Florida Spectacular

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Along the Suwannee River, there's a treasure trove of fossilized rhinos and elephants. Stephenie Livingston, a science journalist, joins the podcast this week to talk about the Montbrook fossil site, what we can learn about climate change from it, and why it matters. 

Links We Mentioned

National Wildlife article about Florida's elephants

More about Montbrook fossil site in Levy County

Stephenie's website and Instagram

Image: Florida Museum illustration by Merald Clark

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 and Cathy take a look at the state of shark populations in the Keys, explain that the shark's reputation as man-easting beast is undeserved, and why they're a lot better — and nicer — than dolphin.

Links We Mentioned

Brad's post on Facebook about shark finning

Meet the sharks of the Florida Keys

Info about endangered sharks

"Why the Author of Jaws Wishes He Never Wrote It"

"Why Dolphins Are Evil"

Nat Geo video of dolphin-on-dolphin violence 

Shark bite statistics

Fins, part of the Sharks Incorporated series by Randy Wayne White

Marine biologist on why dolphins are scarier than sharks

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!

Who loves a good dive bar? Rick and Cathy do. This week they chat about their favorites — send them yours!

Whiskey Lou's in Orlando's Milk District

The Emerald in downtown St. Pete

Tony's Liquors in Winter Garden

Wally's on Mill in Orlando

Joannie's Blue Crab in Ochopee

Last Chance Saloon in Florida City

Mahuffer's on Indian Shores

The Palace Saloon in Fernandina

Flora-Bama Bar

Burton's in Thornton Park

Links We Mentioned

Knuckleheads with a boat in Crystal River (please drink responsibly!)

Lucky Cole

List of "dive" bars in Florida (but not really)

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 look at Florida crackers: Cracker culture, Florida cowboys, and cracker villages. 

Links We Mentioned
The Secret History of the Word Cracker

Florida Wildlife Corridor and Wild Space Gallery

Florida Cracker Horse

Florida Cattle History

Lake Kissimmee State Park Cow Camp

Florida Cracker entry at FL Memory

Rick's post about Kissimmee/Osceola Co cattle history

Fort Christmas

Rick's post about Christmas

Dade City's FL Pioneer Village

Barberville Pioneer Settlement

Rick's post about Barberville

Cracker Country at the State Fairgrounds

Dunn History: Black Cowboys

Lawrence Silas at Osceola Co History Center

Dunn History: Rosewood Before the Massacre

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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!

Cathy and Brad talk about Florida lobster. Lobster season runs Aug. 6- Mar. 31, but there's more to this tasty crustacean than meets the antenna! Hear why Brad (and many other Keys residents) thinks the mini-season has gotten out of hand, why spiny lobsters are actually crayfish, and how they reproduce. 

“You should have seen the crawfish in the mangrove roots along the shores. They were stacked up two feet – one on top of the other. I’ve had them weigh seven pounds. The whole shore would be red, two or three hundred feet. One time I caught 2,900 crawfish with a small net. My father had a contract with the railroad to supply crawfish to Key West. The last season we worked for them, we shipped 54,000 pounds even though the supply was depleted by that time. That was the only year we kept a record. We found most of them on the lee side of Key Largo, Rodriguez, and Tavernier – wherever there was a mangrove shore. Nothing much on Dove Key.” —Beauregard Albury, Florida Keys

Links We Mentioned

Scorpion sex

How do spiny lobsters reproduce?

Spiny lobster fun facts

Facts about Florida lobster

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!

 A look at the history of Florida's role in the American revolution, the history of the Gadsden flag, and why Floridians hated everything for which it stood when it was a symbol of the American Revolution.

Links We Mentioned & Further Reading:

Don't Tread on Me post about the license plate and Florida history

Florida Frontiers podcast about early Florida history

Florida Veterans Foundation

Don't Tread on Anyone version of the flag

Gadsden/Tampa Connection 

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!

Willett Hancock Museum Assistant at the Matheson Museum joins the podcast to talk about a new exhibit at the Matheson Museum in Gainseville: Voices and Votes. Rick, Cathy, and Willett talk about democracy in Florida, and the historical struggle to make sure everyone can participate in it.

Links We Mentioned

Voices and Votes (and other exhibits) at the Matheson Museum

Ocoee Massacre

Rosewood Massacre

Pork Chop Gang

William A. Shands

Satchel's Pizza

The Top

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!

Were there pirates in the Florida Keys? Who was Black Caesar? What does Black Caesar have in common with The Princess Bride? 

Brad Bertelli explains it all.

Links We Mentioned

Elliot Key in Biscayne National Park

Florida Keys History with Brad Bertelli, Volume II

Mostly Fake Black Caesar History

General History of Pyrates (1724)

Gasparilla Pirate Fest

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!

This week, the best parts of Kissimmee, from roadside ephemera to the headwaters of the Florida Everglades. 

Stay 

Legacy Vacation Resorts, Cathy found it to be a great home base for exploring the less touristy areas of the area. 
Disclaimer: Legacy hosted most of her stay, but she chose to mention them because of the B Corp certification and location. 

Eat

Woodsby's Cafe

Catfish Place St. Cloud

1881 Restaurant & Bar

Explore
Shingle Creek paddling (Read about Rick's experience)
Downtown Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Monument of States

Learn More About Kissimmee
Roadside Kissimmee
Kissimmee Follow-Up
Kissimmee and Shuffleboard

Links We Mentioned
Big Bamboo
Kast Club
Xanadu: House of the Future
Osceola History and Cow Town Recreated (Rick)

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!

This week Rick and Cathy talk about some of their favorite bike trails in Florida. 

Orange County Bike Trails

West Orange Trail

Bikes and Blades at Killarney Station

Northeast Orlando Trail Map

Cady Way Trail

Post: Biking the Orlando Urban Trail

Post: West Orange Trail

Oakland Nature Preserve

Downtown Winter Garden

Plant Street Market

Hunger Street Tacos

Pinellas Trail

Pinellas Trail Guide

Wall Springs

Casa Tina

Fenway

Tallahassee

BikeTallahassee

Word of South Festival

Volusia's Spring-to-Spring Trail

Gainesville-Hawthrone Trail

Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail

About the Trail

Trail brochure/map

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!