Send us your Florida questions!

Haley Moody, the director of the Florida Springs Institute, joins the podcast to talk about the idea of creating a National Springs Heritage Area in Florida.

About Haley

Haley’s passion for the springs began during her first visit to the Ichetucknee River. Her love of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was born during her time at the University of Florida, where she graduated with honors in Landscape Architecture. After a GIS Internship at the Florida Springs Institute, she transitioned into managing FSI’s outreach efforts and now focuses on the direction of FSI. Her dedication to the springs continues to grow as she communicates the challenges that face the Floridan Aquifer.

Links We Mentioned

The VRBO Cathy mentioned in the Orlando area

Florida Springs Institute

Reach out to Haley to be a stakeholder: hmoody@floridaspringsinstitute.org

Learn about how springs work and who controls what with the FSI Pocket Guide

Springs photo by Rick Kilby.

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!

Florida nature photographer Matt Keene talks about how he uses large-format film cameras to create his portraits. Matt has an exhibit at the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine (through Jan. 18, 2026), and this episode offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how much work, forethought, and effort goes into this extraordinary body of work.

Links We Mentioned

More about Matt Keene

River Be Dammed

Lost Springs

Echoes of the Wild at the Lightner Museum Oct. 3, 2025-Jan. 18, 2026

Image: Gores Landing on the Ocklawaha River, Florida, Aluminum, 2024, by Matt Keene

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!

Brandy Carlisle, a tour guide at St. Augustine's Fountain of Youth Park, is fascinated with the woman who bought the land that is now the park. So much so she's published a book about her: Luella. The trio talks about Luella, prostitution, and the Fountain of Youth.

Links We Mentioned

Luella

Fountain of Youth Park in St. Augustine

Find out more about Brandy — and her fascinating hobbies — on her website.

Unearthing St. Augustine: America's Oldest City, by Kathy Deagan.

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 talk about Rick's trip to St. Augustine, then answer a letter from a listener about whether or not moving to Florida is a good idea.

Things To Do in St. Augustine

St. Augustine's Fountain of Youth (visit with a critical eye!)

The San Marco shops in St. Augustine, including Duddington's

Columbia Restaurant in the St. Augustine Historic District

Don't forget to check out Spinster Abbott's.

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!

Mikita Brottman, author of Guilty Creatures, joins the podcast to talk about the Tallahassee murder that scandalized the town when Denise Williams and Brian Winchester plotted and executed the murder of Denise's husband, Mike.

Mikita Brottman is a writer and psychoanalyst. Her latest book Guilty Creatures was published by Simon and Schuster in 2024. She has a D. Phil from Oxford University and is a professor of literature at the Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore.

Links We Mentioned

Vilano Beach

Cap's on the Water

Guilty Creatures

Mr. & Mrs. Murder

Springs of Florida

Image via Simon & Schuster

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 face behind the super-popular Florida's Folk History Instagram account joins the podcast this week. Aubrey Naulin talks about her art, her hopes for Florida's future, and Florida's Indians.

Links We Mentioned

Florida Folk History on Instagram

Rosewood Remembered

Islands of Cedars by Shana Smith

Submerged Stories: Florida's Other Histories on Facebook

Lake Hourglass Studio

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!

Mark Barrow grew up around gators — both the real one and a certain Florida college that pays homage to them. Now, he's written a book about alligators, and he joins Rick and Cathy to talk about why alligators deserve respect, not fear. The trio also talks about the gator's place in Florida's culture, roadside Florida gator attractions, and why gators are amazing creatures.

Links We Mentioned

Mini-Lights and Black children used as gator bait?

Mini Lights proof of concept trailer from Vitale Brothers

Nature's Ghosts (this is the one we mentioned with the dead Carolina Parakeet on the cover)

William Bartram's alligator

"Alligator Capital of the World": A post by Rick Kilby

The alligator engravings some call DeMoyne, but are not

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!

This week Rick and Cathy talk about Punta Gorda

Links We Mentioned

Warm Mineral Springs

Things To Do in North Port

Myakka River State Park

Royal Order of Ponce de Leon Conquistadors

Radioactive Fountain of Youth in Punta Gorda

Sunseeker Resort

DeSoto Veterans Memorial Park

Ponce-apalooza

Ponce-y Scheme

Revisiting Warm Mineral Springs

Old World Meets New Age at Warm Mineral Springs

(Image via Google Maps/Fair Use)

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!