Florida Spectacular

Send us your Florida questions!

Kristalyn Shefveland joins the podcast to talk about her book, Selling Vero Beach. They talk about Vero's history, its first people, and why the past matters to newcomers.

Links We Mentioned

Selling Vero Beach: Settler Myths in the Land of the Aís and Seminole

Florida's disastrous plan for a reservoir

McKee and Sexton: A Perfect Match

Where's Waldo?

Oh, and Cathy's breakfast? Muhammarra dip on gluten-free sourdough toast, with broccoli sprouts

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 Florida historian Joey Vars on the podcast to talk about Henry Plant's Belleview Biltmore hotel. Joey's the former staff historian for the hotel, now called the Belleview. 

Links We Mentioned

The Belleview Inn

Watch Joey's former tour of the Biltmore

Aerial view of Belleview Biltmore demolition [VIDEO]

Lost: Belleview Biltmore hotel

Buy a piece of the Belleview Biltmore at Schiller's Salvage

Giant Steps: The History of Morton F. Plant Hospital

Charlotte Douglas' It's About Time on Kindle

Secrets in the Shadows by Marina Malcolm (pen name of Charlotte Douglas)

Other Charlotte Douglas books still available

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!

Ryan Smart, Executive Director of the Florida Springs Council, joins Cathy and Rick on the podcast to answer a listener's questions about Florida springs.

Q: If the springs naturally come to the surface, why would the bottled water companies need permits to pump out? 

A: We answer this more in-depth in the podcast, but it's because they don't scoop the water out of the springhead — they tap the spring with a well, and they need permission for that. 

Q:  When I lived in Orlando there was a Spring on the West bound lanes of Hwy. 17-92 in Longwood and people, including myself, would just stop with empty milk bottles and fill up with the spring water and drink it at home. They have since shut the location off from the public and I don’t know the current status.

 A: That's near the now-gone famous tree in Sanford, the Senator, and yes, you're correct, it is closed to the public. 

Q: Could you repeat the ways to help springs ? 

1. Stop drinking bottled water.

2. Plant Florida-friendly landscaping.

3. Turn off your irrigation or change to drip irrigation.

4. Don't fertilize.

5. Connect with and support with a group advocating for springs. A great start is the Florida Springs Council or any of Florida's  Riverkeepers. Get involved!

Things You Can Do To Make a Difference

Berkey water filters

Five-gallon water jugs and USB water jug dispensers

Links We Mentioned

Santa Fe Springs Celebration (April 27, 2024)

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!

If you've driven past it and not stopped, you don't know what you're missing. Sure, you can do tourist things like feed a tarpon and have a frozen drink... but they also have a fantastic fish sandwich, knowledgeable fishing guides, and one particularly amazing Florida Keys historian (and some other stuff, too.)

Learn what Brad and Cathy both love Robbie's — and the family who owns it.

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 Rick talk about their favorite Tiki bars and events in Florida. 

Links We Mentioned

The Donn of Tiki film

Tiki hotels in Daytona Beach

Tiki Bars

Bahi Hut in Sarasota

The Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale (Rick's post)

Mai Kai in Fort Lauderdale (Rick's post)

Don the Beachcomber in Madeira Beach

Suffering Bastard in Sanford

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto at Walt Disney World

Bar Tiki on Clearwater Beach

Tiki Events in Florida

Tiki-a-Go-Go

The Hukilau (Rick's post)

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!

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!