Florida Spectacular

By Cathy Salustri & Rick KilbySociety & Culture Leisure History Places & Travel

Florida Spectacular episodes

June 03Episode 259: Word of South, Boy With Wings, and Things To Do in Tallahassee
Send us your Florida questions!
Mark Mustian, author of Boy With Wings and founder of Word of South, talks about his book, the wildly popular Word of South festival, and what it means to be different.
Mark's Top Five Things To Do in Tallahassee
Go to Cascades Park
Sausage Dog at Bradley's
Blue Tavern for music
Bike trails at Piney Z
Buy a book and eat pie at Midtown Reader
Links We Mentioned
Mark Mustian's website
Boy with Wings
Word of South festival
Gibtown's Showmen's Club
Clown is Not a Bad Word (Florida Spectacular episode #235)
Annie Laura's Triumph
The Gendarme
Wacissa Slave Canal
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!
55 min
May 27 Episode 258: Murals, Winter Park, and Rick Kilby's New Book
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick talks about his new book, Shaping a Sense of Place.
Links We Mentioned:
Shaping a Sense of Place by Rick Kilby.
Florida artist Joy Postle.
More about Joy.
Florida artist Sam Stoltz.
Little Red Riding Hood mosaic mural in Winter Park.
Why Mid-Century Modern matters in Florida.
Hannibal Square in Winter Park.
The Rhea Marsh and Dorothy Lockhart Smith Research Grant.

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!
40 min
May 20 Episode 257: Mermaid Star Motel, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and FloridaRAMA
Send us your Florida questions!
Kristin Hemphill, the Creative Director for FloridaRAMA, an immersive Florida art experience with a conservation focus, joins the podcast to talk about the art, the artists, and why the experience focuses on Florida.
Links We Mentioned
FloridaRAMA
Florida Wildlife Corridor

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!
40 min
May 13 Episode 256: Lindsay Cross, Florida's Environment, and Florida Forever
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida State Representative (District 60) Lindsay Cross joins the podcast to talk about Florida Forever, environmental challenges in Florida, and what she's doing to help make Florida a paradise for everyone instead of an elite few.
Links We Mentioned
Lindsay Cross
Chadd Charland filled in for Rick Kilby on this episode, he is running for State House in District 15 (Nassau and portions of Duval counties).
Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida Forever
Florida Communities Trust
Find your Florida Representative
Find your Florida Senator
YIGBY
Campaign Finance Information
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!
39 min
May 06 Episode 255: Kristen Arnett: Taxidermy, 7-11 Lizards, and Other Florida Things
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida lesbian author Kristen Arnett joins the podcast to talk about her favorite lizard, what led her to set her debt novel in a taxidermy shop, and other special Florida experiences.
Links We Mentioned
Mostly Dead Things
With Teeth
Stop Me If You've Heard This One
KristenArnettWriter.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!
1 hr
April 29 Episode 254: Florida Environmental Victory!
Send us your Florida questions!
Dawn Shirreffs, with the Environmental Defense Fund, talks about Florida's Coastal Resilience Bill. The bill protects Terra Ceia, the Skyway Fishing Pier, and the Santa Fe, among others.
Links We Mentioned
Environmental Defense Fund
Coastal Resiliency Bill
Protect Florida's Future
Florida's Climate Future
Why mangroves matter
Mangroves
FloridasClimateFuture.org
Find your elected official and tell them to approve funding for the Resilient Florida Grant Trust Fund or Resilient Florida:
Florida House of Representatives and Florida State Senators
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!
43 min
April 22 Episode 253: Rick and Cathy Live at the Florida Studies Book Festival
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy talk about writing about Florida in front of an audience at their first-ever live podcast taping.
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!
27 min
April 15 Episode 252: Florida Women You Need to Know
Send us your Florida questions!
Cathy and Rick talk about only a few of the many Badass Florida Women in our history.
Women We Mentioned
Emateloye
Commodore Rose
May Mann Jennings
Mary Lee De Pugh
Mary McLeod Bethune
Joy Postle (and more about her, too!)
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!
45 min
April 08 Episode 251: Wonders of Shadow Key, Elvis, and Cryptids We Have Loved
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida author John Fleming joins the podcast to talk about his latest book, Wonders of Shadow Key.
Links We Mentioned
Wonders of Shadow Key
Review of Wonders of Shadow Key
Connections TV show (BBC)
John Fleming's website
Follow That Dream (movie)
The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman
Fearsome Creatures of Florida (and the website)
Dave Barry's Swamp Story
Songs for the Deaf
The Book I Will Write
Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods
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!
51 min
April 01 Episode 250: Snails, Snail Kites, and Hilary Flower
Send us your Florida questions!
Hilary Flower, author of The Kite and The Snail: An Endangered Bird, Its Unlikely Prey, and a Story of Hope in a Changing World, joins the podcast to talk about what prompted her to write the book.
Links We Mentioned
Review of The Kite and The Snail
Limpkins
Snail kites
Apple snails
Slugs
Merlin bird app
iNaturalist app
HilaryFlowerAuthor.com
How To Spot a Snail Kite

Image courtesy of 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!
47 min

About Florida Spectacular

From the publisher's feed

Take a weekly trip across Florida with authors Cathy Salustri and Rick Kilby and discover a side of Florida you never knew existed. From the scallops in Panhandle bays to the Hemingway cats in Key…