Florida Spectacular

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Rick and Cathy talk about what to do at Wekiwa Springs, along the Wekiva River, at Rock Springs Run, and the surrounding waterways.

Links We Mentioned

Wekiwa Springs State Park

Wekiva Island

Wekiva River: a Wild & Scenic River

Friends of Wekiva River

Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park

Emerald Cut

Rock Springs Run

Kelly Park/Rock Springs Run

Katie's Landing

King's Landing

Seminole State Forest

Along the Wekiva by Bill Belleville and Jim Robison

Little Wekiva River

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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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week, Florida Spectacular takes a deep dive into DeLeon Springs. Rick and Cathy talk about the first people who lived in the area, EuroAmerican settlers, and the history of the sugar mill and plantation that formed around the spring. They end the podcast talking about the more "roadside Florida" aspects of the spring, including, of course, waterskiing elephants and make-your-own pancakes.

Links We Mentioned

De Leon Springs State Park

Old Florida's Finest: DeLeon Springs

A deeper dive into the spring

Stetson project abut enslaved people at DeLeon Springs

Queenie the Waterskiing elephant

Waterskiing elephants at DeLeon Springs

Liz and Queenie

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

Brendan O'Connor, of Bungalower and Orlando Magazine, joins the podcast to talk about his intense knowledge of Orlando neighborhoods and hidden Orlando. He's the author of 100 Things To Do In Orlando Before You Die and, as we mentioned, a bit like an onion: He has layers.

Brendan's Top Five Hidden Orlando Experiences

1. Winter Park Boat Tour
2. Dickson Azalea Park
3. Giant Pigeons
4. Orange Hill Cemetery
5. Serpentarium

Links We Mentioned

Whiskey Lou's

Nile Ethiopian District

Packing District

Milk District

Foxtail Coffee

Shitty Beautiful on Instagram

Debonair Social Club

Genius Preserve

Also mentioned but not in Orlando: Vintage Marché

Suggested reading (author will be a guest soon!): Florida Springs

Image courtesy of Bungalower

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

Robert the Doll isn't the only ghost in the Florida Keys. Hear a few more tales from Brad and Cathy.

Links We Mentioned

Haunted Key West

Key West Theater

Robert the Doll

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

With scary season in full swing, Cathy and Rick talk about some of the creepiest — and most fun — places they've visited along the roadside.

Potter's Wax Museum

Hall of Presidents in Clermont, what's in the gift shop, and a blog post from Rick

The Sandman Motel

Casa Marina

Jungle Adventure

Barberville Produce

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

"Art is not for everyone, but it can be for anyone," so says today's guest, freelance arts writer and Fernandina Beach resident Chadd Scott.

Art Basel

Gasparilla Festival of the Arts

Sarasota Modern

Highwaymen Art Weekend

Purvis Young

Robert Rauschenberg

Appleton Museum

Norton Museum of Art

Vickers Collection at UF

Rollins College Museum of Art

The Alfond

The Morse Museum

Mannello Museum of American Art

Sidewalk Art Festival in Winter Park

Chihuly Collection at Morean Arts Center

Fresh Squeezed Emerging Artists at the Morean

Wolfsonian

Mildred Thompson's 'Magnetic Fields' at Cummer Museum in Jacksonville

Thomas Moran's Ponce de Leon painting at the Cummer.

seegreatart.art

Image: Mildred Thompson's 'Magnetic Fields,' courtesy of the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville.

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

With Hurricane Milton approaching Florida, Brad and Cathy talk about historic hurricanes in the Florida Keys, including Labor Day 1935 and Irma.

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

In the path of Hurricane Milton, Rick and Cathy talk about the history of hurricanes, what Milton could mean for Florida — and Gulfport, and the value of the National Hurricane Center.

Links We Mentioned

New experimental cone

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

In wake — the literal one — of storm surge from Hurricane Helene, Cathy and Rick talk about what Gulfport looks like, what's next for the 25% of Gulfport residents who no longer have a home, and who's been helping.

Links We Mentioned

The Gabber Newspaper's Helene coverage

Gulfport web cameras

World Central Kitchen

Shawarma King

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!

Send us your Florida questions!

Brad wrote a (mostly) fictional book, The Florida Keys Skunk Ape Files. While many of the narratives in the book came from the depths of his imagination, not all of them are false. Brad and Cathy talk about real stories of people who believe they saw a skunk ape. They also talk about why they both believe the Skunk Ape — and other bigfoots — exist.  

Cathy's favorite quote about what we know about what is real:

"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." —Agent K, Men in Black

Check out Cathy's article about her quest to find the skunk ape in Big Cypress. 

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!