Florida Spectacular

By Cathy Salustri & Rick Kilby

Take a weekly trip across Florida with authors Cathy Salustri and Rick Kilby and discover a side of Florida you never knew existed. From the scallops in Panhandle bays to the Hemingway cats in Key

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4.7

1414 ratings

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FAQs about Florida Spectacular:

How many episodes does Florida Spectacular have?

The podcast currently has 286 episodes available.

Florida Spectacular episodes:

June 17, 2026 Episode 261: Springs, Seagrass, and Things To Do in Crystal River
Send us your Florida questions!
Lisa Moore, president of Save Crystal River, joins the podcast to talk about their efforts with the Kings Bay Restoration Project. Kings Bay is the second largest spring system in Florida.
Links We Mentioned
SaveCrystalRiver.com [a 501c(3) organization]
Three Sisters
Mertailors

Lisa's Three Things Must-Do Things in Crystal River
Bird watching
Manatee tours
Scalloping
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
45min
June 10, 2026 Episode 260: Things To Do in Polk County, Florida Art, and Blair Petersen Updike
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida artist Blair Petersen Updike joins the podcast to talk about why she created the Florida Gallery, Florida art, and what she thinks everyone should do in Polk County.
Links We Mentioned
Wild Space Gallery at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation
Benjamin Dimmitt An Unflinching Look: Elegy for a Landscape
Blair Petersen Updike website and Instagram
George Snow Hill — WPA muralist
Hollerbach's in Sanford
The Florida Gallery (check out their art merch, too!)
All Florida
Blair Petersen Updike's Top Five Seven Things To Do in Polk County
Bok Tower Gardens
Tiger Creek Preserve
Lake Wales Ridge State Forest Arbuckle Trail
Circle B Bar Reserve
Red Chilly's Indian Restaurant
Kualao Lao Thai Food
Andy's Igloo

Mark Catesby image from The Florida Gallery; used with permission

Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
50min
June 03, 2026Episode 259: Word of South, Boy With Wings, and Things To Do in Tallahassee
Send us your Florida questions!
Mark Mustian, author of Boy With Wings and founder of Word of South, talks about his book, the wildly popular Word of South festival, and what it means to be different.
Mark's Top Five Things To Do in Tallahassee
Go to Cascades Park
Sausage Dog at Bradley's
Blue Tavern for music
Bike trails at Piney Z
Buy a book and eat pie at Midtown Reader
Links We Mentioned
Mark Mustian's website
Boy with Wings
Word of South festival
Gibtown's Showmen's Club
Clown is Not a Bad Word (Florida Spectacular episode #235)
Annie Laura's Triumph
The Gendarme
Wacissa Slave Canal
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
55min
May 27, 2026 Episode 258: Murals, Winter Park, and Rick Kilby's New Book
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick talks about his new book, Shaping a Sense of Place.
Links We Mentioned:
Shaping a Sense of Place by Rick Kilby.
Florida artist Joy Postle.
More about Joy.
Florida artist Sam Stoltz.
Little Red Riding Hood mosaic mural in Winter Park.
Why Mid-Century Modern matters in Florida.
Hannibal Square in Winter Park.
The Rhea Marsh and Dorothy Lockhart Smith Research Grant.

Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
40min
May 20, 2026 Episode 257: Mermaid Star Motel, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and FloridaRAMA
Send us your Florida questions!
Kristin Hemphill, the Creative Director for FloridaRAMA, an immersive Florida art experience with a conservation focus, joins the podcast to talk about the art, the artists, and why the experience focuses on Florida.
Links We Mentioned
FloridaRAMA
Florida Wildlife Corridor

Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
40min
May 13, 2026 Episode 256: Lindsay Cross, Florida's Environment, and Florida Forever
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida State Representative (District 60) Lindsay Cross joins the podcast to talk about Florida Forever, environmental challenges in Florida, and what she's doing to help make Florida a paradise for everyone instead of an elite few.
Links We Mentioned
Lindsay Cross
Chadd Charland filled in for Rick Kilby on this episode, he is running for State House in District 15 (Nassau and portions of Duval counties).
Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida Forever
Florida Communities Trust
Find your Florida Representative
Find your Florida Senator
YIGBY
Campaign Finance Information
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
39min
May 06, 2026 Episode 255: Kristen Arnett: Taxidermy, 7-11 Lizards, and Other Florida Things
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida lesbian author Kristen Arnett joins the podcast to talk about her favorite lizard, what led her to set her debt novel in a taxidermy shop, and other special Florida experiences.
Links We Mentioned
Mostly Dead Things
With Teeth
Stop Me If You've Heard This One
KristenArnettWriter.com
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
1h
April 29, 2026 Episode 254: Florida Environmental Victory!
Send us your Florida questions!
Dawn Shirreffs, with the Environmental Defense Fund, talks about Florida's Coastal Resilience Bill. The bill protects Terra Ceia, the Skyway Fishing Pier, and the Santa Fe, among others.
Links We Mentioned
Environmental Defense Fund
Coastal Resiliency Bill
Protect Florida's Future
Florida's Climate Future
Why mangroves matter
Mangroves
FloridasClimateFuture.org
Find your elected official and tell them to approve funding for the Resilient Florida Grant Trust Fund or Resilient Florida:
Florida House of Representatives and Florida State Senators
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
43min
April 22, 2026 Episode 253: Rick and Cathy Live at the Florida Studies Book Festival
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy talk about writing about Florida in front of an audience at their first-ever live podcast taping.
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
27min
April 15, 2026 Episode 252: Florida Women You Need to Know
Send us your Florida questions!
Cathy and Rick talk about only a few of the many Badass Florida Women in our history.
Women We Mentioned
Emateloye
Commodore Rose
May Mann Jennings
Mary Lee De Pugh
Mary McLeod Bethune
Joy Postle (and more about her, too!)
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep up with Rick at studiohourglass.blogspot.com and get his books at rickkilby.com.
Find Cathy on social media: Facebook.com/SalustriCathy and everywhere else as @CathySalustri; connect with Rick Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Bluesky (@oldfla.bsky.social), and IG (@ricklebee).
NEW: Florida landscape questions — Send us your Florida plant questions and we'll have an expert answer them on the show! Use this link!
...more
45min

FAQs about Florida Spectacular:

How many episodes does Florida Spectacular have?

The podcast currently has 286 episodes available.

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