Enjoy fine wine tastings, cuisine from more than 30 restaurants and a craft beer garden in addition to live entertainment, fashion demonstrations and car tours at Boca Raton's Bacchanal in Mizner Park Amphitheater on April 8. ($125; bocabacchanal.com)

Car collectors, take a ride through the past at Auction America's 14th annual car auction from April 1-3 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. From American classics to European sports cars, there will be a range of automobiles for every taste. ($100 bidder registration; auctionsamerica.com/)

The Event: Inaugural Botaniko Red Party Benefit Hosted By Venus Williams

The Cause: More than 450 South Florida VIPs gathered at the Botaniko Sales Gallery in Weston on for “Paint the Town Red: The Inaugural Red Party Benefit,” presented by Terra and hosted by special guest, athlete, entrepreneur, activist and designer, pro tennis star Venus Williams.

Photos by Jon Thaler

The Event: Jafco 2Nd Annual Dream Lounge Event

The Cause: More than 285 people gathered at Mario's Osteria in Boca Raton in support of JAFCO's second annual Dream Lounge event. The evening cocktail party raised $103,000 and helped deliver dreams to abused and neglected children and children with developmental disabilities in South Florida.

The Event: Young At Art Museum's 19Th Annual Women Of Vision Society Luncheon

The Cause: More than 85 guests attended Young At Art Museum's 19th Annual Women of Vision Society Luncheon, Love & Legacy, which was presented by Greenspoon Marder Law. This year, WOV honored the Miami Marlins for the organization's support of Young At Art Museum's mission to enrich the community through the arts.

Photos by Downtown Photo

The Event: La Croix Walk Like Madd & Madd Dash Fort Lauderdale Kickoff Party

The Cause: MADD Broward County kicked off the 2016 La Croix Walk Like MADD & MADD Dash Fort Lauderdale 5K with a party at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale. The event featured bites by BRIO Tuscan Grille Plantation, mocktails by LaCroix and ice cream by Artica.

Photos by Downtown Photo

The Event: South Florida Community Care Network Non-Profit Academy Awards

The Cause: The finalists for the 6th Annual South Florida Community Care Network Non-Profit Academy Awards hosted by Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and presented by 2-1-1 Broward were announced at an exclusive Broward Health VIP Announcement Party at Bongos Cuban Café.

Photos by Downtown Photo

The Event: Angel Paws Luncheon And Fashion Show

The cause: The sold-out Angel PAWS Luncheon & Fashion Show, held at Coral Ridge Country Club, netted more than $78,000 for the Humane Society of Broward County.

Photos by Downtown Photo

The Event: Sobewff In Fort Lauderdale At Auberge Beach Residences

The Cause: As South Beach Wine & Food Festival took to Fort Lauderdale for the first time, executive chef Robert Curry and pastry chef Paul Lemieux of Auberge du Soleil hosted a sold-out, Napa-style dinner at Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale.

Photos by Brett Hufziger

The Event: Henderson Behavioral Health's Shipboard Luncheon

The Cause: Henderson Behavioral Health and the Holland America Line teamed up to host a community leaders luncheon onboard the ms Oosterdam. Approximately 200 guests dined on a delicious four-course gourmet lunch while enjoying the sounds of steel drums.

Photos by Downtown Photo

The Event: Nova Southeastern University's Celebration Of Excellence

The Cause: NSU's Celebration of Excellence honored well-known community philanthropists, The Miniaci family, with the President's Award for Excellence in Community Service for their impact on the community and the university.

Photos by Nova Southeastern University

The Event: Friends Of Birch State Park's ‘An Evening By The Sea'

The Cause: Friends of Birch State Park hosted nearly 200 guests at “An Evening By The Sea” and netted more than $90,000 for projects in Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.

Photos by Downtown Photo

The Event: 10Th Annual Boca Raton Concours D'elegance

The Cause: The Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance presented by Mercedes-Benz and AutoNation raised more than $9.2 million to date for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County. Hosted at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, the event attracted more than 7,000 attendees.

Photos by Robert Stolpe and Downtown Photo

The Event : Symphony Of The Americas Holland America Line Luncheon

The Cause : The Symphony of the Americas Society hosted its Annual Holland America Line Cruise Ship Luncheon aboard the ms Westerdam at Port Everglades. The event was attended by 300 local residents and supporters of the Symphony.

Photos by Wade Caldwell

La Mer's global skin care adviser, Joanna Czech, shares her expert insights on how to take care of your skin, especially in sunny climates like ours.

1. Avoid over-applying sunscreen.

Czech says that anything higher than SPF 30 is excessive. She also advises against using a moisturizer that contains SPF when transitioning from day to night, since these products use chemicals that are unnecessary when the sun is down.

2. Apply skin care products beyond your face.

Usually the hairline and chest are most sensitive to the sun, so Czech says it's important to use SPF products on skin that's exposed from the neckline of a shirt up to the forehead.

3. Be careful not to over-exfoliate.

Even professionals make this mistake by using microdermabrasion tools and acidic peels during the wrong time of the year. For the best results, Czech says temperatures should be mild (such as in spring and fall) in order for the skin to heal properly.

4. Evaluate your skin care needs on a seasonal basis.

Czech suggests seeing a professional at least once each season. While she says the same skin care routine can carry over from fall to spring due to comparable climates, summer and winter each require a re-evaluation.

5. Give focus to your evening skin care routine.

In the morning, Czech says it's OK to skip a step with your skin care regimen, especially if you're in a hurry. But at night, because you're relaxed, your skin is much more receptive to absorbing products.

Last month the Sun Sentinel had an interesting piece on the history of spring break. It reported on a documentary tracing the beginnings of the now legendary spring rite of passage for college kids. It gave the usual credit to the 1960 film “Where The Boys Are,” but it also noted that as far back as the 1930s, Fort Lauderdale (then a very small place) attracted college swim meets. It also said that during World War II, college students came to Fort Lauderdale to ease the tensions of a war they might soon be in.

There is undoubted truth to the impact of “Where The Boys Are” in attracting the enormous crowds of young people who took over Fort Lauderdale's beach, generating raucous behavior, which eventually caused the city to crack down and discourage the kids from coming in such numbers. Our late attorney friend George Hess was among those who came to Fort Lauderdale after seeing the film. George was from the Philadelphia area, but was in college in Colorado when the film inspired a visit to Fort Lauderdale. He enjoyed his spring break so much he was two weeks late returning to school. Moreover, after law school he returned to Fort Lauderdale to practice for the next 40 years.

We like to think, however, that one movie does not deserve all the responsibility for making Fort Lauderdale famous. Our first trip to Fort Lauderdale was in 1959, on a public relations assignment for RCA. That was a year before the film, and we knew all about Fort Lauderdale's reputation as a college playpen. For some years in the 1950s the La Salle College (now university) crew visited Florida during the Easter break. A lot of northern schools do that today, but then it was unusual.

La Salle was a rowing power among smaller schools. There were three La Salle oarsmen in the 1964 Vesper Boat Club eight-oared boat, which won the Olympics. One reason for its success was the spring trip. It was still cold on Philadelphia's Schuylkill River; occasionally the river was blocked with ice. La Salle had a training advantage by coming to warm Florida. It rowed separate races against Tampa, Rollins and Florida Southern. Rollins was good competition, sometimes winning in Florida, but usually losing later in the season when it came north for the big Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, by which time La Salle's conditioning had caught up.

Anyway, after the rigorous three-race schedule within a week's time, the La Salle guys came down to Fort Lauderdale to unwind. As the word spread on campus, guys who weren't on the crew began tagging along for the adventure. It may have been just one school, but the spring break charms of Fort Lauderdale were common knowledge at La Salle and its famous Boathouse Row several years before the film appeared.

We further note that one man who took credit for inventing spring break, the late “Crazy” Gregg Newell, first came to Fort Lauderdale for spring break in 1955. Newell ran the infamous Button lounge on the corner of A1A and Las Olas Boulevard, right across from the historic Elbo Room. The Button was in a Holiday Inn, which was so abused by the hordes of kids who crowded six to a room and soaked the carpets with beer, that it was torn down to make room for a parking lot. It is not likely that the man who came to Fort Lauderdale for spring break could have invented the thing that brought him here.

The film, however, took the event national, and there we were in the mid-1980s when Notre Dame brought two busloads of students to participate in the frivolity. By then, the crowds not only immobilized A1A, but had spread to the routes leading to the beach. Florida resident Mark McCormick was aboard one of the buses, which was stuck in traffic. We mean really stuck. It was on Sunrise Boulevard near the Galleria, literally within walking distance of its destination—the Sheraton Yankee Trader Hotel. But it was not moving.

Mark suggested to the bus driver that he show him a shortcut by cutting over to Las Olas Boulevard and coming to the hotel by the back door. The driver said he had his orders to follow this route, and no other. He was a real marine. Mark then got four friends to disembark, and walk the mile to our place near Las Olas. The boys hung out for about half an hour, before we took them down Las Olas and up Birch Road (still one of South Florida's best and little-known shortcuts).

It had been at least an hour since they jumped bus on Sunrise Boulevard. We arrived at the Yankee Trader just as the Notre Dame buses were crawling to the entrance. Such numbers of young people and the fact that they shut down A1A for several days did not go unnoticed by the city fathers. We did not know it then, but the days of such numbers were numbered.

You can never have too many events centered around wining and dining, so here's another: the Boca Bacchanal.

The two-day food and wine festival—an annual fundraiser for the Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum—returns April 8 and April 9 with six exclusive Vintner Dinners, the Bacchanalia main event, and a new Bacchanalia VIP Pre-Party, which grants guests admission an hour early.

The Bacchanalia grand tasting party—taking place 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, April 8—at Mizner Park Amphitheater, will feature food from over 30 restaurants, plus world-class wine and a craft beer garden. The event will also offer live music, an auction, fashion demonstrations from Saks Fifth Avenue, and BMW car tours. Individual tickets are $125 per person but are currently on sale at a discount for $100.

For the first time this year, guests can gain early access during a VIP Pre-Party (6 p.m. to 7 p.m.) for an additional $50. The six presenting vintners–who come from wineries in New Zealand, Napa and Sonoma Valleys, and beyond—will be on hand for meet-and-greets and wine sampling an hour before the event's official start time.

In addition, Boca Bacchanal will host six dinners on Saturday, April 9, at estates in the Boca area, plus one at the Boca Raton Resort. Each will be a five-course wine pairing meal and cost $325 per person.

Here's the list of restaurants participating in the event:

Batter Co. Bakery

Bazille at Nordstrom

Boca Raton Resort & Club

Café Med

City Oyster & Sushi Bar

DaVinci’s of Boca

Fit Foodz Café

Gelato Petrini

Godiva Chocolatier

Little Chalet

Madison’s New York Grill & Bar

Maggiano’s Little Italy

Mahatma Rice

Max’s Grille

M.E.A.T Eatery & Taproom

Morton's The Steakhouse

Nick’s New Haven Style Pizzeria & Bar

Oceans 234

Pacari Chocolate

Publix Aprons

Ruth's Chris Steak House

Season's 52

Silver Lining Distinctive Catering & Event Productions

Texas de Brazil

The Capital Grille

The Melting Pot

Truluck's

Tucker Duke’s Lunchbox

Yard House

For the complete schedule of events and dinners, visit bocabacchanal.com.

(Photos courtesy Boca Bacchanal)

Boca residents, get ready to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day in style. 

New York Grilled Cheese, the Wilton Manors-based restaurant with a cult following, has set its opening date for the new downtown Boca store that will become its flagship. It will open across from Mizner Park on Tuesday, April 12, to coincide with National Grilled Cheese Day.

The comfort food menu is full of waffled grilled cheese sandwiches named for parts of New York, such as the Manhattan Mac 'n' Cheese, the Brooklyn Porkster and the Broadway Classic. Other options include bacon lollipops, a boat of chicken tenders, and loaded waffle fries with toppings ranging from pulled pork and gravy to Buffalo sauce and blue cheese.

The popular grilled cheese shop is expanding because it has outgrown its small space in Wilton Manors that was originally meant to be a frozen yogurt store. 

Owner Leor Barak, who ultimately hopes to franchise the brand, is looking forward to seeing the Boca community come out and support the new shop.

"We have FAU [students], we have Lynn University—that's our usual target market—but really, everybody enjoys grilled cheese," he said.

New York Grilled Cheese fans in Boca have been eagerly awaiting the store's debut—calling the Wilton Manors store nonstop, posting to the Facebook page and more—since the expected opening date was initially set for December, Barak said. Now all that awaits in the last week is some final staff training and test runs to work through the kinks. 

"We know that we have a great following; our customer base is the best—they'll kill you for a grilled cheese," Barak said. "We just want to make sure we give them the best service that we can."

The Boca location will serve hard root beer on tap as well as Panther Coffee cold brew, including nitrogen-infused iced coffee—which is smooth, creamy and slightly bubbly, almost like a Guinness beer. New York Grilled Cheese also plans to roll out breakfast grilled cheese sandwiches a couple of months after opening.

A few formerly announced menu items under consideration—salads and dessert grilled cheese sandwiches—have been taken off the table at the Boca store for now.

There's a juice bar that serves salads next door, so Barak said he doesn't want to take away from their business. Plus, he's realized salads aren't the right fit for the New York Grilled Cheese menu, which he calls "unapologetically fat."

"Feed your soul, get some comfort, and then the other days you can go to Whole Foods and have some salad," Barak said.

As far as desserts, Barak has decided that New York Grilled Cheese's bread pudding has become such a huge draw in Wilton Manors—bringing in some guests for dessert alone—that dessert sandwiches aren't necessary. 

Competitors "are all doing the s'mores grilled cheese" nowadays, Barak said, but that's not what he wants to do. Instead, New York Grilled Cheese uses the ends of its homemade bread loaves and turns them into bread pudding using real cream, eggs and custard.

Barak said his Boca store and future locations will embrace the culture that's been created at New York Grilled Cheese in Wilton Manors, an area known for being LGBT-friendly.

"Everyone's accepted from every walk of life. … That's one thing we're taking away with us from Wilton Manors," he said.

New York Grilled Cheese; 493 Federal Highway, Boca Raton

(Lead image via Facebook/New York Grilled Cheese Co. Downtown Boca Raton)

It's safe to say catching a 15-foot alligator is an experience two Florida hunters will remember for a while. 

Outwest Farms owner Lee Lightsey and hunter Blake Godwin shot the nearly 800-pound alligator while on a guided hunt on the Okeechobee property on April 2. The gator was in a cattle pond. 

"We also discovered the remains what we determined to be cattle in the water. We determined that he was in fact attacking our livestock as they came to drink," Godwin told WTVT FOX 13. 

Photos of the gator—which they estimated measured close to 15 feet—caught the attention of thousands of Facebook users when it was shared on social media. Unsurprisingly, many wondered if the image was doctored. 

“There's a lot of folks saying that, but it's 100 percent real,” Godwin told CNN. 

Lightsey said the gator was the biggest one caught at Outwest Farms, which offers wild boar and alligator hunts to tourists and locals.

"Gators that size are 100 years old," Lightsey told WPLG Local 10. "They're few and far between."

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the longest alligator caught in Florida measured a little over 14 feet. However, the record for weight is 1,043 pounds. 

This story comes just weeks after another peculiar animal encounter—involving a Florida panther casually sitting on the front porch of a home in Fort Myers—made the rounds on social media. 

Take a look at this video, featuring the photo, below: 

(Image screengrab via YouTube/ABC Action News)

Restaurateur Gary Rack will soon be swapping out one of his restaurant concepts for another.

Gary Rack's Fat Rooster, the American comfort food restaurant on Atlantic Avenue, is set to close after Mother's Day. By the end of May, the Delray Beach spot will be transformed into a health-conscious Farmhouse Kitchen.

Offering guilt-free, farm-fresh eats, Farmhouse Kitchen opened its original location in Boca Raton's Royal Palm Place at the end of 2014. After considering comments from local supporters and analyzing industry growth in the clean-eating sector, Rack decided to open a second restaurant in Delray.

"The Fat Rooster will always have a special place in our hearts. However, the overwhelming response from our friends and locals have made the rebranding decision easy for us," he said. "The transition from Fat Rooster to Gary Rack's Farmhouse Kitchen is a positive, forward thinking move, and we are confident the Delray Beach crowd will soon agree." 

The farm-to-table menu at Farmhouse Kitchen in Delray will feature a new Signature Vegetable section—sourced from local farms and swapped out seasonally—and Reserve Wine menu of hand-selected varieties. The Boca restaurant will follow suit.

Other selections at the modern, homestyle restaurant include the Kale Yeah Salad of kale, cauliflower, goat cheese, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds; the Buffalo Burger topped with balsamic onions, pear and cheddar; and mustard-glazed salmon served with cranberry almond pilaf and coconut pumpkin purée.

The restaurant will offer a happy hour, Wine Down Wednesday, and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Farmhouse Kitchen; 204 E Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach

(Image via Facebook/Farmhouse Kitchen, Boca Raton)