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 America

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!

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 Harn

Tom's Top Five Birds to See in Florida

Florida scrub jay

Painted buntings

Swallow-tailed kites

Limpkin

Tom's Nemesis Bird: Mangrove cuckoo

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!

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.)

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!

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 Plaza

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!

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/Tavernier

• Harry Harris Park
• Dive Bar on the Bay
• Florida Keys Wild Bird Center — look for the hermit crab tank!
• Old Tav (ask for the pizza — it's not on the menu — they do a fantastic spinach, bacon, and mushroom)
• Dive Museum
• Dry Tortugas National Park

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!

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.

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)

Advice Column Mysteries (Roberta Isleib, aka Lucy Burdette)

More Florida writers at the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America

Azur restaurant in Key West

David Sloan

Bum Farto

Lucy Burdette's Favorite Things To Do in Key West

Lucy's blog post about this very thing!

Truman Little White House

Latitudes sunset dining on a small island off the coast of Key West (take their boat out to the island )

Cuban sandwiches at Cuban Coffee Queen

Books and Books Key West (Judy Blume's bookstore)

Key West Island Books

Seven Fish

Louie's Backyard

Hemingway House

Robert the Doll

DJ's Clam Shack (but, Lucy cautions, only if you want fried conch)

[https://www..cityofkeywest-fl.gov/819/Historic-Key-West-City-Cemetery]Key West Cemetery

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!

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 León land in Melbourne instead of St. Augustine?

Ponce de León and other myths

Columbus' voyage map

Florida Historical Society

Kayak with giraffes at the Brevard Zoo

Bioluminescence

Jonathan Dickinson's God's Protecting Providence

Highwaymen Museum

Top Five (OK, Top Many) Things To Do Near the Indian River Lagoon

Melbourne

Melbourne Beach Supermarket

Long Point Campground

Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (Turtles!)

Long Doggers (Hot dogs and more — and gluten free buns!)

Backwater (Make your own pancakes)

Indian River Roadside Citrus

Space Coast

Dixie Crossroads

Siam Orchid

I Dream of Jeanne at Lori Wilson Park

Black Point Wildlife Drive

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!

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)

Links We Mentioned

Fit2Run

Robinson Preserve

Fort De Soto

Veggie Garden

Sampaguita

Flatlands Bar & Grill

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!