights of the soft twinkling city lights outside the panoramic windows of our 17th-floor guest room. “It’s so pretty,” she gushed as she looked outward to the ocean and Lake Boca Raton.

The next morning, as the sun’s light filled our room and woke up our spirits, my daughter opened the curtains to see an even more impressive view. “It’s even prettier in the morning,” she said as she gazed at the bobbing boats that began filling the lake and the turquoise-blue ocean waters that beckoned from Beachside. It didn’t hurt that Tower’s sophisticated, neutral palette of colors somehow amplified the unreal colors of the ocean and lake, allowing our family to feel hugged by a coastal atmosphere. The sun’s morning light kissed the ocean’s water just so that it glistened from all angles, a concept that my daughter said reminded her of a fairy tale that her grandma once read to her.

We stopped by Tower’s second-floor lounge for its breakfast pastries spread, a welcome respite for families with kids like mine who have an on-demand mentality when it comes to food. The convenience of having fresh-made croissants and muffins waiting for us couldn’t be beaten. Also, a fully automated coffee machine churning specialty drink options was the icing on the cake for this mama.

From there, the world was our oyster. Tower’s proximity to an array of amenities at The Boca Raton maximized our long weekend. The lounge chairs and private cabanas at Harborside Pool Club are an easy football throw away from Tower’s entry doors, and the marina’s pickup point for its water taxis Romeo, Tango, and Bravo, is just as close. We decided to start our day at Beachside, where ocean views from our Tower room were just the prelude to our adventures.

After a five-minute ride on Tango to Beachside, we were faced with one vacation dilemma: pool or beach first? After a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors determined our destination (Adrian won), we made our way to the golden beach, where sand castles, seashell excavation, and a refreshing dip into the cool ocean waters became our agenda. All that hard work on vacation built up our appetites, so we couldn’t have been happier to recharge our batteries than with lunch at Marisol. The restaurant overlooks the ocean waters and is known for its seaside bites, Mediterranean-inspired dishes, and refreshing cocktails. It was the sampling of hummus that won me over. Served with lavash and naan, the hummus had a touch of lemon juice that sparked my palate for more Mediterranean flavors, like the skewers of swordfish that I ordered for my main course.

Like all good vacationers, our family made time to decompress. Our Tower guest room served that purpose with ease and elegance. After a well-deserved nap, we were off for more waterside adventures, this time at Harborside Pool Club. Setting up camp at the pool club was an easy decision, where a 450-foot floating river, three pools (including a zero-entry one), a pirate ship, and FlowRider became our priorities.

Even more, two new poolside amenities became high- lights of our trip. The recent additions of Harbor House restaurant and Burger Bar added ease to our vacation as our little ones’ waning energy levels dipped during the day. Next door to each other, Harbor House and Burger Bar were easy solutions to the question “What do you want to eat?” Burger Bar became the de facto choice for convenient curly French fries, while Harbor House served as a casual way to experience elevated island-inspired cuisine, like fish tacos and freshly caught seafood.

It’s easy to look back at our recent stay at Tower and The Boca Raton through my own eyes and with my own perspective. But as I write this story, I found it more fun to look at our experience through my children’s vantage points. The ways their eyes lit up as they were handed a waffle cone with a massive amount of Boca Whip dessert swirled on top, or how they fearlessly leaped into every pool with no inhibitions, knowing daddy would always be there to catch them. It was magical. And perhaps this is why we do it. Partly for us, but mostly for them. And entirely for family.