Send us your Florida questions!

How Bowers of the Retro WDW podcast joins Rick and Cathy to talk about the not-so-secret-after-all Florida Project, the origins of Disney Springs, and what Cypress Gardens had to do with Walt Disney deciding Florida would be a great place for a theme park. 

Links We Mentioned

Retro WDW

Lake Buena Vista Historical Society

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!

Orlando historian Rachel Williams joins the podcast to talk about Colonial Plaza Mall (now a shadow of its former self and called Colonial Marketplace), and from there the conversation moves to caves in Ocala, coffee roasters we love, and the importance of the shopping mall in Florida culture. 

Links We Mentioned

Ocala Caverns (and what's the difference between a cave and a cavern, anyway?)

Rachel's article about Colonial Plaza

Florida Historical Society conference in Orlando (May 15-17 in Orlando)

Remembering Ronnie's Restaurant

Rick's post about living on the former Datson Dairy land

Who created the shopping mall?

Secret Mall Apartment

Joffrey's Coffee

Barnie's Coffee

Orlando Milk District

Happy Mother's Day to a fierce Florida mom

Roadhouse movie

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!

TJ Fridrich, with the Save the Manatee Club, joins the podcast to talk about what listeners need to know about when manatee can be dangerous (seriously!), what their mating behavior might look like, and where you can see some excellent documentaries about manatee and their ilk.

Links We Mentioned

Save The Manatee Club

The Disturbance Theory

Mating herd in Haulover Canal

Report a manatee sighting

Amazonian manatee and Last Chance To See

Last Chance To See documentary

Swimming Through Air with the Springs Eternal Project

Forgotten Mermaids (Jacques Costeau)

Save the Manatee 5K

Attack of the Killer Manatee 

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 the middle basin of the St. Johns River, eco tours, and wildlife seen along the waterway. 

Links We Mentioned

Floridiana Festival at the Matheson

Squarehouse Pizza

Love Vine?

Welaka Florida

Lake Jesup

St. Johns River info

Airboat on the St. Johns

Airboat chase sequence in Gone Fishin'

"36 Hours in Orlando" (New York Times)

Bill Belleville's River of Lakes

Florida's American Heritage River: Images From the St. Johns River

St. Johns Riverkeeper

 

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!

Josh Ginsberg, author of Secret Tampa Bay, Secret Orlando, Tampa Bay Scavenger, Oldest Tampa Bay — among others — joins the podcast to talk about his favorite hidden gems in Tampa Bay and Orlando. The trio talks about everything from the Wizard of Oz to taxidermied animals.

Links We Mentioned

TerriblyOdd.com

Josh Ginsberg books

Dysfunctional Grace (Ybor City)

Tiger Dust (Seminole Heights)

Wizard of Oz Museum (Cape Canaveral)

Ripley's world headquarters (Orlando)

Prometheus Esoterica in Winter Park 

More info on Josh

SecretTampaBay.com
Facebook
Instagram

Books and Publications
Secret Tampa Bay: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure (Reedy Press)
Tampa Bay Scavenger (Reedy Press)Oldest Tampa Bay (Reedy Press)
Secret Orlando: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure (Reedy Press)
Haunted Orlando (Arcadia/The History Press) 

Coming soon
The Ghostly Tales of Orlando (Arcadia)
Tales from the Dusty Tiger (Independent)
Amazing Florida (Reedy Press)

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!

Craig Pittman, co-host of the Welcome to Florida podcast, joins Florida Spectacular to talk about his latest book by the same name. This episode takes a roller coaster approach to Florida, and along the way the trio discusses nudist resorts, snakes, where to find dead bodies, and... well, take a listen. It's quite a ride.

Links We Mentioned

Welcome to Florida

Dawn Lee McKenna

God's Trombone's 

Florida Phoenix

Flamingo Magazine

FORUM Magazine

Reptile World Serpentarium in Kissimmee

Nowak's Swamparium is gone but there's a book by the owner. 

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!

Josh Gunderson, the creative mind behind the popular Oviedo Mall account on Twitter, joins the podcast to talk about mall culture in Florida, his new book, The Lamenting Mall Rats Society, and whether or not Oviedo Mall really is haunted. 

Links We Mentioned 

@OviedoMall on Threads

The actual Oviedo Mall

The Lamenting Mall Rats Society

B. Dalton Booksellers

District Oviedo

Paddler's Guide to the Sunshine State

Top 3 Oviedo Experiences

Crazy Cork Wine Bar

Pinball Lounge

Find the chickens!

Take the Central Florida Mall Tour

Mall at Millenia

Altamonte Mall

Florida Mall

 

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!

Jon Bortles joins Cathy and Rick to talk about Florida Tiki culture and all things Tiki. 

Bahi Hut Meetup with Rick, Cathy, and Jon — April 11, 7 p.m.

Links We Mentioned

Tahitian Motor Lodge Tarpon

Tahitian Inn Tampa

Hawaiian Inn Daytona

Best Western Aku Tiki

Peking Palace in Clearwater

Mai Kai

Julian's Ormond Beach

The Honu

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!

Spring has sprung, the pollen is here, and it's time once again to talk about plants and landscaping. Eric Schmidt, the Botanical Records Specialist for Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens, talks about a few of his favorite plant places in Florida, his experiences consulting on the Animal Kingdom and Star Wars landscaping efforts at the Walt Disney World Resort, and a special tree he has planted in his own yard.

Links We Mentioned

What Hurricane Michael Did to the Torreya Tree (non-paywall link)

Mail Order Natives

Charles Bronson

Kilbee Trail

Seminole State Forest

Rock Springs Run State Reserve

Tosahatchee

Native Butterfly Wildflowers

Sand Live Oak (Eric suggested this tree for residential landscapes) 

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, Joe Colucci from Munyon's Paw Paw Liqueur joins the podcast to talk about his Florida-made papaya liqueur — and the fascinating Florida history behind it.

Links We Mentioned

Munyon Island

Munyon's Paw Paw Liqueur

Mai Kai

The Great Outdoors in High Springs

Ottos High Dive

Copper Rocket

Munyon Hope Association

Tiki A Go Go

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!