Lush and quirky edges out renown this week in our Taking Your Pulse poll for favorite local boutique/luxury hotel.

The Chesterfield, home to The Leopard Lounge and some very plush accommodations, beat out The Breakers for the No. 1 spot in our poll. The Chesterfield came away with 20.7 percent of the vote, while The Breakers ended up with 18.4 percent.

The battle for third was also a tight one — The Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan finished with 7.9 percent of the vote, narrowly beating out Grandview Gardens Bed and Breakfast in West Palm Beach at 7.5 percent and PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens at 7.1 percent.

Among our top write-in votes were the Seagate in Delray Beach.

Click here for the full results.

Jimmy John's is selling their subs for $1 in Palm Beach County and Stuart on Thursday -- but one per customer please. (Courtesy JimmyJohns.com)

This is a pretty good way to salute your customers.

Local Jimmy John’s Sandwich Shops are holding a Customer Appreciation Day on Thursday, and as part of their appreciation, they are offering their sandwiches for $1 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

It’s at their Palm Beach County stores only — including their stores in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Royal Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boca Raton — and also their Stuart store.

The only thing they ask is that you don’t go overboard. One $1 sandwich per customer, please.

Salt-N-Pepa -- Cheryl 'Salt' James and Sandra 'Pepa' Denton -- headline the Legends of Hip Hop show on Saturday at Nova Southeastern University. (Courtesy saltnpepa.net)

Back when hip-hop was a young genre, in the 1980s, there were package tours – a bunch of different acts would play one show, and the result was a cornucopia of rap.

One of the people who saw those shows was a teenager named Sandra Denton, who said she’d go up to the Bronx and see some great concerts growing up.

Now she’s helping bring that feeling back. Denton, who became better known as “Pepa” of the hit-making rap team Salt-N-Pepa, is taking part in the Legends of Hip Hop tour, which is making a stop Saturday at Nova Southeastern University in Davie.

“It does remind me of back in the day, when I wasn’t even out as an artist,” Pepa said in a telephone interview. “I was living in New York and going up to the Bronx to see people like Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Prince Markie Dee – he was in the Fat Boys back then. It’s a nice feeling of being a part of something like that and celebrating that now.”

Directions, invite a friend

Doug E. Fresh – whose song “The Show” helped start Salt-N-Pepa’s career, as their first hit was an answer song called “The Show Stoppa” – is also a part of this tour, as is Whodini and Prince Markie Dee. Also on the bill Saturday are EPMD, Slick Rick, Special Ed, Kid N’ Play, Rob Base and DJ Kool.
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Keeping in the theme of last week’s poll (What’s your favorite place for local camping?), we dip into the local getaway files once more, this time with hotels.

Now, we’re going to stay away from the regular chains — although the local chains do a good job here — and go into the world of the more esoteric hotels. We want to know if you love a local bed and breakfast, or if you go for a bit of luxury in your getaways? Or where do you tell guests to go if they’re visiting and your place is too full?

Obviously, if you don’t see your favorite on here, click on “other” and give us a write-in vote. Our second-place finisher last week, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, was a write-in, so you never know.
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Billy Gardell, with co-star Meghan McCarthy, on the CBS series 'Mike & Molly'.

Sometimes, when a comic stars in a TV series, then goes back on the road to do stand-up, it can get confusing for audiences when the comic is nothing like the character he plays on the show.

Billy Gardell doesn’t have that problem.

Gardell, who plays Chicago police officer Mike Briggs on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, has a similar working-class style to his character, and audiences seem to dive right into his stand-up.

“I would say 15 percent of the people who come to my shows now know me from my stand-up career before Mike & Molly,” Gardell said. “But for all of these Mike & Molly fans, the humor crosses over nicely. If an audience likes someone on TV and he turns out to be some guy that’s filthy, it doesn’t go over, but I’m a working-class guy, so it crosses over really well.”

Gardell is back on the road after wrapping up his second season on the show, which includes a stop at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Friday.

Directions, invite a friend

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Peanut Island won our latest Taking Your Pulse poll for favorite local camping site, but had to hold off a hard-charging write-in candidate.

Normally, we try to stay within the bounds of Palm Beach County for our polls, but so many of you expressed your fondness for Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound that we’d added it later in the week.

When we closed voting Monday, Peanut Island had 24.2 percent of the vote, and Dickinson had 22.7 percent.

Lion Country Safari KOA in Loxahatchee finished in third place with 9.5 percent, while John Prince Park in Lake Worth placed fourth with 8.7 percent.

Rounding out our top five was Sunsport Gardens, the naturist (otherwise known as nudist) camping area in Loxhatchee, with 6.8 percent.

Besides Dickinson, other top write-in votes went to the Belle Glade Marina and the Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation near Tequesta.
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(Allen Eyestone / Post file photo)

UPDATE: Added Jonathan Dickinson State Park to poll

Sometimes you want to get away from it all — but don’t really want to use the gas.

So there are times you pack up the RV, or grab the tents, and head off to the local campground.

What’s your favorite in Palm Beach County?

Let us know in our new Taking Your Pulse poll — and if you don’t see yours, click on “other” and give us a write-in vote.
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Guitarist Roy Rogers and keyboardist Ray Manzarek bring their band to Wanee on Thursday and the Bamboo Room on Friday. (Photo by Bob Hakins)

Back when he was in the seminal rock band the Doors, Ray Manzarek worked with a man whose words were provided by Jim Morrison, whose words ended up being published as poetry.

So when he began working on a new project with blues guitarist Roy Rogers, Manzarek had just the lyrics he wanted.

“We both bring the songs, and I’d bring in the words,” Manzarek said in a telephone interview. “I would bring the words of excellent poets. I had a poem by Michael McClure, a Beat poet and friend of Jack Kerouac. We had great lyrics from Warren Zevon, who we worked with just before he passed on.”

Manzarek and Rogers put the songs together and ended up with the album Translucent Blues, a very dark trip through a bluesy set of songs. The duo and their group will be performing the album and a few choice covers at two upcoming dates in Florida – at the Wanee Music Festival 2012 in Live Oak on Thursday and at the Bamboo Room on Friday.

Concert information: Wanee Music Festival | Manzarek-Rogers Band at the Bamboo Room

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Sundy House's reputation as a romantic restaurant extends to wedding receptions. (Post file photo)

When it comes to romantic restaurants, the old-school charms of Delray Beach’s Sundy House is the local favorite.

Sundy House wins our Taking Your Pulse poll this week with 18.7 percent, outdistancing The River House in Palm Beach Gardens, which finished second at 7.2 percent.

Jetty’s in Jupiter ended up third at 6.1 percent, while The Melting Pot in North Palm Beach was in fourth at 5.8 percent. Rounding out the top five was Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach at 5 percent.

Among our top write-in vote grabbers were The Backyard Bar at Hibiscus House in West Palm Beach and Bice in Palm Beach.

Click here for the full results.