Send us your Florida questions!

Florida Key Deer are the smallest of the white-tailed deer subspecies, and you can only find them in the Florida Keys. Brad and Cathy talk about the oft-debated origins of these tiny creatures, the legend of the cryptid key deer (aka Conch Republic Border Guards), and how and where to see — and photograph Key Deer — responsibly.

Links We Mentioned

National Key Deer Refuge

No Name Pub

Fearsome Creatures of Florida (we suggest the Kindle edition, as it contains animations)

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!

Rick and Cathy welcome Keri Watson, author of Florida's New Deal: Parks and Post Office Murals. Her book takes people on an armchair tour of Florida post offices with New Deal art. It explores Florida's first 10 state park (nine of which still exist as state parks today.)

Links We Mentioned

Get Keri's book

Living New Deal

Diane Craig's thesis on George Snow-Hill

USPS Murals

Image: Progress of Industry (1934) by Charles W. Ward, at the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Trenton, New Jersey

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!

Rick and Cathy talk about what there is to do at some of their favorite small towns in Florida, and why you should visit. Take a listen, load up the car, and let's go!

Links We Mentioned
 
Safety Harbor Resort & Spa | Spa Resort in Tampa Bay, FL

Welaka, Florida | Quiet Old Town on the St. Johns River

Stegbone's Fish Camp and Resort

Green Cove Springs

Matlacha

Gulfport

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!

Islamorada means "purple island." After all, Isla (island) and morada (purple), right? Think again. 

Brad explains why that's not how this part of the Florida Keys got its name. He takes Cathy — and listeners — on an armchair journey on why the "morada" in the name dates back to William Krome and Flagler's railroad and means "island home" rather than "purple islands." 

Take a listen to find out why. 

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!

Rick and Cathy talk about mangos, Matlacha, and a different type of Florida paradise. Pine Island and Matlacha don't have high rises, chain hotels, or franchises. This small island haven has plenty of small pleasures on offer, especially for people seeking a less-traditional type of paradise.

Things To Do in Matlacha

The Perfect Cup

Tarpon Lodge (lodging and dining alike)

Randell Research Center

Leoma Lovegrove galleries

Bokeelia Art Gallery

MangoMania

Links We Mentioned

Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford series (check out Dark Light) 

John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series

Calusa Heritage Trail

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!

On this week's podcast, Jenny DeWitt talks about why she left Florida, where she traveled when she did, and why she came back.

Links we mentioned:

Eau Gallie Arts District.

Backwater restaurant.

Downtown Creedo.

Green Gables, Melbourne, FL

Lil Bit of Life, Mount Dora, FL

Grow Lake County - Local Farm & Food Map

Architecture SRQ - Home of Architecture Sarasota MOD Weekend

Townie Tourist (2016-2020)

Slow Travel Society Guide to Orlando (2021)

Find Jennifer online at: https://cultura.travel

Instagram: https://instagram.com/jennyintransit

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!

Everyone loves the Florida Keys — but not everyone has discovered the sheer magnificence of the wilder and more natural parts of the island chain. The Florida Keys tourism board wants to change that; they created an an app that lets anyone earn points (and swag) for checking out an eco trail that runs from Key Largo to Key West. 

Ashley Serrate joins Brad and Cathy to talk about why the Fla-Keys.com  created the Eco Experience Pass, how it works, and some of the more intriguing experiences along the Florida Keys Eco Trail. 

Links We Mentioned

Florida Keys Eco Experience Pass

Slice of Paradise Coral Fragging Experience (Look for "Hands On Experiences) toward the bottom

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!

Meet Shilpi Rawat, who left Mumbai for a life in Florida. As a new Floridian, she planned a Florida lighthouse road trip. Learn about her experiences from the panhandle to the Dry Tortugas, the time she swam with a barracuda (not on purpose), and hear about some of her favorite lighthouses.

Links We Mentioned

About Dooder and the Lighthouse short film (and trailer)

List of Florida lighthouses

Check out Shilpi's travel photos here and here.

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!

Leslie Kemp Poole, author of Tracing Florida Journeys: Explorers, Travelers, and Landscapes Then and Now, comes on the podcast to talk about recreating Florida journeys made by famous Floridians and Florida-fans such as John Muir, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. She gives life to these journeys — take a listen!

Leslie's books

Watch Leslie follow Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' journey

Book cover courtesy of Leslie Kemp Poole/University Press of Florida.

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!

Looking for places to snorkel in the Florida Keys? Brad's the expert. He explains not only how snorkeling ignited his interest in Florida Keys and Monroe County history, but where anyone can snorkel in the Florida Keys. 

Brad's Florida Keys snorkeling spots

Bahia Honda State Park

Looe Key

Key West Marine Park (you can walk/swim to this one)

Garden Key and Dry Tortugas

Links We Mentioned

At Robbie's: Sundance Watersports often goes to Alligator Light reef

Your guide to reef-friendly sunscreen

What does a Caribbean reef shark look like?

Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival

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!