Florida Spectacular
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 West, every week's a Florida adventure. Get more Florida goodness with greatfloridaroadtrip.com and rickkilby.com.
Episode 275: Florida Spectacular: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Most Wanted
Send us your Florida questions!
Ryan Worthington grew up in Florida's State Parks and loves Florida's wild spaces. And he's the subject of an FWC investigation — but no one will tell him why.
Links We Mentioned
Craig Pittman's reporting on the secret investigationÂ
Ryan Worthington on Instagram
Ryan's Top Five Things To Do in and Near Green Cove Springs
Ocala National Forest — Salt Springs, Alexander Springs, Juniper Springs, Silver Glen Springs and othersSpring Park in Green Cove SpringsPayne's Prairie Preserve State Park...Episode 274: Hurricanes, Swamp Buggies, and Miami Stories with Jen Bannan
Send us your Florida questions!
Jen Bannan, author of Tamiami Trail: Miami Stories, joins the podcast to talk about her book, Miami, and the Taimiami Trail.
Links We Mentioned
Jen Bannan's website
Monroe Station
Buy Tamiami Trail: Miami Stories
Support the podcast!
Five Things To Do in Miami that are Less "Miami"
Everglades National Park
The Pit BBQ
Vizcaya
La Carreta
Calle Ocho
C...
Episode 273: Not Weird: Wild. Florida, the Cost of Paradise, and Home
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy talk about what it costs to live in paradise, whether they'd do it all over again, and what Florida's "brand" is.
Links We Mentioned
Scott Maxwell's column in the Orlando Sentinel (note: this link is behind a paywall)
Nine Nations of North AmericaÂ
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.c...
Episode 272: Florida Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, and Favorite Florida Birds
Send us your Florida questions!
Doctor Tom Hoctor joins the podcast to talk about the Florida Wildlife Corridor's origins, how money flows to conservation lands, and how people can learn more. Then they talk Florida birds and birding.
Links We Mentioned
Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida Ecological Greenways Network
Florida Forever
Center for Landscape and Conservation Planning
Hub for the maps at Center for Landscape and Conservation Planning
Wild Waters at The HarnÂ
Tom's Top Five Birds to See i...
Episode 271 (Special Edition): Florida's Best Roadside Attractions at FloridaRAMA (LIVE TAPING)
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy meet fans and talk roadside Florida attractions at FloridaRAMA, one of the most interesting pro-natural-Florida, immersive art experience in Florida.
(About that episode art: Do not ever feed a monkey. Do not ever pet a monkey. Do not ever attempt to interact in any way with any monkey.)Â
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. K...
Episode 270: Palm Harbor, Port St. Joe, and Hurricanes
Send us your Florida questions!
Links We Mentioned
Palm Harbor Museum
Wall Springs County Park
Palm Harbor Library
Detour Charters
Presnell's RV
Hurricanes.gov
Mike's Weather Page
Stephanie Stuckey
Okahumpka Service PlazaÂ
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up w...
Episode 269: The Podcast Gets Crabs, Hermit Crabs, and Things To Do in Tavernier
Send us your Florida questions!
Angela Sayre brings crabs to the podcast! She's with Crustacean Plantation and wants to encourage people to "leave the shell — take the memory when you visit the Florida Keys (or any coastal community).
Links We Mentioned
Crustacean Plantation
An example of a "broken home" for a hermit crab
Cynthia Barnett's Sound of the Sea
Jonathan Livingston Hermit Crab
YouTube live feed of hermit crabs
Things to Do in the Upper Florida Keys/Ta...
Episode 268: How To Kill Someone in Florida, Lucy Burdette, and Things To Do in Key West
Send us your Florida questions!
Cozy mystery author Lucy Burdette joins the podcast to talk about her Key West Food Critic Mysteries, her favorite places in Key West, and yes, how she figures out how and where to kill people.Â
Don't forget — Orange Blossom podcast members have their members-only t-shirt, created by Rick and printed by Yaint Local in production. We need your size!
Links We Mentioned
Key West Food Critic Mysteries
Golf Lovers Mysteries (Roberta Isleib, aka Lucy Burdette)
A...
Episode 267: Turtles, Giraffes, and Things To Do in Indian River, Melbourne, and the Space Coast
Send us your Florida questions!
While Cathy's camping lagoon-side in Brevard County, she and Rick talk about what they love about the Indian River Lagoon area and things to do while you're in town.
Links We Mentioned
Indian River Lagoon
Did Ponce de LeĂłn land in Melbourne instead of St. Augustine?
Ponce de LeĂłn and other myths
Columbus' voyage map
Florida Historical Society
Kayak with giraffes at the Brevard Zoo
Bioluminescence
Jonathan Dickinson's God's Protecting Pro...
Episode 266: "It's Not The Heat, It's the Humidity," Disney-Adjacent Things to Do, and Hiking in the Heat
Send us your Florida questions!
Stephen Cabebe, of Fit for the Magic, joins the podcast to talk about how to enjoy Florida's natural spaces without withering in the heat — even in the summer months.
Stephen's Top Five Disney-Adjacent Things To Do
Paddle the canals in Winter Park (Dinky Dock)
West Orange Trail (And Cathy's travel article about Oakland Nature Preserve along the trail)
Rock Springs at Kelly Park
Horizon West Regional Park
Poke Hana
Mills 50 District (Mills Market)
Li...
Episode 265: Serge Storms, Doc Ford, and Travis McGee
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy talk about Florida mystery writers. Curl up with your next summer read after listening!
Links We Mentioned
Race of the Gazelles
Striptease (also a book; this links to info about the film)
Carl Hiaasen (website has links to Striptease, Tourist Season, Squeeze Me, and Stormy Weather)
Cathy's 2017 interview with Carl Hiaasen
Randy Wayne White (website has link to Dark Light)
John D. MacDonald (not John D. MacArthur!)
<...
Episode 264: Keeping Data Centers Out of Florida
Send us your Florida questions!
Chadd Charland fills in for Rick and talks about how Nassau County was able to stop AI data centers — and what every community can do to stop them! Cathy talks about why eliminating single-use plastics makes a difference and why July is the month to try it in your home, office, or school.
Links We Mentioned
Nassau County's temporary moratorium on AI data centers
Florida Native Plant Society
Project Tango in Palm Beach County
SB44
Plastic-Free July
...
Episode 263: Florida Journalism, Why It's In Trouble, and How To Save It
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy showcase the state of journalism in Florida and talk about hyperlocal papers.Â
Five of our Favorite Hyperlocal Weekly Newspapers
The Community Paper (Orlando area)
The Gabber Newspaper (Gulfport and South Pinellas)
Winter Park Voice (Winter Park)
West Volusia Beacon (West Volusia)
The Herald (Gadsden County)
Keys Weekly (Florida Keys)
Links We Mentioned
Donate to The Gabber Newspaper
Florida PhoenixÂ
Support the show
<...
Episode 262: Alligators, Florida Poetry, and Things To Do in Tampa
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida poet Heather Sellers joins the podcast to talk about why alligators are the best, her latest poetry book about Florida, Women in Tampa Talking About Alligators, and things she thinks everyone should do in Tampa.
Links We Mentioned
Eureka Springs
Heather Sellers
Hike Hillsborough
Hillsborough Hiking Spree
Buy Heather's book!
Former guest Mark Barrow's book about alligators
Heather's Favorite Five Things To Do in and Near New Tampa
Bookends...
Episode 261: Springs, Seagrass, and Things To Do in Crystal River
Send us your Florida questions!
Lisa Moore, president of Save Crystal River, joins the podcast to talk about their efforts with the Kings Bay Restoration Project. Kings Bay is the second largest spring system in Florida.
Links We Mentioned
SaveCrystalRiver.com [a 501c(3) organization]
Three Sisters
Mertailors
Lisa's Three Things Must-Do Things in Crystal River
Bird watching
Manatee tours
ScallopingÂ
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at
Episode 260: Things To Do in Polk County, Florida Art, and Blair Petersen Updike
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida artist Blair Petersen Updike joins the podcast to talk about why she created the Florida Gallery, Florida art, and what she thinks everyone should do in Polk County.
Links We Mentioned
Wild Space Gallery at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation
Benjamin Dimmitt An Unflinching Look: Elegy for a Landscape
Blair Petersen Updike website and Instagram
George Snow Hill — WPA muralist
Hollerbach's in Sanford
The Florida Gallery (check out their art merch, too!)
All Fl...
Episode 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 ParkSausage Dog at Bradley's Blue Tavern for musicBike trails at Piney ZBuy a book and eat pie at Midtown ReaderLinks We Mentioned
Mark Mustian's website
Boy with Wings
Word of South festival
Gibtown's S...
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.Â
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.
Â
Support the show
Question or...
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 cathy@floridaspectacular.com.
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com. Keep...
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<...
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.Â
Links We Mentioned
Mostly Dead Things
With Teeth
Stop Me If You've Heard This One
KristenArnettWriter.comÂ
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up...
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
MangrovesÂ
FloridasClimateFuture.org
Find your elected official and tell them to approve funding for the Resilient Florida Grant Trust Fund or Resilient Florida:
Florida H...
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.Â
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.c...
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!)Â
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 a...
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
<...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.Â
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
...
Episode 249: Submerged Stories: Santos, Segregation, and Disenfranchisement
Send us your Florida questions!
Ryan and Cathy talk about Santos' Black history and how it's been erased, and put out a call for help from anyone who knows the history of the people displaced for the Cross Florida Barge Canal.
Links We Mentioned
The Zorg
Santos historical marker
Historic Santos Recreation Area
Negro League Baseball
Saving Santos
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.<...
Episode 248: Art of the Springs
Send us your Florida questions!
Springs artist and activist Margaret Ross Tolbert joins Rick Kilby and guest co-host Chadd Scott to discuss her artwork and advocacy on behalf of Florida's springs.
Links we mentioned:
Aquiferious.com
AQUIFERious Facebook group
Margaret Ross Tolbert on YouTube
Proje SU coffee table book
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...
Episode 247: Submerged Stories (Sundown Towns)
Send us your Florida questions!
 Cathy Salustri and Ryan Worthington talk about Sundown Towns, apologies, and the problems the racism of the past still creates.
Links We Mentioned
Tougaloo College's Sundown Town database
Was Gulfport, Florida a Sundown Town?
South Pinellas Sundown Towns
Florida Sundown TownsÂ
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. Ke...
Episode 245: In the Shoes of Florida's Black History
Send us your Florida questions!
Rick and Cathy talk about gentrification, the difficult relationship white people have with Black history, its place in Florida's history, and how Florida's Black history impacts modern-day Florida.
Links We Mentioned
Lincolnville
Fort Mose
Axe Handle Saturday
The Zorg
Eatonville's Zora Neale Hurston Museum
Kingsley Plantation
Carter Woodson Museum
Lincolnville Museum
Historic Hampton House
American Beach
A.L. Lewis MuseumÂ
Support the show
Episode 246: Bithlo, Getting Chased by a Cobra, and a Springs Adventure
Send us your Florida questions!
Buckle in for a wild ride... this episode starts in Bithlo, detours through Orlando Speed World, gets chased by a cobra, and then goes on an adventure through the springs.Â
Links We Mentioned
Bithlo
Bithlo real estate
Orlando Speed World
Swampy
St. Cloud Serpentarium
Barberville Yard Art Emporium
DeLeon Springs State Park
Queenie the Waterskiing Elephant
Ginger Ale Springs
Green Springs
Sam Stoltz houses
O...
Episode 244: Eliot Kleinberg, Nate Moran, and Hypocrite's Row
Send us your Florida questions!
Eliot Kleinberg, a journalist whose career spans five decades, has turned his talents to fiction. His first book, Hypocrite's Row, is due out February 26.
From Eliot:
Hypocrite’s Row, the first book of my “Adventures of Nate Moran” novels about the Roaring 20s Miami police detective, comes out next month. The setting is the real battle between gangsters and law enforcement during the mostly failed effort to enforce Prohibition in South Florida.
Florida native Eliot Kleinberg, creator of the Civil War historical novel "Peace River...
Episode 243: Learning Not To Be Racist, Drinking Too Much, and a Beautiful Life: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Send us your Florida questions!
Ann McCutchan's book, The Life She Wished To Live: A Biography of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Author of The Yearling, focuses on Rawling's life. Ann, Cathy, and Rick talk about Rawlings' life, how she learned not to be a racist, her struggles with alcohol, and why The Yearling is not the best of her works.
Links We Mentioned
Ann McCutchan's website
Here is Home: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Cross Creek
The Life She Wished To Live: A Biography of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Author...
Episode 242: Naked Ed, Manatee Springs, and Fat Mermaids (That's a Good Thing!)
Send us your Florida questions!
Author Holly Sprinkle joins the podcast to talk about her book, Florida Natural Springs: A History. The trio talks about — among other things — Naked Ed, the historic marker at Manatee Springs, and why fat mermaids are the best mermaids.
Links We Mentioned
The William Bartram plaque at Manatee Springs
Buy Holly's book!
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com.
Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up w...
Episode 241: Pete Gallagher, Florida Journalism, and Bodies Under Tropicana Field
Send us your Florida questions!
While working as a journalist, Pete Gallagher investigated Florida stories that made a difference. He joins the podcast this week to talk about two of those stories, people buried under Tropicana Field, and his book (in progress) about his life in journalism.
Links We Mentioned
James Richardson
Emateloye Estenletkvte: Polly Parker Got Away
Florida Folk Show
radiostpete.com
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at cathy@floridaspectacular.com<...
Episode 240: Submerged Stories: Florida's Underground Railroad
Send us your Florida questions!
Florida has a significant history with enslaved people escaping their oppressors in the United States. If you want to see history, these are places you can visit to learn the real history of Florida's underground railroad.
Links We Mentioned
Fort Mose
Bill Baggs State Park
Gulf Islands National Seashore in PensacolaÂ
Podcast episode about Prospect Bluff
Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park
Kingsley Plantation
Fitzpatrick Plantation Ruins
Angola Settlement (more about Angola)
Episode 239: Little Wekiva, Florida Quicksand, and Wild Florida
Send us your Florida questions!
Nichole Delafield-Bromme and Lief Bromme talk about their book, Little Wekiva Memories: Kayaking & Other Adventures.
Links We Mentioned
Little Wekiva Memories: Kayaking & Other Adventures
NicholeDelafield.com
Maffrey's at Ivanhoe Village
Brick and Mortar Places Selling Little Wekiva
Sunshine Book Co.Â
647 Lake Ave., Clermont, FL 34711Â
Maffrey’s (see link above)
Barnes and Noble
B&NÂ Sand Lake, 7900 W. Sand Lake Road, OrlandoÂ
B...
Episode 238: Submerged Stories: Mary McLeod Bethune
Send us your Florida questions!
Mary McLeod Bethune founded the school that became Bethune-Cookman University, but why — and how? Ryan and Cathy take a look.
Find Submerged Stories on Facebook.
Find Ryan and Cathy on Instagram.
Links We Mentioned
Bethune-Cookman University
The Zorg
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.co...
Episode 237: Florida Spectacular Origin Story, Marj the Influencer, and Social Media
Send us your Florida questions!
As Rick and Cathy look to the new year, they talk about the podcast's origin story, what Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings would have sounded like as an influencer, and the ways social media can help Florida research.
Links We Mentioned
Ann McCutchan
Desperately seeking information on:
Mary Mae Campbell (Most likely: South Florida/Homestead, ca. 1967)
Donald W. Sill (Winter Park artist /Altamonte Springs)
Support the show
Question or comment? Email us at ...
Episode 236: Did Key West kill JFK?
Send us your Florida questions!
A search for legendary Key West fire chef Bum Farto led historian David L. Sloan down a path that led to how Key West played a large part in the assassination of JFK in Dallas. His detailed research helps prove a conspiracy that has long plagued Americans.
Links We Mentioned
David's website telling the story of JFK, the CIA, and the mafia in Key West
Bum Farto
Buy the book
Cover image courtesy of David L. Sloan.Â
Support t...
