Drive-Thru Towns

Portage: The Town the Earth Swallowed At Mile Marker 79 on the Seward Highway, a skeletal "ghost forest" stands frozen in the tidal mudflats. These white, salt-drowned trees are the only remaining headstones for Portage, Alaska —a town that quite literally sank into the earth. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns , host Andrew Wilcox uncovers the story of a roadside junction where travele...

Dyea, Alaska: The Town That Lost a Race and Died of It There is a cemetery in Southeast Alaska where almost every headstone shares the same date: April 3, 1898. In this episode of Drive-Thru Towns , host Andrew Wilcox takes us to a flat river delta near Skagway that was once home to 8,000 people. During the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, Dyea was the gateway to the brutal Chilkoot Pass—the &quo...

Drive Thru Towns — Season 2 Trailer: Alaska Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. Season 2 is here — and we're heading somewhere bigger, wilder, and colder than anywhere we've been before. Alaska. This season, we leave the moss-draped back roads of Florida behind and drive north — all the way to the edge of the continent, and sometimes beyond it. We're talking about a town the earth swallowed w...

Havana & Quincy: The Millionaires of Shade Tobacco Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we travel the rolling hills of Gadsden County to explore Havana and Quincy, Florida —two towns built on the "green gold" of shade tobacco and a single, legendary investment that changed the face of the American South. This isn't just a story about farming; it’s a masterclass in risk,...

Micanopy: The Town That Time Forgot Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we pull off US-441 and move under a canopy of ancient live oaks to visit Micanopy, Florida —a place where the humidity feels like history and the light moves as slow as the traffic. Micanopy isn't just an antique capital; it is the oldest inland town in Florida and a landscape that has inspired Pulitzer Prize win...

Cedar Key & Rosewood: Pencils, Clams, and a Buried Town Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we travel to the end of State Road 24 to visit two towns forever linked by a railroad, a swamp, and a silence that took decades to break: Cedar Key and Rosewood, Florida. This isn't just a trip to a quiet fishing village; it’s a journey through the tools that wrote American history and the...

Fernandina Beach: The Isle of Eight Flags Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we steer toward the northeastern tip of Florida to Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island—a place that has seen more flags, more pirates, and more reinventions than perhaps any other spot in America. Fernandina Beach isn't just a charming Victorian escape; it is a survivor of centuries of global tug-of-war. We e...

Mount Dora: Where the Map Lies Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we climb to one of the highest points in Florida to discover Mount Dora —a town that defies every geological and cultural expectation of the Sunshine State. Mount Dora isn't just a quaint village of antique shops and bed-and-breakfasts; it is a place of inland lighthouses, cinematic history, and Cold War secrets. We e...

Port St. Joe: The Town That Wrote Florida’s Soul—Then Vanished Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we explore the "Forgotten Coast" to uncover the story of a city that was once the largest and most ambitious in Florida—only to be wiped off the map in less than a decade. Port St. Joe (formerly St. Joseph) isn't just a quiet waterfront town; it is the birthplace of Florida’s legal identity...

Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we journey to the edge of the map to Everglades City, Florida —a town where the line between the wilderness and the law has always been as thin as a mangrove leaf. Everglades City isn't just a gateway to a National Park; it’s a monument to stubbornness, isolated ambition, and a local history that reads like a thriller. We dive into: The Vision of Barro...

Apalachicola: The Town That Froze the World Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we travel to the "Forgotten Coast" to visit Apalachicola, Florida —a place that proves you don't need a theme park to have a world-changing story. Apalachicola isn't just a picturesque fishing village; it’s a town built on ice, cotton, and a fierce sense of survival. We explore the layers of history hidden be...

Cassadaga: Where Mayberry Meets the Twilight Zone Welcome back to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we venture off the fluorescent path of Florida’s theme parks and into a 57-acre historic community that has spent over 130 years talking to the other side. Cassadaga, Florida , isn't your typical roadside attraction. It is a National Register of Historic Places site and the oldest continuously...

St. Marks: Small Town, Enormous Tab Welcome to Drive Thru Towns. In this episode, we pull over at the end of the road in North Florida to explore St. Marks—a town of 300 people with enough history to fill a library. From Spanish forts plastered in lime to look like stone to a pirate who declared his own sovereign nation in a swamp , St. Marks is a place where geography becomes destiny. We dive dee...

Drive‑Thru Towns – Trailer Hosted by: Andrew Wilcox Music by: Chloe Jones Ever blown past a tiny town, slowed only by a red light or a gas pump, and thought, “There’s nothing there”? Drive‑Thru Towns  is here to prove you wrong. I’m Andrew Wilcox, a sixth‑generation Floridian who grew up on the back roads while my mom made me read every historical marker out loud. Season One stays in Florida, but...