Florida Spectacular

Send us your Florida questions! A reader question about hiking shoes leads to a discussion about best places to hike in Florida. The Florida Madcaps' Chelsea Stevens joins to talk about hiking and water shoes, that time she stepped on a copperhead, and her favorite hikes.  Links We Mentioned FloridaHikes.com Shoes for Hiking Florida Trails Altra shoes What are shoe gaiters and do you want the...

Send us your Florida questions! Florida does an amazing job with state parks, and perhaps this is best showcased in the Florida Keys. In the inaugural episode, take a tour of some of Brad and Cathy's favorite state parks in the Upper Keys. State Parks to Visit in the Florida Keys • Dagny Johnson Key Largo Botanical State Park for hiking and the chance of seeing the endangered woodrat.  • Wind...

Send us your Florida questions! Take a hike in the swamp! Cathy and Rick talk about hiking in Florida swamps, venomous snakes, and other things you might find as you experience Florida's wilderness. Also, Cathy talks about the time she got lost in the swamp and almost stepped on a venomous snake. Pictured is the juvenile cottonmouth from Cathy's hike in Big Cypress. No, it's not a M...

Send us your Florida questions! Rick and Cathy talk about Florida places they want to visit in 2024. Unsurprisingly, many of the trips involve kayaking. Quick Travel Guide to St. Augustine Meehan's Irish Pub Osteen's Casa de Sueños Quick Travel Guide to West Volusia Heritage Corridor Cassadaga DeLand Memorial Hospital Museum Main Street DeLand Hontoon Island The Forgotten Mermaids : Jacq...

Send us your Florida questions! Rick and Cathy talk about places they want to visit–or revisit—in 2024. Below, find guides to two not-often-visited places in Florida.  Visit Sanford Visitor's Guide December's St. Lucia Festival Celery Soup —a folk life play Hollerbach's German Restaurant Pico Hotel (similar to the Tampa Bay Hotel , now University of Tampa) Henry's Depot Folk Ar...

Send us your Florida questions! Jacki Levine joins Rick and Cathy today to talk about Once Upon a Time in Florida , a gorgeous coffee table book celebrating 50 years of essays about Florida. Jacki edited the book, which includes essays from Stetson Kennedy, Michael Gannon, and Rick Kilby. Links We Mentioned Once Upon a Time in Florida (with discount code XM23) for sale Review of  Once Upon a Time...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, the "Florida Spectacular" welcomes back a familiar voice — Brad Bertelli, an early and super-popular guest. Cathy, Rick and Brad talk about where to find hidden springs in the Florida Keys, an old manuscript that mentions a "fairy grotto" by Robbies, and how people are "reverse snowbirding" north of Florida. Links We Mentione...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, Florida Spectacular hosts Cathy and Rick celebrate the work of Tim Dorsey. Dorsey created the lovable serial killer Serge Storms, who served vengeance with a side of history... or perhaps history with a side of vengeance. From there, they talk about Florida books for everyone on your holiday shopping list.  Links we Mentioned Florida books for every reade...

Send us your Florida questions! If you thought the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the present-day United States in Plymouth, well, you've been lied to. Cathy and Rick talk about the first and second Thanksgivings, both of which happened in Florida, and why the 16th-century French Huguenot Thanksgiving — celebrated in what is now Jacksonville — may be the only of the first three...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, Cathy calls BS on Turkey Day and scholar Jeremy Carnes helps us understand the connection between art created by American Indians imprisoned at Fort Marion and the art produced by contemporary indigenous people. The trio also offers their perspective on how they attempt to respectfully observe the fourth Thursday in November. Ever heard of Ledger art? Lin...

Send us your Florida questions! Rick and Cathy talk about the evils of beach renourishment — not only why it's a no-win situation, but how great Florida beaches could look without renourishment. It's a controversial take — especially for beach property owners.  Links We Mentioned Fort De Soto Canaveral National Seashore St. George Island State Park Anastasia Island Anna Maria Island publ...

Send us your Florida questions! This week's episode welcomes Floridian David Jordan, a puppet master (not his real title, but we love to use that phrase) who wrangled the puppets on Pee-wee's Playhouse . Hear him talk about his puppetry with efforts to save the whooping crane and the Florida panther, his work with the Henson family, and his Central Florida charity, the Big Potato. Links...

Send us your Florida questions! For the final podcast of October, Rick and Cathy tell ghost stories and a few "wait, was that a ghost?" stories. Join the fun and let yourself get scared (or not so scared!) with the Florida Spectacular podcast this week! Links We Mentioned The Blair Witch Project Robert the Doll Robert the Doll by David Sloan Robert the Doll Key West Ghost Tour of Fort Ma...

Send us your Florida questions! Forget ghosts and ghouls, this week Rick and Cathy talk about Florida things that should scare you — like baby gators (a protective mom is near), coyotes (hide your cats!), and killer manatee (OK, that one isn't a thing.)  They end on a Florida B-movie note (because happy scary season!) and talk about, of course, snakes (they're more scared of you than, bu...

Send us your Florida questions! Quick, name a B-movie made in Florida. Did you say Creature from the Black Lagoon ? Cathy and Rick talk about the history of one of Florida's most enduring movies and the areas where Universal filmed it, its little-known connection to Citizen Kane , and why The Little Mermaid and Creature from the Black Lagoon tell essentially the same story. Links We Mentioned...

Send us your Florida questions! This week Rick and Cathy talk about Florida Man — but not the weird ones; the men who make Florida spectacular. From Abiaka to Lawton Chiles, they celebrate these wonderful men. (And yes, there's at least one in the works about great Florida women, too.) Links We Mentioned Governor Bob Graham and his Workdays Governor Lawton Chiles and Walkin Lawton [ VIDEO ] —...

Send us your Florida questions! "The rules are different here." Florida attracts all kinds, but often not the right types of people.  This week Rick and Cathy talk about some notorious Florida men, starting with the earliest exploration narratives to more contemporary gentlemen (and they use that term loosely.) Links We Mentioned Governor Claude Kirk Governor Sidney Catts The biggest con...

Send us your Florida questions! Bird is the word on today's episode of The Florida Spectacular ! Hurricane Idalia brought more than storm surge to Florida — for the first time in a long time, flamingos stroll along our beaches. Although many people (including Cathy!) didn't realize this, flamingos are, indeed, Florida natives — or so says the FWC .  Photo credit Beth Forys, for The Gabbe...

Send us your Florida questions! With Jimmy Buffett's death still sending waves of sadness through his immense fan community, Rick and Cathy turn to talk of Florida's music scene. Although Buffett wasn't a native Floridian, he spent his fair share of time in the Sunshine State — but he's far from the only great musician to make beautiful music in Florida. Join them as they talk...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, Rick and Cathy welcome Joy Wallace Dickinson to talk about Florida's film history. From the silent film era, to the definitive film on aging gracefully ( Cocoon ), to more modern films, this episode's a walk down Florida's celluloid history. Find Joy’s old Florida mystery, Secrets of the Flamingo Cafe , on Amazon. Links We Mentioned Dave Ba...

Send us your Florida questions! There's no denying Florida's dealing with its hottest summer in... well, as long as we've measured such things. It's tempting to feel like individuals cannot make a difference, but that's not the case. This week's episode goes over simple things everyone can do to help cool Florida — and the planet. Links we mentioned The Plastic Projec...

Send us your Florida questions! Florida education's making national news. This week, Cathy and Rick take a walk down memory lane to their own first days of school. They also talk about Florida school integration — which happened not that long ago — and how that created a ripple effect that still impacts where elementary school students attend school.  Finally, they debate the merits of sendin...

Send us your Florida questions! Ever heard the phrase, "you have to go north to get South"? That's not untrue. People often ask whether Florida is part of the South. The short answer: It's complicated. Yes... and no.  Rick and Cathy talk about why that is, what they love about the South, and why it's such a complicated answer. Links We Mentioned Garden & Gun Magazine B...

Send us your Florida questions! With unprecedented temps scorching the country, Florida may not seem like the place where you can stay cool in the summertime, but Cathy and Rick share how they stay cool, where they go, and what they do that make summertime in Florida delightful. Links We Mentioned North Florida Dry Air Caves at Florida Caverns State Park Apalachicola Chocolate & Coffee Company...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, fellow Florida-phile Craig Pittman joins Rick and Cathy to talk about Florida's most current "it" exotic invasive: the Burmese python. As usual, the podcast slithers all over the place, so expect some talk about frogs and iguanas, too.  More about Craig Craig Pittman is a native Floridian, an author, podcaster and an award-winning reporter....