The author of Secret Palm Beach: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure comes to Boca Raton's Historic Town Hall on Thursday, Oct. 29, opening a month of programs at the Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum that runs from a free family Saturday to yoga inside the 1927 building and docent-led walks through The Boca Raton resort.

All of it comes from the Boca Raton Historical Society, which runs the museum out of Historic Town Hall at 71 North Federal Highway. The building went up in 1927 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and several of the November programs use the building itself as part of the experience.

Thursday: Palm Beach County's odd corners

Author Amy Woods leads the next Town Hall Talk on Oct. 29, built around her book on the county's unusual landmarks, little-known events and local personalities. The talk looks past the beaches and estates the county is known for and into stories that even people who have lived here for decades may never have come across.

Check-in and a reception start at 6 p.m., and the lecture begins at 6:30 p.m. Historical Society members get in free, and everyone else pays $10. The Town Hall Talk series is supported by the GOLS Foundation.

Nov. 7: a free Saturday built around fall

The museum opens its doors at no charge on the first Saturday of every month, and the November edition of Free Fun Saturday, titled Fall into History, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 7. Regular admission is $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and students on other days.

The schedule includes a fall scavenger hunt through the exhibits, a Time-Traveler Past-Port that walks kids through Boca Raton's history, and a craft table for harvest sun catchers to take home and hang in a window. At noon and again at 2 p.m., a family presentation called Talkin' Turkey covers the history of Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. Guests from the HAB Center lead a flower-pressing project, and Fancy Funfetti sets up a pop-up bead bar for making gratitude bracelets. JM Family Enterprises sponsors the free Saturdays.

Walk-ins are welcome, though the museum asks families to RSVP so it has enough craft supplies ready.

Twice a month: inside The Boca Raton

Museum docents lead a Guided Tour of The Boca Raton on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and again on Tuesday, Nov. 24, both at 2 p.m. The 90-minute walking tour covers the resort's history from the 1920s on: the hoteliers who ran it, its architecture and its ties to moments in the city's past.

Tickets are $29 and must be bought by 2 p.m. the day before the tour. Sales are final, the tour involves long stretches of standing and several staircases, and it is recommended for ages 12 and up. Valet parking at the resort is offered at a reduced rate of $11 per vehicle.

Nov. 17: yoga under the Town Hall roof

On Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 10 to 11 a.m., the museum hosts Flow Through History, a 60-minute class held inside Historic Town Hall. A local instructor certified as both a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist leads a slow flow that mixes stretches with Vinyasa postures and ends in a guided meditation. The class is open to all ages and experience levels, including people who have never tried yoga.

Bring your own mat and water. Tickets are $20 for Historical Society members and $30 for everyone else, and registration in advance is required because space is limited.

Planning a visit

Outside of special events, the museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is closed Sunday through Tuesday. Free parking is behind the building. Society members get free admission year-round, along with the member rates on talks and classes listed above.

What: Town Hall Talk with author Amy Woods; Free Fun Saturday: Fall into History; Guided Tours of The Boca Raton; Flow Through History yoga
When: Oct. 29, 6 p.m. (talk at 6:30); Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Nov. 10 and Nov. 24, 2 p.m.; Nov. 17, 10 a.m.
Where: The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, 71 N. Federal Highway (tours meet at The Boca Raton, 501 E. Camino Real)
Cost: Talk free for members, $10 otherwise; Free Fun Saturday free; tours $29; yoga $20 members, $30 nonmembers
Tickets: bocahistory.org/events

Sources