Florida Spectacular

Send us your Florida questions!

This week Cathy Salustri welcomes Dr. Saundra TenBroeck, an associate professor and state extension horse specialist for the University of Florida's Extension Service, to The Florida Spectacular. Dr. TenBroeck works with kids and adults... and horses.

They chat about Florida's horse industry, which has an annual $6.8 billion economic impact on Florida. They also talk about Florida research on horse health and performance.

More information about:

UF Equine Program

American Horse Council

The US economic impact study about horses

Florida Horse Industry / Horses/Equine / Agriculture Industry / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov)

Florida Horseback Trail Riding (floridahorseriding.com)

Where to Go Horseback Riding on the Beach | VISIT FLORIDA

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week The Florida Spectacular chats with John Pendygraft, a longtime journalist with a forthcoming book, "Lost Storytellers: The Information Apocalypse in the Modern Newsroom." John and Cathy talk about journalism, and its future in Florida. 

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week, The Florida Spectacular welcomes John Fleming, author of "Fearsome Creatures of Florida." Host Cathy Salustri and John talk about the Skunk Ape, were-panthers and a host of other fearsome creatures of Florida – some real, some maybe not so real.

John's a creative writing professor at the University of South Florida, the founder of Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art magazine, and the author of "The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman", "Songs for the Deaf", and "The Book I Will Write."

Like what you heard? Check out the Giants, Dragons & Unicorns traveling exhibit at the Orlando History Center, the Cryptomundo cryptid website, and John's website.

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

Today host Cathy Salustri welcomes Colette Bancroft, book editor for the Tampa Bay Times. Listen in as they talk about the Tampa Bay Times annual Festival of Reading (the Festival takes place over seven days this year, via Zoom, Nov. 8-14), why Florida has so many writers, and which book in this year's lineup will make you remove your mindfulness app from your phone. 

About Colette: Colette Bancroft grew up in Tampa and has been the book editor of the Tampa Bay Times for 15 years. She edited the anthology Tampa Bay Noir, and the short story she wrote for that book won an award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Follow her on Twitter at @colettemb.

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week the Florida Spectacular welcomes Holly Abeels, to talk about Florida fishing and how to find a fishing guide who will help you make your next fishing trip exciting – and sustainable. 

Links we mentioned:

• Choosing a Florida-friendly fishing guide

• What is Florida Sea Grant?

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week the Florida Spectacular welcomes back Jamie Rich, founder and publisher of Flamingo Magazine. With the new issue just days away from subscribers' mailboxes, Cathy and Jamie talk about what to expect under the cover, the Fresh Squeezed newsletter, why Carlton Ward's work makes the magazine even more amazing, and the upcoming Florida gift guide.

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes back historian Brad Bertelli, who talks about his historical (mostly) fiction book, "The Florida Keys Skunk Ape Files: Island Cryptids, Histories & Mysteries" and whether or not he believes in the Skunk Ape. Take a listen to hear his stories and learn about the Southernmost Skunk Ape (that's a bigfoot, for those of you who didn't grow up in Florida.)

Here's some of the links we mentioned:

Brad Bertelli's website (including all the books he's written)

Brad's Southernmost Skunk Ape Society's Twitter

Buy Brad's historical fiction book about the Skunk Ape, "The Florida Keys Skunk Ape Files."

Florida Skunk Ape Research Headquarters

Come meet Brad and hear him talk about the Skunk Ape Oct. 24 at the Museum of the Everglades. More info. 

Brad's also written two books about snorkeling: one about snorkeling in Florida and one about snorkeling in the Florida Keys.

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

Today The Florida Spectacular welcomes Lu Vickers, author of – among others – "Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida's Oldest Roadside Attractions." Lu and Florida Spectacular host Cathy Salustri talk about the Weeki Wachee Mermaids

No matter where you are, you can always see Weeki Wachee mermaids on film and in photos at the Florida Memory Project, part of the State Archives of Florida. 

Looking for more about Weeki Wachee and its legendary mermaids? Zoom on in to see Lu speak at the Orange County Regional History Center's November 13 event.

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Joey Vars, the historian at the Belleview Inn (formerly Henry Plant’s Belleview Biltmore) as well as the Curator of the Gulfport Historical Society. He’s also a masters student in the USFSP Florida Studies Program. 

Host Cathy Salustri and Joe talk about the Plant empire, the urban legends about Morton Plant hospital, and whether or not there was an actual moat around the Biltmore. 

Connect with Joe: @historiclandmark.

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!

Send us your Florida questions!

This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Alex Freeze, who talks about the Florida Wildlife Corridor. As a sixth-generation Floridian, Alex's passion for the Corridor – and all of wild Florida – comes through in this episode, co-hosted by Cathy Salustri and James Chapin.

Connect with Alex – and the Corridor – at the links below.

The Last Green Thread film

Hidden Wild film

The Forgotten Coast trailer

Instagram and Twitter

alexfreeze.com

Florida Wildlife Corridor

Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.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!