Florida Spectacular – Details, episodes & analysis

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Brad and Cathy talk about the origins of Key West — and the chapter in Cathy's new book about how Key West came to be the place we know today.

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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 conservation biologist Gene Kelly joins the podcast to talk about the proposed Withlacoochee land swap. We talk about some of the best things about the area (Red-cockaded woodpeckers! Wilderness! Sand hill habitat!) as well as why the area's significant and deserves continued protection. 

The notes from this episode are too detailed for this space, but please hop on over to greatfloridaroadtrip.com to see the link. 

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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 cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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 special guest this week as Stacey Matrazzo, Executive Director for the Florida Wildflower Foundation joined the show. She is the co-author of Native Plants for Florida Gardens, which she wrote with botanist/restoration ecologist Nancy Bissett.

Stacey has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and a master’s degree in liberal studies from Rollins College, where she is also an adjunct professor. A native Floridian and certified Florida Master Naturalist, she spends much of her free time kayaking, hiking, birding and photographing Florida’s amazing natural environments.

Find resources on how to select, grow and maintain native plants at FlaWildflowers.org.

Links we mentioned:

noblenativegardens on Instagram

Florida Wildflower Growers Cooperative (order Florida wildflower seeds!)

Green Isle Gardens in Groveland

Find great colorful native plants (like tropical sage) at a Florida Association of Native Nurseries retailer (plantrealflorida.org)

Find resources on how to select, grow and maintain native plants at flawildflowers.org

Find Rick on Twitter @OldFLA and online at RickKilby.com.

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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!

Downtown St. Pete has exploded with growth, people, and food – but that's not what we're talking about this week. Instead, Rick and Cathy talk about places in St. Pete not in the downtown area that most tourists never see. Take a listen, and get started planning your next road trip to explore Hidden St. Pete!

Things to Do

freeFall Theatre

Sunken Gardens

Parrot shows and Bird Shows around Florida.

Places to Eat

Mullet's Fish Camp

Nueva Cantina

Atwaters

Baker's Hogley Wogley

El Cap

Elsewhere

Gardens of Christ at Sarasota Jungle Gardens

Find Rick on Twitter @OldFLA and online at RickKilby.com.

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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!

Think Orlando is mostly Disney, I-Drive, and theme parks? Think again! In this episode, Rick and Cathy explore the heart of Orlando. They have must-see museums, walkable cultural areas, and places to eat. Planning a trip to Orlando? Don't miss this episode!

Spend the Day in Orlando

Brunch 

Tamales in the Hourglass Social District or Daybreak Diner or Zaza's Cuban Comfort Food

Museums

Art & History Museums Maitland

Sports 

Catch a UCF game or Orlando City SC

Theater: Dr. Phillips Center

Dinner: East End Market (Try Domu)

Sleep at The Wellborn

Lake Eola

Try the shrimp tacos at World of Beer

Thornton Park District (eating and farmer's markets!)

Mills 50 District

Dumpster Art

The Imperial Wine Bar

Menello Museum of American Art

Ivanhoe Village

Orlando Fringe

Orlando Shakes

Orange County Regional History Center's One Orlando Collection

Snap Orlando

Orlando Museum of Art scandal (best of luck, guys!)

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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!

The Everglades is a series of connected ecosystems that runs from right by Sea World's front door south to the Florida Keys. Today, Cathy and Rick talk about some unique Everglades experiences, lodging, and roads. They end with a top five "must do" when you visit Everglades National Park or the surrounding Everglades. 

Places we mentioned:

Rod & Gun Club

Everglades National Park

Camping in Everglades National Park

Camping & Cabins in the Everglades on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation

Nike Missile Site

Authors mentioned:

John D. MacDonald

Randy Wayne White

Carl Hiaasen

Tim Dorsey

Find Rick on Twitter @OldFLA and online at RickKilby.com.

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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!

Every year, people make resolutions for the new year. In this episode, Rick and Cathy talk about resolutions for Florida — and how you can help protect the state's natural beauty, waters, and wild places as you travel (and even if you don't!)

Links we mentioned:

Cathy's quest to remove single-use plastics from her home, RV and office

Blue Highways

Alachua Conservation Trust

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville

Lyonia Preserve in Volusia County

Great Florida Birding Trail

Mark Walters' entertaining and well-written Florida Scrub Jay: Field Notes on a Vanishing Bird

Blue Highways

The hotel where the Beatles stayed on Miami Beach – and its recent demolition

Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Florida Waterkeepers

St. Johns Waterkeepers

Florida Springs Council

Florida Springs Institute

Surfrider

Oceana

Find Rick on Twitter (@OldFLA) and online at RickKilby.com.

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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 turned 50 this month, and it made her think about all the things she still wants to do in Florida, so this week she and Rick reviewed some (mostly) South Florida bucket list items. Take a listen, and watch for our Florida panhandle bucket list in 2023!

Here's what's on our bucket lists:

Rick: Fort Jefferson & Dry Tortugas

Cathy: Coral Spawning in the Florida Keys

Rick: Airboat ride in the Everglades

Cathy: Milky Way in the Everglades and Big Cypress

Rick: Art Basel

Cathy: Hobe Sound & Blowing Rocks

Rick: Fairchild Botanical Garden

Cathy: Juniper Springs in Ocala National Park

Rick: Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki

Cathy: See the ghost orchid

Already in the bucket

Bioluminescence

Links We Mentioned

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park 

Fern Hammock Springs (or look here)

What's a sand boil, anyway? (you're gonna have to scroll!)

Spring Boils Trail at Silver Glen

Find Rick on Twitter @OldFLA and online at RickKilby.com.

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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!

Christmas in Florida hits different, but that doesn't mean you can't find a spectacular winter event. Cathy and Rick talk about some only-in-Florida Christmas and holiday experiences.

Links we mentioned

Snowcat Ridge

Margaret Tolbert

Iche Nippy Day

Nights of Lights

About Christmas, Florida (an Orange County park)

Orlando Wetlands Park

Fred the Tree

Earnest Saves Christmas

Find Rick on Twitter @OldFLA and online at RickKilby.com.

Support the show

Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.

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!