1. Travelodge Riviera Beach
City: Riviera Beach, FL
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (561) 844-2601 or (800) 578-78
Address: 3651 Blue Heron Blvd.
Description: Opened in 2007, the Travelodge’s 100 rooms offer either a king bed or two doubles. And they’re very well-equipped, with coffeemakers, microwaves, minifridges, iron/ironing board, free morning paper, and free continental breakfast. There’s a swimming pool and a laundry room. And attractions such as the Sun Cruz Casino Boat, the Palm Beach Kennel Club, the Singer Island beaches, and downtown Wet Palm Beach are all within a very short drive. Pets allowed for $20 flat fee.
2. Peanut Island Park
City: Riviera Beach, FL
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (561) 845-4445
Address: 6500 Peanut Island Rd.
Description: Peanut Island, off the coast of Riviera Beach, is one of the more unusual parks in Palm Beach County. It was the site of a bomb-shelter constructed when John F. Kennedy was president (1961–63), during the height of the Cold War, and fears about nuclear war between the United States and the-then Soviet Union. It’s actually a man-made island, constructed in 1918, and enlarged since then. There are now 80 acres, most of which are used as a spoil-site for dredging of the Intracoastal. The name Peanut was given when the state authorized use of the island as a terminal for shipping peanut oil. Plans for this venture were dropped in 1946, but the name stuck. Today, despite the fact that the interior of the island is used as a spoil-site, the perimeter of the island is used as a park.The park is a perfect place to test your salt-water fishing skills in the Lake Worth Lagoon. It’s pretty much the only place in the Intracoastal Waterway where you can swim; and there’s a snorkeling area adjacent. There are boat slips, a camping area with a firepit, picnic areas, a walking path, and an observation tower with incredible views in any direction. There’s plenty of wildlife on the island, too, especially birds. Peanut Island is also the site of the Palm Beach Maritime Museum (see Attractions). And keep in mind that there are no bridges to this island; you’ve got to come across via the Palm Beach Water Taxi or one of the private firms offering the short trip here.
3. Dutch Pot Jamaican Restaurant
City: Riviera Beach, FL
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (561) 845-2606
Address: 431 Old Dixie Hwy.
Description: This is a down-home-Jamaican, family restaurant in a working-class section of town, where the atmosphere is friendly and the food is interesting and very good. You can eat inside or do take out. All the “hot” Jamaican specialties are done very well here, such as jerk chicken, a highly spiced and very tasty dish that’s probably the most well-known Caribbean dish in America. Curries (hot spices ground into a powder) are an integral part of cooking in Jamaica, and local residents really like the curried chicken and curried goat at the Dutch Pot. One of the house specialties is Brown Stew Fish, a snapperlike fish which is fried and very crispy. (And if you’ve ever had a hankerin’ for a good piece of oxtail, you can find that here, as well.) There are 16 flavors of ice cream available for dessert. No liquor license.
4. Palm Beach Maritime Museum/John F. Kennedy Bunker
City: Riviera Beach, FL
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (561) 832-7428 Currie Park off
Address: 200 East Thirteenth St.
Description: The Palm Beach Maritime Museum on Peanut Island opened in 1999, with a poignant exhibition on artifacts from the battleship U.S.S. Maine, which was blown up in Havana Harbor a century before, an event that precipitated the Spanish–American War. The great exhibitions haven’t stopped since then. Today the museum and Peanut Island are fascinating mixtures of pirate legend and Cold War reality. The museum also conducts vital research into how best to protect and preserve Palm Beach County’s waters and reefs.One of the permanent exhibits on Peanut Island is President John F. Kennedy’s Bunker, constructed by Navy SeaBees under the direction of the Secret Service. As tensions with Russia mounted in 1962, and fears of nuclear war mounted with them, the decision was made to build the bunker for the President, his family, and his advisors. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the bunker was a contingency facility in case the unthinkable happened. Today, it stands as a stark reminder of the Cold War at its peak. Nearby is another reminder of our military heritage, an abandoned U.S. Coast Guard station that is open for tours and still has some of the furniture and artifacts left in it when the Coast Guard left. The Coast Guard station includes barracks, weather station and monitoring/surveillance equipment, and boathouse.
5. Visit Palm Beach
City: Riviera Beach, FL
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (561) 881-9757
Address: 200 East Thirteenth St.
Description: Visit Palm Beach is one of the top providers of recreational activities, excursions, and events in South Florida. They can teach you to kayak and take you kayaking, in the calm waters of Lake Wyman, to small mangrove islands that are inaccessible to power boats, or to Dr. Munyon’s Island, an unspoiled 45 acres. They can take you parasailing—you’ll glide 800 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, attached to a towing boat, with only the birds for company, and schools of dolphins and manatees below you. They’ll teach you how to snorkel in the clear aquamarine waters off the Palm Beaches. And they can set up fishing trips and charters for you, or a day on a catamaran.
6. Rapids Water Park
City: Riviera Beach, FL
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (561) 842-8756
Address: 6566 N. Military Trail
Description: Water parks are no longer unusual in Florida. But they were when the Rapids was built in 1980. This is the granddaddy of South Florida waterparks, the first, the biggest (25 acres), and the most popular. And people come from all over the county to experience it. There’s not just one water slide here—there are 29, from mild to wild. The Wave Pool is more like an ocean pool, the Lazy River really seems like a river (because you don’t go past the same spot every minute), and at Criss Crossing you can challenge yourself to make it across the floating ice cubes, tubes, and “alligators.” There are four water flumes each with twists, turns, and tricky spots. There are two “thunder” rides: Big Thunder and Black Thunder. Big Thunder is the largest water ride in Florida; you’ll toss and turn and swing along the sides of the wall at 20 mph. On Black Thunder you’ll be riding a raft on the inside of a pitch-black funnel. Pirates Plunge is not for the faint-hearted, either; you’ll twist, turn, and dip down a seven-story run. For smaller children there are several attractions specifically for them.