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.

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Links We Mentioned

Bethune-Cookman University

The Zorg

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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!

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 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!

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.

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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!

Tibbals Curator of Circus, Jennifer Lemmer Posey, talks about the history of the circus in Florida, where it's going, and the state of things today.

Links We Mentioned

The Ringling

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil's Drawn to Life

International Independent Showmen's Association

Showmen's Club

The Ringling collection at FSU

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!

Ross Allen's daughter, Betty Allen Bashaw, talks about growing up around her father's menagerie, some of her most interesting tasks at the Ross Allen Institute, and how to get a gator to take a nap.

Pictured: A young Betty Allen with her father Ross Allen. Photo courtesy of Betty Allen Bashaw.

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!

Have you been to Havana? No, not that one — the one near Quincy, in North Central Florida. Mark Pettus, co-owner of 16 newspapers in North Florida, gives insider tips for visiting Havana and Quincy.

Things To Do in Gadsden County

Visit Quincy

Havana Main Street

Antiques in Havana

Havana Main Street

Sist3r Chicks

Oscar's in Havana

Heroes and Villains

El Jalisco

Weezy's Cottage

Red Door Wine Bar

Planters Exchange

Havana History and Heritage Society

Coon Bottom Farms Country Store

Off the Rails Irish Pub

Gadsden Historical Society

Links We Mentioned

Ray Charles in Florida

Attapulgite

The Herald

Florida Newsline

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, Ryan Worthington and Cathy Salustri talk about their forthcoming podcast, Submerged Stories: Florida's Other History.

Find Submerged Stories on Facebook.

Find Ryan and Cathy on Instagram.

Links We Mentioned

Prospect Bluff: Part of the Underground Network to Freedom

Dale Cox YouTube Episode

Fort Gadsden and the Underground Railroad

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 Florida Wildlife Federation calls Karen Chadwick a conservation hero. She's spent her life on and around the waters of Central Florida, and she talks about her passion for the Ocklawaha, the impacts of keeping the dam, and the splendor of the regular drawdowns.

Links We Mentioned

Ocklawaha River

Rodman Reservoir and Dam

Cross-Florida Barge Canal

Kenwood boat ramp

Buckman Lock

North Star Charters

Karen's YouTube channel about the Ocklawaha

A Cruising Down the River

Photo of Karen Chadwick by Alan Halaly.

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!