Flamingo Magazine

No.

16

RODNEY BARRETO: THE MIAMI MAN MAKING SUPER BOWL 54 HAPPEN

THE OUTSIDE ISSUE

WILD NA TURED: How Singer

RITA COOLIDGE P Woodsman JOE HUTTO Reunited MADE IN FLORIDA

GIFT GUIDE

25

For Floridians. By Floridians.

REINS AND CHAMPAGNE! PALM BEACH POLO’s MOST FABULOUS TOURNAMENT

CYCLE CITY 700 M I L E S v

TA L L A H A S S E E B I K E TR A I L S

THINGS FOR HER, HIM, HOME + MORE

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ADVERTORIAL

Birdies and Beer in St. Lucie From a world-class PGA Golf resort to craft beer and wine, this Treasure Coast enclave has everything needed to go off the grid.

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enhancing the habitat by conserving wildlife, water and energy through sustainable maintenance practices. “It’s the feather in our cap when it comes to golf,” says Bireley, “and it draws visitors from all over the world.”

The PGA Golf Club is multifaceted, with practice putting greens, a driving range and a 6-hole family short course, which is a great place to introduce youngsters to the game.

St. Lucie is also home to reputable semiprivate courses, including the Champion Turf Club at St. James, which features 6,838 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72.

Recent updates at this location include new greens and collars, and renovated fairways and bunkers.

There are several excellent public courses too, including Fairwinds Golf Course in Fort Pierce, which has earned 4.5 stars on Golf Digest’s Recommended Places to Play, and Indian Hills Golf Course, also in Fort Pierce, with a recently redesigned 18-hole layout.

After you’ve spent an afternoon improving your game, celebrate that success with a cold drink. The Treasure Coast Wine & Ale Trail extends through a tri-county region known as the Treasure Coast, but six of the trail’s 12 locations—4 craft breweries, a cidery and a vineyard among them—are located in St. Lucie County.

One of the most popular stops along the trail is the Sailfish Brewing Company in downtown Fort Pierce. The suds on tap are infused with local ingredients and given

names that pay homage to the great fishing off the coast: think White Marlin Wit wheat ale and the Flounder Pounder IPA. Another popular stop is Hop Life Brewing Company, which was started by two local firefighters and is located just minutes away from the PGA Village.

Beer not your thing? Then try Summer Crush Winery. “From a venue point of view, it’s worth seeing. And don’t miss their Sunday events,” says Bireley. “It’s a vineyard in the agricultural area of Fort Pierce, where the grapes are grown and wine is made on site. And the owner is an old-school surfer, so the whole place has a surf vibe.”

Whether you play a perfect round or not, St. Lucie has a number of options for a great day on the green, and a relaxing afternoon off of it.

VisitStLucie.com

PGA GOLF CLUB

ou may think that golfers have been exploring Florida for so long that there’s little left to discover.

But those who relish the game are sometimes surprised to learn about the opportunities to hit the links in St. Lucie, with nearly two dozen courses designed for a variety of skill levels and budgets. And because the area flies just under the radar of those who head to locations with big crowds, the courses here can be more accessible, even in the peak winter playing season.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is the opportunity to pair the greatest game with the most satisfying drink: craft beer.

“The Treasure Coast Wine & Ale Trail runs right through this part of the state, making it possible to swing clubs all morning and sample suds in the afternoon.

You can even reserve the ‘Brew Bus’ for a chauffeured excursion to all the stops,” says Charlotte Bireley, director of tourism and marketing for Visit St. Lucie.

Most golfers are drawn to the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, home to the PGA Golf Club, where professionals from around the globe come to play and train. Here, three championship courses designed by legends Tom Fazio and Pete Dye course through the landscape, and each has earned the Audubon International “Signature Sanctuary” status for maintaining and

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M Y L A G O S M Y W AY

C AV I A R C O L L E C T I O N S

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— WI N TER 2019 • 2020 —

CONTENTS F E AT U R E S

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60

70

78

CHANGE IN THE TIDE

THE LONG & WINDING TRAIL

RAINBOW CONNECTION

WILD AT HEART

BY KARA POUND

They’ve ridden the same waves for centuries, and more recently have been bringing in serious sponsorships, fans and media attention. And now, women are finally getting rewarded equally in pro surfing.

Cover Photography by

BY ERIC BARTON

It may be a surprise, even to Tallahassee regulars, that the capital has become an enviable city of bicycle trails. Check out where to spin your wheels amongst the pines and palms.

MARY BETH KOETH

On the cover: Zoe Benedetto, a 14-year-old professional surfer from Palm City, is one of the winning Florida faces on the national surf scene who’s excited about growing her sport and the prize money for females. She’s pictured here at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park.

On this spread: Our cover girl, Zoe Benedetto, basks in the setting sun on the shore of Fort Pierce Inlet State Park with one of her signature pink surfboards.

Photography by Mary Beth Koeth

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B Y C D D AV I D S O N - H E I R S

Forget the Pretty Woman version of polo where Champagne-sipping aristocrats demurely take in the action. It’s more about inclusion—and pink flamingo onesies—at the super fun and festive Gay Polo League tournament.

B Y S T E V E D O L LA R

He speaks to turkeys.

And she sings her way to Grammy Awards. After several decades apart, former college sweethearts Joe Hutto and Rita Coolidge have become inseparable again.

D E PA R T M E N TS

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47

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WADING IN

COLUMNS

ON THE FLY

18 /// THE SPREAD: Stone crab season is here, and we’re all cracked up.

47 /// C APITAL DAME: Remembering the concept of a proper winter season from a place where it no longer exists

98 /// BIRD’S-EYE VIEW: Discovering the new hipster heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale

20 /// T HE STUDIO: Mac Stone is as much a savior of the wild as he is a photographer of it.

22 /// O NE-ON-ONE: Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Super Bowl Host Committee and lifelong conservationist, is the magic man.

28 /// FLEDGLINGS: In Black Violin, two friends from South Florida combine strings and beats like no one else.

31 /// M ADE IN FLA GIFT GUIDE: A roundup of Florida-based goodies and gifts for your holiday shopping 41 /// JUST HATCHED: From a men’s boutique to fresh alfresco options to an artsy community space, here’s what’s new around the state.

91 /// PANHANDLING: The camp down Highway 20 promised fashion and fitness, but it was more of a lesson in parenting.

96 /// F LORIDA WILD: Carlton Ward Jr. spends an indelible day with an oysterman in Apalachicola.

100 /// G ROVE STAND: A European dream team expands their global restaurant empire to Miami with Fiola.

105 /// THE ROOST: Exquisite homes with secret gardens and bountiful beauty 110 /// DESIGN DISTRICT: For two landscape architects, it’s all about what’s on the outside.

115 /// T HE TIDE: Winter means festivals celebrating fiddler crabs and savory, smoky barbecue, plus other fun fetes.

120 /// F LORIDIANA: Why Harry Truman and a few other presidents escaped to Key West’s Little White House

W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 • 2 0 2 0 /// FLAMINGOMAG.COM

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EDITOR’S NOTE

First Place Never felt so Great The question shocked me considering the debate was not on fact-based sponsorship economics but rather the stereotype around men surfing better than women.

The move brought to light divergent mindsets, but it also made a positive impact.

Other organizations immediately announced they would equalize payouts for future contests and the WaveMasters field of competition deepened for the women’s professional division, with competitors coming in from as far away as California. Not to mention the winner of the event, Zoe Benedetto, had more money to support her development as a pro athlete and fulfill her dream of one day earning a spot on the World Surf League tour.

Some people, however, remain stuck on the idea that women deserve fewer opportunities to pursue their passion and to reap equal financial reward, across sports, business and civic life. But as the founder of a female-owned and -operated business, I will continue to use Flamingo as a platform to effectuate this change. And I’m hardly alone.

This fall, Melinda Gates announced that she is committing $1 billion to “expanding women’s power and influence in the United States.” It’s an exciting time of movement toward gender equality.

Turn the page to find out what else we have for you in this edition—officially the Outside Issue. You’ll find stories about men and women, gay and straight, black and white, powerful and unpretentious. You just might read something that makes you pump your fist. Whatever the reaction, I hope we leave you inspired.

Edit or in Chief & Publisher

let us know what you think. Email me at jamie@flamingomag.com

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MARY BETH KOETH

E

quality—it’s a word that elicits eye rolls or fist pumps, depending on which side of the equation you’re on. For those facing the inequities, the word represents an aspiration, which can become a force like those we have seen on a national level with major social movements over the past couple of years. For those who still cling to yesterday’s societal norms, change remains uncomfortable but the tide is changing and as professional surfer Kayla Durden said in a recent Florida Times-Union front page story, “There’s no going back.”

Each quarter when the new issue of Flamingo starts to take shape in our offices, a subtheme emerges that can take precedence over our traditional themes: the Iconic Florida, Travel, Arts and Culture, and Outside issues. During the creation of this winter Outside edition, along with the beautiful places and fascinating Floridians we have featured, that word—equality—and all it stands for stepped out of the pages and demanded a front-row seat, with two separate feature stories on gender and LGBT equality.

Our cover story, A Change in the Tide, on women’s pay equality in surfing, has a personal back story. My two daughters compete in local amateur surf contests. After seeing one of our favorite female professional surfers paid $250 for her first place win, compared to $1,250 won her male counterpart, I took a step to make a change in Northeast Florida and hopefully beyond.

Flamingo equaled the women’s prize money for October’s WaveMasters Contest, taking it from $5,000 to $10,000, to match that of the men’s purse. It sparked a wave of conversation in our community about whether or not women surfers deserve to be paid the same as men. (My daughter Audrey’s third-grade class even used it as a writing prompt.)

ISSUE

CONTRIBUTORS

16

For Floridians. By Floridians.

• FOUNDED IN 2016 •

EVAN S. BENN is the former Miami Herald food

editor and editor in chief of Indulge, the Herald’s luxury lifestyle magazine. A sought-after food and travel writer, Benn’s freelance work has appeared in The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Travel & Leisure and more. He currently lives in Philadelphia, where he is The Philadelphia Inquirer’s director of editorial marketing, and serves on the James Beard Foundation’s Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee. This is his first time writing for Flamingo, where he brought to life a story about a culinary dream team in Miami.

— W I N T E R 20 1 9 • 20 20 —

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief and Founder JAMIE RICH jamie@flamingomag.com Consulting Creative Director Holly Keeperman holly@flamingomag.com Photo Editor and Senior Designer Ellen Patch ellen@flamingomag.com Senior Writer and Cont ributin g Editor Eric Barton

KEITH NOVOSEL draws his creative inspiration from the great outdoors and looks for projects and collaborations that inspire passion and purpose. His natural and unfeigned style is appreciated by small businesses, nonprofits, publications and individuals around the world and at home in Florida. Keith lives in Ponte Vedra Beach with his wife and two sons. In this issue of Flamingo, he makes his debut by documenting one of his favorite subjects—surfing—in our cover story, “Change in the Tide”, which looks at equality and the future of female surfing with some of the Sunshine State’s best athletes.

KRISTEN PENOYER is a South Florida native

and forever Florida girl at heart, despite having lived and worked abroad in five different countries. An artist since childhood, she’s an acclaimed culinary photographer and has produced work for many of the world’s most admired brands. Her latest project, Florida is Beautiful, is a collection of one-of-a-kind, largeformat, black-and-white photographs that she develops in a dark room, embodying her affection for home and reverence for the South. Penoyer’s work appears in Flamingo for the first time in our Made in Florida Holiday Gift Guide.

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Contributing Designer Victor Maze Cont ributin g Writers Evan S. Benn, Jeanne Craig, Christina Cush, CD Davidson-Hiers, Steve Dollar, Prissy Elrod, Jessica Giles, Alyssa Morlacci, Kara Pound, Diane Roberts, Maddy Zollo Rusbosin, Nila Do Simon, Carlton Ward Jr. Contributing Photographers & Illustrators Leslie Chalfont, Beth Gilbert, Gabriel Hanway, Mary Beth Koeth, Stephen Lomazzo, Keith Novosel, Kristen Penoyer, Libby Volgyes, Mark Wallheiser, Carlton Ward Jr. Copy Editors & Fact Checkers Brett Greene, Katherine Shy Editorial Interns Holly Tishfield, Georgia Montgomery

SALES & MARKETING Publisher JAMIE RICH jamie@flamingomag.com Sales & Marketing Shylo Kline shylo@flamingomag.com Digital Strategy Christina Clifford For general inquiries email hello@flamingomag.com Contact Us JSR Media LLC 100 Executive Way, Suite 106 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 P: (904) 395-3272, E: info@flamingomag.com All content in this publication, including but not limited to text, photos and graphics, is the sole property of and copyrighted by JSR Media and Flamingo. Reproduction without permission from the publisher is prohibited. We take no responsibility for images or content provided by our advertisers.

JSR MEDIA

NICK GARCIA , ALICIA DEVINE, ANALISA JAHNA , ANDREA TIANGA

CD DAVIDSON-HIERS learned everything she knows about horses—and that’s a lot—growing up on her family’s Northwest Florida farm. She watched from the sidelines as her parents played polo from Gulfport, Mississippi to Point Clear, Alabama, and when she was old enough, she picked up polo too. In this issue of Flamingo she writes about Florida’s Gay Polo League and the unlikely marriage of this aristocratic sport with drag queens and sequins. She lives in Tallahassee, where she works as an education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Her work has appeared in The Bitter Southerner and Tallahassee Magazine.

Our members return each year as faithfully as the tides.

Situated on 2,500 acres of unspoiled paradise, Ocean Reef provides a long list of unsurpassed amenities to its Members including a 175-slip marina, two 18-hole golf courses, tennis facilities, state-of-the-art medical center, K-8 school, private airport and more.

There are only two ways to experience Ocean Reef Club’s Unique Way of Life – as a guest of a member or through the pages of Living magazine. Visit OceanReefClubMagazine.com or call 305.367.5921 to request your complimentary copy.

P R I VAT E

•

A U T H E N T I C

•

U N I Q U E

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THE SLICE P R O D UC TS + EVENTS + PROMOTIONS

HAVE PARTY WILL TRAVEL

ONE FOR YOU. ONE FOR ME. Get ’em while they last. Grab a soft new Flamingo tee for yourself or a friend this winter. Available in light or dark gray. $25 Purchase directly from our Facebook page @flamingomag or email hello@flamingomag.com.

TAKE ME DANCING But first, pour on the sophistication with this classic, and beautiful, cocktail to get the right vibes going.

Bacardi.com

OLD CUBAN

2p arts BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho Rum 4 mint leaves 1p art sugar syrup 1 1/4 parts lime juice 2d ashes bitters 2 1/2 parts Prosecco

VANDERMEER’S LATEST MUST-READ Two years after Borne introduced a world devastated by a climate catastrophe and populated by fantastical rogue biotech­— including a giant flying bear named Mord—New York Times best-selling Tallahassee author Jeff VanderMeer returns to that scorched, hallucinogenic terrain with his latest book, Dead Astronauts, which reveals the story of a mysterious trio first glimpsed in the 2017 novel. The space travelers have some interesting company, most notably “a messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space,” among other creatures and creations of weird science run decidedly amok.

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F O R T H E L AT E S T H A P P E N I N G S , P H O T O S & V I D E O S , F O L L O W @ T H E F L A M I N G O M A G

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JILL MARTINI, KRISTEN PENOYER, BACARDI, K YLE CASSIDY COURTESY FSG

Long time gastronome and former Ringling School of Design student Jill Martini tapped into her entrepreneurial skills to turn a 1978 horse trailer into a trendy mobile bar fit for any occasion. Simply provide the alcohol and the Wandering Whale will turn even the most boring corporate event into an exciting, boozy bash. In purchasing a package deal, this curbside drinkery also comes with its own Wandering Whale bartender to keep the crafty cocktails flowing. If you can’t make it to Sarasota, where the Wandering Whale roams, get inspired by Martini’s creativity. thewanderingwhale.com

[ — Flor idians, far e, f inds —

WADING IN

— The Spread —

S ton e crabbi ng s e as on i s he r e , s o DIY!

— the studio —

Ma c S tone’s mi s s i on t o phot ogr aph and pr e s e r ve

— one-on-one —

R odn ey B a rreto on t he Supe r Bowl and t he Eve r gl ade s

— FLEDGLINGS —

Wh y S oF la’s B lack Vi ol i n i s t he be s t hi p-hop s t r i ngs duo

— Gift Guide —

S hop ou r fa ve F L A gi f t s and s ai l t hr ough t he hol i days

— Just Hatched —

C heck ou t new pl ac e s t o s hop, s i p, e at and c hi l l This page: Leg shot of a great

[

MAC STONE

egret in Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, taken during the nesting boom of 2018 by photographer Mac Stone.

See pg. 20 for more.

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S O C LO S E , YET A WORLD AWAY

R E O P E N S E A R LY 2 0 2 0 N OW ACCE P TI N G R E S E RVATI O N S

L I T T L E P A L M I S L A N D . C O M | 8 7 7. 6 4 3 . 6 7 8 2

WADING IN :THE SPREAD FLO RIDA-F R ESH BITES & BEVS

By Er i c Ba rt o n • P h o t o g ra p h y b y L i b b y Vo l g y es

All You Can CRAB How to catch and enjoy fresh Stone Crab at home

I

t just so happens that Oct. 15 is Anthony Puleio’s birthday. But despite that fact, it’s unquestionably his favorite day of the year, as it signals the start of seven months in stone crab bliss.

Every year, on the season’s opening day Puleio heads out into a wide swath of Intracoastal that intersects with the Indian River in Melbourne. He pulls up 10 traps around the bay, and if all goes right, he’ll celebrate his birthday with a stone crab feast.

He started the tradition four years ago after learning that stone crabs can be found in many Florida estuaries and along the shores, not only in South Florida, where they became famous.

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That story goes: In 1921, Joseph Weiss threw some stone crabs in boiling water as an experiment and turned them into a phenomenon at his Miami restaurant. The place still bears his name, and Joe’s Stone Crab is still the state’s most iconic buyer of the orange and black shellfish.

The commercial stone crab industry in Florida harvests as much as 3.5 million pounds of crabs a year. Last season red tide crushed the bounty, however, knocking the haul down to about 2 million pounds. Stone crabs are a rare sustainable fishery. After pulling them up from the traps, fishermen break off the crabs’ claws before throwing them back, so the pinchers can regenerate.

In Florida anyone with a recreational fishing

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license and who completes the free stone crab registration on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website can set up to five stone crab traps. For Puleio and his 5-yearold son, who might like the trips even more than dad, that’s 10 traps total.

The traps require 20 pounds of concrete to hold them on the bottom. Most people use pig feet or fish carcasses as bait. Puleio says his best haul was 38 crabs on one glorious day.

Puleio’s two daughters, 4 and 8, sometimes come along, and Puleio always enjoys bringing friends, who have no idea how easy it is to harvest stone crabs. “Even a lot of my close friends are like, ‘No way! You’re catching stone crabs in the river? In the Indian River?’”

Three Ways to Eat Stone Crabs (and one to avoid)

1

Puleio recommends simply dipping the stone crabs in butter seasoned with garlic salt. “They are so tasty and fresh, you don’t need anything else.”

2

FRESH CATCH

Stone crabs must be prepared shortly after harvesting; commercial operations cook them right at the dock. Puleio keeps them in a cooler, without ice, for the duration of his fishing trip, then cooks them as soon as he gets home.

Clockwise from above:

Smaller stone crabs fill a cast iron basket; Puleio, on the Intracoastal, shares crabbing pointers; stone crabs’ signature black tips

At Joe’s, stone crabs are famously served with a tangy, creamy mustard sauce (1 cup mayo, 2 tablespoons light cream, 1 tablespoon Colman’s dry mustard, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon A-1 sauce and salt to taste)

3

If, like Puleio, you end up with a bounty of fresh-caught stone crabs, you might actually have leftovers. After four days or so, when the claws might begin to taste fishy, Puleio recommends using the meat in any recipe that calls for blue crab. It adds a sweetness to Maryland crab cakes.

4

Whatever you do, Puleio recommends against inviting everybody over to share the bounty you’re about to harvest from your recreational traps. While some days he returns with a haul, empty traps always remind him not to plan parties around fickle crabs.

Get Cracking HOW TO COOK STONE CRAB CLAWS BOIL fresh stone crab claws in well-salted water for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they turn orange.

SHUT TERSTOCK

SHOCK claws in an ice bath immediately to stop the cooking and help separate the meat from the shells.

COVER cooled shells with a towel and smack them with a large spoon until cracked all over.

100 N. Woodland Blvd.

DeLand, Florida 32720 moartdeland.org For information & accommodations visit: visitwestvolusia.com

REMOVE the top of the claws to expose the meat.

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WADING IN :THE STUDIO FLORIDA ARTIST PROFILES B y C h ri st i n a C u sh

SWAMP ROMPER

Gainesville photographer Mac Stone captures wild images to save and protect lands in Florida and beyond

Above clockwise: Hang The Moon is meant to inspire sleeping underneath the stars; The Calm demonstrates braving an incoming storm to get a great shot; Color

T

wenty years ago, when he was a mere 15-year-old boy noodling around with a camera in the woods and the stream that ran next to his yard, Mac Stone presented his photos of the property at a town hall meeting. His neighbors hoped his pictures could showcase the land’s organic beauty and help them argue their case to prevent it from getting developed. He was crushed when his art couldn’t effect a different outcome. That defeat led him to build a career as a conservation photographer, getting grants to photograph parcels of land valuable to ecosystems and at risk of development.

Stone studied biology and the environment at Virginia Tech, where he graduated in 2006. His beloved Gainesville swamps, which he’s known since age 4, kept calling. “Every summer, I came home. I really missed the springs and things unique to

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Florida. It’s crazy how much I missed it.”

He spent two years teaching photography and environmental science in Honduras. In 2008, he went to Wyoming to be a fly fishing guide while honing his photography skills.

While teaching teens photography at a ranch, he met his wife, Hannah, a graphic designer.

Florida beckoned Stone again in 2009, and he moved to the Keys, later following Hannah to South Carolina in 2012. The Stones have been married for four years and became first-time parents this fall.

For the last two years, Stone has traveled to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples every three weeks. “I’ve been working on a ghost

MAC STONE; CARLTON WARD JR .

and Form captures one of Kanapaha Prairie’s red rattlesnakes making its way over a fallen live oak; Stone immersed in a project chronicling our State’s habitats

Spread your wings in West Volusia.

Above: Needlerush showcases a flowering water plant on the

shallow parts of Lake Okeechobee.

orchid project. Part of that was documenting a remaining old-growth swamp—a place that’s never been logged, cut or altered by man and is an ancient ecosystem.” It’s astonishing to Stone that this forest is untarnished since thousands of acres of Florida cypress were wiped out years ago. “I’m photographing 3,000-year-old cypress trees to show how the Southeast used to look,” says Stone. “This ambassadorial swamp is so wild, it’s remarkably different as a primary forest with massive trees.”

Stone’s camera-wielding eco-activism extends much farther. “I just got back from Cambodia, working with scientists to get 150,000 acres protected. I did similar work in South Carolina and have saved some properties in Alachua County.” Always remembering the profound defeat of his 15-year-old self, Stone admits that it feels great to “get tangible results—taking 1,000 acres off the chopping block or keeping a crucial connected corridor from being fragmented.” Despite his protective victories, he is overwhelmed by the pace of development in Florida.

“You could be advocating for a place on Tuesday, and Thursday it is sold.”

For a guy who feels most comfortable in a Florida swamp, he’s surprisingly optimistic about the crossroads of economic progress and the environment. He says, “Ecotourism here is growing, and we can’t put these resources at risk, as so much of the state’s identity and economy is tied to them.”

If he ever gets out of the swamp, he’s got two iconic Florida destinations to shoot: Apalachicola and the Dry Tortugas. For now, some of his work can be seen at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery in West Palm Beach from January 16 through February 12.

See more of Stone’s work at macstonephoto.com.

Everyone enjoys our Wings of the West, abundant parks, pristine natural beauty, historic homes, vibrant downtown, eclectic shopping and award winning restaurants.

Download a Visitors Guide at VisitWestVolusia.com

CONVENIENTLY LOCATED BETWEEN DAYTONA BEACH AND ORLANDO.

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WADING IN :ONE-ON-ONE CO N VE RSATIONS, INTERVIEWS, STOR IES B y Ja m i e R i ch

MR. SUPER BOWL

Rodney Barreto started off patrolling the streets of Coconut Grove 30 years ago. Today he’s one of the Sunshine State’s most influential forces

R

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Above: Including the upcoming Super Bowl 54, Rodney Barreto is responsible for bringing three

championship games to Miami as chairman of the Super Bowl Host Committee.

recently, The Wharf, a waterfront dining and entertainment concept in Fort Lauderdale.

Super Bowl 54 kicks off Sunday, Feb. 2, at Hard Rock Stadium and marks Miami’s record-breaking 11th time hosting the event and the 100th anniversary of the NFL. Off the field, the Super Bowl Host Committee is running four campaigns, focused on raising awareness about Florida’s environment,

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stopping sex trafficking and spurring community development and small business growth, all with the goal of permanently improving the region long after the final whistle blows. Ahead of the big game, Flamingo editor in chief Jamie Rich sat down with Barreto at his office in Coral Gables to learn more. The following are highlights from their conversation.

COURTESY MIAMI SUPER BOWL HOST COMMMIT TEE

odney Barreto has led Miami to the Super Bowl end zone three times—“my own record,” he says.

Barreto’s post as chairman of the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee positions him as the city’s ultimate cheerleader, securing and overseeing an event expected to bring in $500 million in tourism dollars and leave what he hopes is a lasting, positive impact on the city.

A key figure in making the Magic City more magical over the last 30 years through development, business consulting and civic leadership, the Miami native has also dedicated his professional life to helping protect Florida’s delicate ecosystems, as chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for seven years (and a member of the commission for 10).

Barreto grew up one of 11 children, with a love of exploring and fishing in the Everglades, and with a drive to forge his own path. He began his career in 1985 as a 19-year-old police officer in Coconut Grove, a job he poured his heart into for six years before a neighborhood shootout changed his course. He left the force to work with one of Miami’s most notable developers and things took off. Today, Barreto’s portfolio of development projects includes, most

WAS WORKING AS A POLICE OFFICER YOUR FIRST JOB?

RB: My parents couldn’t pay for 11 kids going to college, but they encouraged us to go to college. We all went to Miami Dade [College]. I took the police exam, and I was a policeman at 19 years old, which is kind of scary. It helped me grow up quick.

what? My friend shouldn’t get shot at. Why don’t you come work for me?” I was 25 years old. I went to the police chief, Clarence Dickson, and I said, “Hey, Clarence. Can I take this?”

And he said, “Go for it.

The door will be open, if it doesn’t work out.” I left and then I never looked back.

WHAT PROPELLED YOU TO GET OUT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT?

WHAT WAS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO WORK WITH MONTY?

RB: Do you know Monty’s restaurant here in Coconut Grove? Back in the 1980s, it was the spot to be. And I was his off-duty policeman five or six nights a week.

[One night] I was working plainclothes in the Grove on my regular job as a policeman and my partner and I were in an unmarked car. We pulled up to this corner. There were six kids on the corner. I went to say something to my partner, and the guy pulled a gun out and tried to shoot me in the head and the bullet went through the window.

I jumped out of the car, shot at all six of them and missed them. There was this big article in the paper, and I walked into Monty’s restaurant the next day. And Monty said, “Hey, you know

RB: He had nine restaurants and clubs at the time.

They kind of hired me as director of security, but I quickly became the righthand guy. He’s the one that exposed me to all this civic involvement because he was Mr. Tourism. There was no tourism bureau here.

There was a guy named Monty Trainer on this side of the bay, and there was a guy named Steve Muss on the Miami Beach side. And when those two titans got together, things happened.

Then I ran a thing called the Greater Miami Host Committee. About 27 years ago I started our version of Times Square, with a big orange that comes down off of the InterContinental.

Miami back then had an Orange Bowl parade every

Below: The MSBHC and partners at the Atlanta Super Bowl in 2019.

occ.you.pa.tion coder designer strategician triathlete

We see who • you • are. Whether you’re looking for a job, or in need of a staffing partner — you’ve come to the right place.

For more information, please contact our Orlando office at 407-803-5111.

Aerotek is an equal opportunity employer. An Allegis Group Company. ©2018

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WADING IN :ONE-ON-ONE CO N VE RSATIONS, INTERVIEWS, STOR IES

Brickell, Wynwood, the Design District, Doral, even. They all have hotels. They all have nightlife. They all have great restaurants.

DOWN, SET, HIKE WHAT’S NEW THAT FANS CAN EXPECT FOR SUPER BOWL 54?

New Year’s Eve. And all these people go downtown, they have the parade and then about 9:00 at night there’s nothing.

I saw this as an opportunity. I said, “You know what? We got to have a concert, fireworks and a big orange.”

It’s funny. About five years ago, I get a call from Pitbull, Mr. 305. I told him I wanted to rival New York. You look at TV in New York and everybody’s freezing out there. Miami, everybody’s just enjoying the balmy weather. It still exists today.

The orange I built is still there.

THE BIG ORANGE PREPARED YOU TO TAKE ON THE SUPER BOWL HOST COMMITTEE?

RB: My history with the Super Bowl committee was Dick Anderson. He was a part of the undefeated team, All-Pro safety for the Miami Dolphins. He called me up and said, “Hey, Rodney. I need your help. I’m going to be the chairman of a host committee.” This was the first host committee ever for a Super Bowl. Remember, Super Bowls have really evolved. You couldn’t give away a ticket to the Super Bowl. So I said, “What do you need me to do?” He goes, “Why don’t you be the chairman of our government affairs committee, and work on state, county, and all these different governments, and get money, get

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The other thing we didn’t do 10 years ago is talk about human trafficking, sex trafficking . . . We’re working with the Women’s Fund, and we have a big campaign.

— R O D N E Y B A R R E TO

services.” So I did it. That was 30 years ago. Then I chaired it in 2007 and in 2010 and now in 2020.

HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED IN MIAMI SINCE THOSE DAYS?

RB: I tell people when they come here now, there’s so many things that are new in a 10-year period, it’ll blow you away.

The Frost Museum of Science is brandnew. The Pérez Art Museum’s brand-new.

The tunnel to the port is brand-new.

The Brightline train’s brand-new. All the people living in downtown, brand-new.

There’s so many great things going on this side of the bay. You have all these emerging neighborhoods. There’s

FLAMINGOMAG.COM /// W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 • 2 0 2 0

WHAT DO YOU THINK SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES ARE GOING TO BE FOR THE SUPER BOWL?

RB: There’s just a lot of logistics. This is what qualifies as a SEAR 1 event. What that means is all the federal resources come to Miami, homeland security, customs, US attorneys.

A lot of things we won’t see because they’re COURTESY OF RODNE Y BARRETO AND MIAMI SUPER BOWL HOST COMMIT TEE

Above: The Barreto family Below: Ray Martinez, executive director MSBHC, Barreto and Dan Marino

RB: Well, you’re going to experience a brand-new stadium with all kinds of neat restaurants. I don’t think you can buy a hamburger and hot dog in that stadium. It’s all gourmet, it’s all these new beers and they really did a phenomenal job.

In downtown Miami we’re doing Super Bowl LIVE, which will be a weeklong celebration, free to the public. We’ll have free fireworks, free concerts. We’ll have an environmental village. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be there. Ocean Conservancy will be there, the Everglades Foundation and all these different partners with NFL sponsors.

A lot of people could not afford to go to the game. This is a great opportunity for the community at large to come and experience the Super Bowl [atmosphere]. 65,000 people go to the game. There’ll be well over a couple hundred thousand people here for the parties and all the entertainment that goes on around the sport.

We can help victims of Human Trafficking.

Above: Barreto and friends after a successful day on the water catching mahi-mahi

worried about a game of this magnitude being the site of a potential strike from some terrorist group. We need 10,000 volunteers, but every one of those volunteers will have a background check done by Homeland Security. We didn’t do that 10 years ago.

The other thing we didn’t do 10 years ago is talk about human trafficking, sex trafficking. We are working with the state attorney’s office. We’re working with The Women’s Fund, and we have a big campaign about how to recognize human trafficking, training people in hotels and staff. We’ve partnered with more than 300 organizations.

TELL US ABOUT THE HOST COMMITTEE’S CAMPAIGN TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR SEX TRAFFICKING.

RB: We’re doing a huge initiative that is bringing together over 300 organizations to work together to create a platform to deal with sex trafficking. An interesting statistic is that the majority of these women are not brought into your area.

They’re here.

About 65% of them are people here, from broken homes or drugs. It’s not like someone’s bringing a whole bunch of girls into town. It’s an issue that has to be dealt with. And our state attorney, she’s ahead of a lot of people in Florida, because she has a brick-and-mortar intake facility. So if a girl calls, they’re able to evaluate her and place her properly somewhere. So it’s not like you’re calling the 1-800 number and no one picks up. They’re actually picking it up and dealing with it.

HOW WILL THE SEX TRAFFICKING CAMPAIGN GO INTO ACTION? WITH BILLBOARDS IN THE AIRPORT SIMILAR TO ATLANTA DURING THE SUPER BOWL LAST YEAR? RB: It’s funny you said that because I took pictures of that and I gave that to everybody. I said, contact Atlanta.

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I thought it was impactful. Everywhere I turned there was either a poster or an announcement kept coming on the PA. Human trafficking was a big thing [at the Atlanta Super Bowl].

We already have ads going on.

There will be billboards and signs. And so I went to Kathy [Rundle] first, our long-time state attorney, and said, “Hey, the NFL gave us a check for $100,000. Tell us who you want us to give it to.” The Women’s Fund MiamiDade is an umbrella organization that deals with all of this, so we’re working with them.

HOW IS THE SUPER BOWL COMMITTEE HELPING SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT?

RB: We’re calling it the Ocean to Everglades initiative. If you look at the stadium, it sits in between the ocean and the Everglades. People are tired of all this plastic. Ocean Conservancy came to us and became a sponsor of the host committee because they saw the platform and their whole thing is about plastics in the water. No straws, no plastic bags, and man we’ve been getting the word out. We’ve already done four beach cleanups. We’re trying to collect 54 tons of plastic for

FOR THE LATEST HAPPENINGS, PHOTOS & VIDEOS, FOLLOW @THEFLAMINGOMAG

ChanfrauLaw.com 386.258.7313 Attorneys Offices in Daytona Beach & Palm Coast

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WADING IN :ONE-ON-ONE CO N VE RSATIONS, INTERVIEWS, STOR IES

the 54th game. The governor and first lady came out to kick it off.

I often tell people the sad thing about the fight against plastics is no one can see below the waterline, unless you dive or unless somebody goes down there and videotapes something. We just think everything’s nice. The water is pretty.

HOW CAN THE SUPER BOWL REDUCE SINGLE-USE PLASTICS? RB: Hard Rock Stadium is committed to phase out 99.4% of single-use plastics by 2020, including for the Super Bowl. Even when we did the cleanups, you could see all the plastic bags. It’s amazing.

WHAT IS THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE EVERGLADES?

RB: We’re also going to do a python challenge and a lionfish [challenge], all part of the Super Bowl. We’re going to have prizes and all that. We’re going to be hunting for them. The pythons that have been thrown into the Everglades.

They’re eating alligators, upsetting the food chain, eating everything. When I met with the governor I told him, “It’s great you’re spending a billion dollars to fix the Everglades. But once we fix it there’s no indigenous wildlife there.” And he agreed. So he’s now really put a lot of emphasis on eradicating the python, which is the right thing to do.

sure they did their homework and cook their food. They’re living paycheck-topaycheck. Not everybody has the luxury of having time to do a lot of extra things.

Social media allows people to participate from their homes or on their phones.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE HAS THE STATE DIGRESSED SINCE YOUR CHILDHOOD?

RB: We have about 22 million people in this state, a lot of development, a lot of pressure on the environment, a lot of pressure on the waterfront, so yeah, things have changed a lot.

DO YOU THINK THAT THE CITY’S GROWING TOO FAST?

RB: I don’t think people are going to stop moving to Florida. That’s the problem.

We’re a great state, great weather, the taxes are right, we’re a business climate.

So it’s just keeping up with that and continuing to evolve and modernize.

WAS THE HOST COMMITTEE INVOLVED WITH HALFTIME ENTERTAINMENT SELECTION?

IS THE PYTHON OR THE LIONFISH MORE OF A THREAT?

RB: I think they both are equal threats.

Pythons get a little more attention because not everybody’s a diver, not everybody knows what a lionfish is.

RB: No. A lot of people think we are, but we’re not. Early on, I did advocate for Jennifer Lopez. Also Pitbull. I thought it really should be a South Florida theme.

Across the board, Hispanic, AfricanAmerican, Latino, the whole deal because I think there’s so much flavor here. We have our own rhythm. I’m just hoping they bring Pitbull as a surprise.

IS THERE ONE ISSUE THAT IS PERSONAL TO YOU?

WHO DO YOU PREDICT WILL BE PLAYING?

WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO HELP COMBAT THESE ISSUES?

SO NOT THE PATRIOTS?

BARRETO’S FAVORITE SPORTING PASTIMES

GAME ON •••••

RB: There’s going to be programs, whether it’s turtles or nesting birds.

There’s a lot of programs you can get involved in, and I think that’s important.

I think a lot of people say, “It’s not my issue. I don’t want to get involved.”

WHY DO YOU THINK MORE PEOPLE DON’T GET INVOLVED?

RB: A lot of people, they’re working 9-to5 just to put food on the table. They’ve got to get home, get the kids, make

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RB: I would love to see someone like Kansas City or New Orleans because I’d like someone here that hasn’t been here in a while. There would be a lot of enthusiasm from their fan base.

RB: No. They had their chance. How many times can you do it? It’s time for a little change. I just want some great weather.

WHERE WILL YOU BE ON GAME DAY AND WHO WILL YOU CHEER FOR?

RB: I’ll be in the stadium. Cheering for the region to make sure that everything goes off without a hitch. So we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

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FAVORITE FOOTBALL COACH: Don Shula. I did the first fishing tournament with him way back in the ’90s.

•••••

TOP NFL PLAYER: Dan Marino. He’s a friend. I think he was a class player on the field and off the field.

I like his energy. He was always firing people up.

•••••

GO-TO OUTDOOR ACTIVITY: Where do I begin? Hunting, fishing, biking, hiking. All of it. I’m just an overall outdoors man and a champion for it too.

My best thoughts are [when I’m] quietly sitting in the woods. I love early, early morning to get there earlier, dark, and then all of a sudden, the birds start chirping and it’s amazing to listen to the woods come alive.

•••••

RB: I think the thing that resonates most with me is that I grew up on hunting in the Everglades and boating out here.

They say you want to leave the place better than when you found it.

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WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO FISH FOR MOST? I’m on the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. I fish for them all. I was just swordfishing four weeks ago off of Marathon. It’s a lot of fun.

•••••

HOW MUCH OF YOUR TIME DO YOU SPEND ON THE WATER? My boat is looking at me wondering if I forgot about [her] because I’m doing this golf thing right now. I just bought a 44’ Contender open fisherman. I like Contender boats because I know the owner, Joe Neber. They’re built right in Homestead.

WADING IN:FLEDGLINGS FLO RIDA MUSICIANS ON THE R ISE B y C h ri st i n a C u sh

Mix Masters South Florida hip-hop and strings duo Black Violin are boldly blending music genres with a fresh, modern sound

K

ev Marcus is cozied up in his favorite sweatpants, American Giant hoodie and Ferragamo sneakers. The 37-year-old violinist is on Black Violin’s tour bus, heading to Kalamazoo, Michigan, talking about obstacles he’s overcome and the ones he knows are coming.

In the midst of their 135-stop American tour, Black Violin, a hip-hop strings duo, have been throwing down a 100-minute show that leaves Marcus feeling both high and drained.

Easy to chat with, Marcus thoughtfully reflects back on the moment when he met Wil Baptiste, 38, now his partner in Black Violin, in music class at Fort Lauderdale’s Dillard High School. He recalls the group’s first big break in 2005 on Showtime at the Apollo and expresses gratitude for the gigs and exposure they get from supportive superstar pal Alicia Keys. Below, more on the duo and their “slow snowball roll” to “becoming a household name.”

DESCRIBE YOUR RIDE SINCE YOU BECAME A BAND.

It took us 15 years to get here, and I don’t take it for granted. Once I’m on the tour bus, I recognize what I’m doing. But it’s hard being away 21 days at a time from your kids, wife, dog and bed.

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FLORIDA SHOWS with Black Violin

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RLANDO O Feb. 8 ORT MYERS F Feb. 12 ALLAHASSEE T Feb. 13

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JACKSONVILLE Feb. 14

AMPA T Feb. 20 ORT LAUDERDALE F Feb. 21

YOU GUYS GET HYPED TO BUST STEREOTYPES. ELABORATE.

I’m 6-foot-2, 275 pounds. I look more like a linebacker than a violinist. Wil is 6-foot-1 and three quarters; he’s built like Dwayne Wade. When we perform, I’m more of a rapper, Wil is more of a singer. He’ll make you cry with something slow and beautiful. Queen Latifah once said to me, “Kev, you play with so much physicality.”

TELL US ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM.

Take the Stairs dropped Nov. 1. This is our fourth. It’s an homage to our career, referring to how we have grown steadily. We’ve done everything in our business—payroll, balance books, settling up after a show. We understand the business and have had a more fulfilling route.

HOW HAS BEING FLORIDIANS INFLUENCED YOUR MUSIC?

Our music wouldn’t sound this way if we lived anywhere else. It helped us unapologetically blend genres. I lived on Calle Ocho, the heart of Miami’s Latin culture district, a melting pot with cross-genres like Afro-Cuban funk.

WHO DO YOU HAVE A MUSIC CRUSH ON?

Beck. His instrumentals are incredible. I want to meet him and get in studio with him. A lot of his music inspired Take the Stairs.

LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE! ROBIN ABR AHA M

Serving Jacksonville & Surrounding Areas Since 2002 904-566-4748 • Robin@RobinAbraham.com • RobinAbraham.com

MARK CLENNON

DO YOU HAVE AN OUTDOORSY FLORIDIAN SIDE?

I love riding my bike. We bought bikes for my family and love going around our neighborhood in Davie. We go to our beach and grill food and time slows. What’s cool about Florida is the water—it’s connecting to divinity.

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KELLER WILLIAMS® REALTY 4116 3RD STREET SOUTH JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL 32250

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YELLOW MAKES THE SEASON BRIGHT!

Visit kendrascott.com to shop online or find your closest store.

H O M E G ROW N M A K E R S , D E S I G N E R S & S H O P S B y M a d d y Z o l l o R u sb o si n

1. CYPRESS FLORAL DESIGN Custom Wreath Deck out your door with a Florida citrus-inspired wreath with magnolia and loquat leaves, seeded eucalyptus, juniper, nandina, grevillea, beautyberry and kumquats. cypressfloraldesign.com Starting at $125

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A SEASON OF GIVING Winter in Florida means decorated palms, instead of pine trees and white sand instead of snow. we’ve highlighted the best gifts made in—and inspired by—the Sunshine State. From home accents and apparel to outdoor gear and stocking stuffers, these local finds are sure to make the season even brighter.

FOR HIM 2. ICEMULE COOLERS Traveler Cooler Not your average icebox: Beyond its unique luggagelike look, it holds up to 36 liters, floats in the water and keeps ice frozen for up to 48 hours. icemulecoolers.com $289

3. DUVIN DESIGN CO. Tropics Buttonup and Shorts Duvin Design Co.’s prints are all about living a carefree—not to mention stylish—Florida lifestyle. Case in point: this bold, whimsical shirt and short set to infuse some fun into your wardrobe. duvindesign.com

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$62 each

4. FREEHAND GOODS Camo Trucker 5 Panel Hat The Orlando maker is all about creating quality yet affordable leather and handcrafted goods. This camo hat strikes the perfect balance between causal and cool. freehandgoods.com $25

5. ELLA BING Wooden Bow Tie No. 205 What’s more dapper than a bowtie? One that’s made out of mahogany. Tie one on with Ella Bing, a Tampa-based haberdashery known for creating striking styles that pair laser-cut wood with patterned fabric. ellabing.com

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$55

6. OVER UNDER CLOTHING Traditional Leather Duffle Step up your airport style by carrying this first classworthy handmade leather suitcase. Each duffle is made to order and comes with a removable matching dopp kit. overunderclothing.com $550

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FOR HER

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7. DORA MAE JEWELRY Angelina Necklace and Celebrate Your Shine Earrings Inspired by her grandmother Dora Mae’s jewelry collection, Ansley Schrimsher creates one-of-a-kind pieces using vintage and modern materials. Choose drop earrings with 1950s rhinestone starburst pendants, an antique shell necklace and more. Or customize your own heirlooms. doramaejewelry.com $149 each

8. CASE+DRIFT Dakota and Palms Towels Made from Turkish cotton, each versatile piece can be used as a scarf, a blanket, a wrap or a towel, making it a must-pack for any stylish jet-setter. caseanddrift.com $40 each

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9. XIMENA KAVALEKAS Jenny Box Bag in Sand or Bourbon Miami designer, Ximena Kavalekas, is all about luxe, yet ladylike accessories. This petite leather bag has a removable strap, so you can take it from a clutch to a crossbody in seconds. ximenakavalekas.com $1,740 (Sand), $770 (Bourbon)

10. ASHLEY WOODSON BAILEY Acrylic Tray in Fay Flower photographer Ashley Woodson Bailey is known for capturing striking floral images and then creating mesmerizing fine art, wallpapers and specialty items. awblove.com $110

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11. GIOVANNA BARRIOS Python Champagne Clutch This cheeky clutch puts a stylish spin on BYOB. Between its python skin exterior, champagne shape and chic gold chain, it’s sure to win you best dressed at the holiday party. giovannabarrios.com $550

12. CABANA LIFE White/Navy Trim Terry Tunics All of the designs from Jacksonville apparel brand Cabana Life are made out of luxe UPF materials, proving that sun safety can be stylish. cabanalife.com Starting at $106

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S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

* vero beach, fl *

* 772 . 567. 8835 * dragonflyboats.net

C U S T O M T E N D E R S A N D F L AT S B O AT S

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•

HIGH PERFORMANCE

•

PURPOSEFUL DESIGN

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FOR THE HOME 13. GIDDY PAPERIE The Winter Park design studio partnered with the Enchanted Home and Acrylic Sticks to make these swizzles. A bowadorned ginger jar stirrer is the merriest way to mix things up. giddypaperie.com

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$20

14. CAMP CRAFT COCKTAILS Not only are these jars pretty, but inside, each has everything needed to create a tasty cocktail that serves up to 16 people.

Whip up a cranberry martini or citrus-inspired beverage by adding your alcohol of choice. campcraftcocktails.com

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$24

15. VIDA DE LOUIE TEQUILA Can’t swing a trip to the Caribbean? Get into an island state of mind with this craft tequila. Its smooth taste paired with a twist of orange makes every day feel like vacation. vidadelouie.com

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$43

16. LETTERMADE Drink More Champagne Embroidered Cocktail Napkins Every hostess will love these embroidered cocktail napkins.

The Winter Park-based fine linens company taps into a playful mindset, with motifs including Oprah and Anna Wintour, and custom designs too. shoplettermade.com Starting at $48

17. 4 RIVERS SMOKEHOUSE Brisket Candle and Pitmaster Kit Bring the smoky flavors of this Orlando barbecue joint home with a set of signature sauces and rubs.

Any barbecue enthusiast needs this brisket-scented candle, which makes it smell like you’ve cooked all day. 4rsmokehouse.com $16 brisket candle, $59 pitmaster kit

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S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

east coast soul meets west coast chill SHOP WITH US

Zodiac Coin Necklaces

@shopdrift | Neptune Beach | Florida

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STOCKING STUFFERS 18. SUNSHINE STATE GOODS Sunburst Festival Muscle Tank and Holiday Road Unisex Tee Wear your Florida pride on your sleeve quite literally with this Clearwater apparel brand that donates a portion of proceeds to wildlife efforts. sunshinestategoods.com $28 tank, $32 unisex tee

19. CORKCICLE Origins Coffee Mug The perfect caffeine-carrying sidekick for the morning commute or just chilling on the front porch swing.

Keeps beverages cold or hot for a crazy long time. Comes in snowdrift (shown) or walnut. corkcicle.com

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$29

20. DUVIN DESIGN CO. Happy Feet Socks don’t have to be boring—just look at these palm tree and flamingo pairs. duvindesign.com $12

21. 4OCEAN 4Ocean Bracelet and Sea Otter Bracelet The Boca Raton-based org aims to stop the ocean’s plastic crisis with bracelets, made from recycled materials, by pledging to protect sea life and remove 1 pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines for each one sold. 4ocean.com

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$20

22. OVER UNDER Water Dog Collar in Blaze Orange and The Gang’s All Here Ribbon Leash Give your good boy or girl something to bark about. It’s no surprise this Jacksonville brand offers quality accessories for furry friends. overunderclothing.com

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$35 collar, $42 ribbon leash

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23. BLOOMWOLF STUDIO Sunshine Favorites Pocket Notebooks Jotting down memories, ideas or notes has never looked cuter. bloomwolfstudio.com $10

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biscup spine dr. fr ancis conroy ed ward fleming s alon holistic integ r ative he alth mdbe aut y l ab s by dr. dadurian nail l ab paul l abrecque s alon and spa squee ze pil ate s palm be ach

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specialty l a cl ar a re sidence s s ale s g aller y palm be ach bic ycle tr ail shop virginia philip wine, spirits & ac ademy woof g ang b aker y & g rooming

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theroyalpoincianapl a z a .com

beauty + wellness

style fashion +

@ theroyalpoincianapl a z a

WADING IN :JUST HATCHED DEBUTS TO PER USE (NORTH) muralist Sarah Painter. Sunil says the goal of RikSha Tacos is to connect with their guests and start cultural conversations about food by using interesting flavors and simple presentations of Southeast Asian street food.

The bright colors of the location and the bold bites are inspired by the Rajans’ own travels and family history. rikshatacos.com

T-DUB’S

AT LA N T I C B E A C H

Above: Black Bear Bread Co. opened Bar Room right next door Below: Cypress Floral Design in Jacksonville

BLACK BEAR BREAD CO.

JACK GARDNER, CHRISTINA BLOCK

S A N TA R O S A B E A C H

Chef Phil McDonald and restaurateur Dave Rauschkolb had the shared vision to bring a true artisan bakery to South Walton. The duo opened Black Bear Bread Co. (BBBCo), a neighborhood cafe with fresh-baked goods and coffee, in the Shops of Grayton in 2017. Named for the black bears known to wander behind the bakery kitchen, the all-day eatery makes breads like naturally leavened country sourdough, multigrain sourdough, baguettes, focaccia, bagels, challah, cinnamon rolls and kouign-amann and serves breakfast and lunch. Positive response led to the April 2019

opening of Bar Room next door, with a broader menu, a wine bar and more seating. BBBCo also has a second location in the works, slated to open at the first of the year, at the Hyatt Place Sandestin on Grand Boulevard. blackbearbreadco.com

CYPRESS FLORAL DESIGN

stop in to purchase flowers and gifts every Wednesday, order daily flower deliveries or discuss weddings and events by appointment. “I think downtown Jacksonville is beautiful. It’s rich in history and has a unique mix of architectural styles and businesses, which I love,” Evans says. cypressfloraldesign.com

Co-owner Tom Weber says guests at his men’s apparel and accessories store in the Beaches Town Center share remarks like “Wow, is this a store for men?” and “It smells really good in here.” Although the quality experience might come as a surprise to first-time visitors, Weber set out with the intention to create a place where men could shop product lines featuring clothing and accessories that are well-suited to the casual beachside vibe in Atlantic Beach. In June, Weber opened T-Dub’s, which carries clothing from Faherty, Billy Reid, Linksoul, Bonobos, johnnie-O and Free Fly Apparel, as well as accessories like leather goods and custom-made oyster and hunting knives. Guests can buy gifts for everyone from brothers to bosses or play shuffleboard and grab drinks at the speakeasy-style bar. tdubsmercantile.com

JACKSONVILLE

In September, the floral company Ann Evans once ran out of a private downtown Jacksonville office became the brick-and-mortar shop called Cypress Floral Design. The space on West Adams Street has white walls and a cleanlined industrial look, giving flowers, art and accessories all the attention. Guests can

FOR THE LATEST HAPPENINGS, PHOTOS & VIDEOS, FOLLOW @THEFLAMINGOMAG

RIKSHA TACOS TA L LA H A S S E E

RikSha Tacos was born out of co-founders Nikhil and Sunil Rajan’s love of Asian street food.

The father-son team created a menu based around flavors from Southeast Asia but added a twist by serving their creations in taco shells. The restaurant’s exterior walls feature art by local

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WADING IN :JUST HATCHED DEBUTS TO PER USE (C E N T RA L ) THE OLD JAILHOUSE

NOBLE MARKET

In a historic 1890 building on Palmetto Avenue in downtown Sanford that housed Seminole County’s jail from 1914 to 1959, executive chef Bram Fowler fulfills orders from a seasonal menu inspired by the South. “Sanford is a very cool emerging city with lots of historic charm and great potential economic development,� Fowler says. The Old Jailhouse Kitchen & Spirits opened in February 2019 after nearly two years of preservation and expansion. The 3,600-squarefoot establishment includes private rooms for events, a courtyard for dining alfresco and even a dogfriendly indoor/outdoor piazza. theoldjailhousesanford.com

Adriana and Eric Fralick, owners of the popular restaurant Noble Rice in South Tampa, used to get questions all the time from guests who wanted to procure hard-tofind items like fresh wasabi root, wagyu beef and foie gras. Feeling like they’d discovered a gap in the local market for Japanese and gourmet food items, the husbandand-wife duo took over the neighboring space and launched Noble Market this summer.

There, culinary nerds can find Japanese-style desserts, ramen noodle kits, fresh vegetables like shishito peppers and matsutake mushrooms, gourmet soy sauces

Above: Old meets new at Sanford’s Old Jail House restaurant and bar.

TA M PA

Visit the Cade Museum for Creativi & Invention, a museum for all ages in Gainesville. In addition to the museum’s exhibits, programs, and two labs, in November and December, we celebrate our Food Evolution theme, and in January & February, join us for Codes & DNA. cademuseum.org

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Funded in part by: THE OLD JAILHOUSE

SANFORD

WADING IN :JUST HATCHED DEBUTS TO PER USE (C E N T RA L ) and misos and soon (if permits are approved) premium sake and Japanese craft beer. noblericeco.com

FORBICI MODERN ITALIAN TA M PA

BOXI PARK O R LA N D O

In the Lake Nona Town Center area just southeast of downtown Orlando sits a cluster of repurposed shipping containers, forming a kid- and dog-friendly outdoor community perfect for grabbing dinner and

drinks with friends, family or coworkers. Food concepts like Fowl Play, a fried chicken spot known for its spicy Korean kimchi sandwiches, and The Grill Next Door, a burger joint with vegetarian options, serve up dishes from inside 12 highly sustainable, repurposed shipping containers. A playground for kids, a fencedin park for dogs and live music Thursdays through Saturdays add to the experience. While Boxi Park is a destination for the community, the space also supports local entrepreneurs by serving as an incubator for new restaurant concepts. boxiparklakenona.com

Above: Lobster rolls at Boxi Park

SCOT T COOK PHOTOGR APHY

Forbici means “scissors” in English—and it means delicious Roman-style pizza for Tampa.

Named for the tool those in the central Italian city use to cut their pies, Forbici Modern Italian recently opened in Hyde Park Village, thanks to partners Jeff Gigante, Jason Brunetti and Joseph Guggino. The kitchen is helmed by executive chef Jason Saldutti, who crafts square and round crisp and airy pizzas

using house-made mozzarella and handcrafted dough fermented for 72 hours before being baked. While artisan slices are the star, other menu items to try include pasta dishes, like cacio e pepe, and main plates, like veal parmesan. eatforbici.com

FOR THE LATEST HAPPENINGS, PHOTOS & VIDEOS, FOLLOW @THEFLAMINGOMAG

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WADING IN :JUST HATCHED DEBUTS TO PER USE (SOUTH) of the city. The hotel boasts midcentury modern-inspired guest rooms, a yoga studio, pool deck and five dining options, including Sparrow, the highest rooftop bar in the city, set on the 25th floor. thedalmar.com

EL ESPACIO 23 MIAMI

Above: Celebration Park on the water in Naples Below: A sharp collection awaits at Hive in West Palm Beach.

N AP L E S

When Rebecca Maddox bought the old Tipsy Seagull on Bayview Drive nearly a decade ago, the locals laughed. But now, the retired financial consultant, author and entrepreneur is the one smiling. Maddox opened Three60 Market, a waterfront restaurant where boaters can dock and dine, in the gentrified area known today as the Bayshore Arts District. She added to the plan by buying the land across the water a few years later and calling it Celebration Park, an alfresco bar and food truck lot. With eight rotating vendors, like Cousin’s Maine Lobster and Nawty Hogg BBQ, the causal cuisine

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collection is a local favorite spot for watching the game or grabbing brunch with friends. celebrationparknaples.com

HIVE FOR HER, HIVE FOR HIM AND HIVE FOR KIDS W E S T PA L M B E A C H

Palm Beachers know the Hive brand well. Designer Sara McCann opened her first store, Hive Home, Gift & Garden, more than six years ago. The popular shopping destination for decor and high-end furniture, as well as women’s clothing, accessories, baby gifts and more, has spun off into three separate but equally stylish lifestyle boutiques dedicated to men’s, women’s and kids apparel. The three shops sit side-by-side in the historic Gatsby building on South Dixie

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Highway, right around the corner from Hive’s flagship store, which now focuses solely on home goods and furniture. hivepalmbeach.com

THE DALMAR

F O R T LA U D E R D A L E

Until last spring, overnight stays in Fort Lauderdale were limited to beachside hotels, far from the city’s iconic Las Olas Boulevard and downtown.

Plenty of guests likely never ventured beyond the beach and thought of Fort Lauderdale as just another coastal town for sipping premade margarita mixes in the sun and shopping at kitschy souvenir shops.

But finally, The Dalmar Fort Lauderdale, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, opened in the heart

JOSHUA COLTFISHER , CHRISTINA CERNIK

CELEBRATION PARK

In Allapattah, close to Wynwood, Miami, Jorge M. Pérez has launched his latest passion project. The philanthropist, entrepreneur and contemporary art collector purchased El Espacio 23, a storage-space-turned-studio with 30-foot ceilings, to accommodate his monumental pieces of art. At first, the venue was used as an “extended living room” for gatherings with friends and family. But Pérez decided to expand the concept, making it part museum and part community center, by displaying his inventory in a meaningful way and hosting artists in residence. El Espacio 23’s inaugural exhibition, Time for Change: Art and Social Unrest in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection, features close to 100 works by artists from around the world. elespacio23.com

Pretty.

Unexpected.

Here, tranquility runs deep. And our trails run for more than 700 miles.

VisitTallahassee.com

Travel outside your comfort zone A destination for the adventurous, Florida’s Sports Coast is the perfect place to score a more exciting vacation. Whether you’re cable wakeboarding, fishing or skydiving, there’s no limit to the unbeatable experiences you’ll find here.

13,000 FEET ABOVE YOUR DREAM VACATION Learn more at FLSportsCoast.com

— Unf ilter ed Fodder —

Capital Dame

By Di ane R o b ert s • I l l u st ra t i o n b y S t ep h en L o m a zzo

THE HEAT IS ON

Nowadays winter barely exists in Florida, where tides are high and iguanas and tropical fruit flourish where they once couldn’t Fall in Tallahassee used to be cool.

Sometimes even cold. You’d want a sweater on late September nights and a jacket on Halloween­—unless you were wearing the Pink Panther costume my mother sewed for me circa 1967. It was wool, so I was pretty toasty.

We’re cool no more. Florida—like the

rest of the planet—is getting hotter by the year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the summer of 2019 was one of the hottest since they started keeping records in 1895. God knows what next year will be like. I am a native Floridian, but 12 months of nonstop heat strikes me as excessive. I fantasize about frost.

FOR THE LATEST HAPPENINGS, PHOTOS & VIDEOS, FOLLOW @THEFLAMINGOMAG

I watch Scandinavian murder mysteries on Netflix, just to see people wearing sweaters.

Sometimes I open the freezer door and just stand there, reminding myself how winter used to feel.

I’ve seen Florida change drastically over the course of my lifetime. In the northern half of the state, we used to have

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Capital Dame UNF ILTER ED FODDER

four seasons: spring, which began in late February or early March with a rosy explosion of Japanese magnolias (called “tulip trees” in these parts) and redbuds, then azaleas and dogwoods. Summer arrived in June with temperatures in the 80s

mother, however, was sufficiently outraged.

She switched on the air conditioner so that we could utilize the fireplace.

The year after, however, we hit peak seasonality. It actually snowed: 1.5 inches just before Christmas day. Just like a movie. People

Green iguanas, for example, once content to stomp around Central America, now swagger all over South Florida. and a ritual test of Florida-native toughness in which one person, sitting on the beach in St. Teresa with Gulf breezes ruffling his or her hair, would say to another, “I haven’t put the air conditioner on yet. It just seems too early,” and the other person, taking a sip of his or her Tom Collins, would say, “Well, we try to keep the windows open till at least the Fourth of July.”

I regret to say there was a fair amount of lying and more-Floridian-than-thou posturing about the date the AC was actually deployed, but it is nevertheless the case that, 30 years ago, June was not the sticky inferno it has become.

September has always been a part of summer in these parts, even though it’s garlanded with the accoutrements of fall: potted chrysanthemums, football games, ads for back-to-school plaid skirts. Still, by October, the pecan trees shed their leaves and the air hinted at nippiness.

Most years, Christmas was appropriately wintery, though there were times when the weather did not cooperate. We took refuge in denial: on Christmas Day 1988, it was nearly 80 degrees. Our British house guests were thrilled. They sat out in the back yard with glasses of cold white wine. My

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were advised to stay off the roads, since almost no one in Tallahassee had the least idea how to drive in snow. We made the dogs and the cats go out and sit on the white ground so we could take their pictures. We scraped enough flurries off the picnic table to have a very brief snowball fight.

Now, North Florida has two seasons: Bearable Temperate Interval and Eight Months of Hellish Heat with Soul-Sapping Humidity. I expect Hallmark to soon market appropriate greeting cards.

Despite Florida selling itself as a place of “endless summer,” climatewise, warmer is not better. I am not talking about weather, though the weather is sultry enough, with days that feel like living under a broiler stuck on high and evenings like being smothered in a wet beach towel. I am talking climate, changes over decades to a particular region—the big picture of a big slice of earth.

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Here’s the worry: The Gulf of Mexico was four to six degrees warmer than normal last year—if “normal” still has any meaning. The result? Hurricane Michael fed on that warm water like an offensive lineman feeds on juicy steaks, getting bigger, stronger and meaner.

The oceans are now absorbing way too much carbon dioxide, at least 25 percent of what we produce when we burn coal, gas and oil, upping their temperatures and creating the perfect conditions for red tides. All that CO2 mixes with sea water to make carbonic acid, creating a seriously unfriendly living situation for crabs, corals, shellfish and oysters. The grouper, the speckled trout, the tarpon and so many other favorite Florida fish will have trouble finding food.

Red tides—a kind of toxic algal bloom— occur naturally, but between runoff from fertilizer (both from individuals and from farms) and warming temperatures, red tides are becoming more frequent and more lethal, killing fish, manatees, dolphins and even the occasional whale shark and generally stinking up the coast. Inland, sultrier temperatures encourage noisome nonnative critters to proliferate. Green iguanas, for example, once content to stomp around Central America, now swagger all over South Florida, eating plants, pooping on porches, digging up yards and—as if that isn’t sufficiently ghastly— carrying salmonella.

More seriously, since most of Florida will be hotter and even more

F RO M

CO T TAG E S

to Castles

humid, mosquitoes will proliferate like horrible cable TV shows.

As polar ice melts, the seas rise, causing record high tides and regular flooding in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and other low-lying parts of Florida which—let’s face it—means most of Florida. On average, the southern part of the state is only 6 feet above sea level.

The water in the Gulf and the Atlantic is about 8 inches higher than it was in 1950 and projected to rise another foot or more by 2060. Higher seas mean saltwater pushing its way into the aquifer, the source of our drinking water.

Florida’s limestone bedrock is so porous that the water can push up through the ground and flood your property, even if you don’t live on the beach.

I used to think it was funny that my father, a civil engineer, surveyed various tracts of Leon County to find a relatively high piece of land on which to build our house. What was he scared of, the Ochlockonee River breaching its banks?

Lake Jackson flooding? I’m not laughing anymore: I’ve seen the river rise like somebody left the faucet on in the bathtub and the lake spill out over the highway. I’ve seen wetlands

that developers thought they had filled reassert their watery character after a series of heavy rains, and old streams, now directed into pipes and hidden under roads, well up and inundate city streets. Daddy was right: geography is destiny.

Florida is built on the premise that we can control nature: spray the mosquitoes away, build sea walls, crank up the air conditioning when it gets too hot. More than 900 people a day are moving to this state, wanting their piece of endless summer, even as the waters rise.

The scientists and sages tell us Florida is climate change ground zero. The first domino on the brink of falling.

If you need further evidence, here in Tallahassee, we just harvested our first banana crop.

We’ve always had banana trees, with their lovely, glossy green fronds in summer. They were ornamental. In winter, back when that was a thing, they’d die down and turn into brittle brown stalks. We never had the least expectation of fruit: Bananas don’t belong here. Bananas belong in Miami. But here we are. With our bananas. I made banana bread, banana ice cream, banana cake—fine treats for the End Times.

Diane Roberts is an eighth-generation Floridian, educated at Florida State University and at Oxford University. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian and the Tampa Bay Times. She has also authored four books, including Dream State, a historical memoir of Florida, and Tribal: College Football and the Secret Heart of America.

FOR THE LATEST HAPPENINGS, PHOTOS & VIDEOS, FOLLOW @THEFLAMINGOMAG

344 Ponte Vedra Blvd.

(904) 553-2032 ELIZABETHHUDGINS.COM

(904) 334-3104 SARAHALEXANDER.NET

Specializing in Florida’s

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Professional female surfers finally get priority on the podium with equal contest payouts in Florida

By KARA POUND // Photography by MARY BETH KOETH & KEITH NOVOSEL

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At just 14 years old, Benedetto is among the young women carving out a future in a redefining era for female athletes.

From Palm City, near Stuart, she’s kind and confident. Her smile and laugh are both infectious. When she charges with her hot pink board into the crashing surf for her first heat, it’s easy to see why Zoe has amassed an impressive fanbase, wtih 17,000 followers on Instagram, and brands like Hurley and Ron Jon Surf Shop as sponsors.

It’s Sunday, the second day of the two-day contest, and strong easterly winds have created choppy conditions and frequent head-high waves. The participants of the women’s

MARY BETH KOETH, ASHER NOL AN (CENTER)

T

he sun has just started to rise above the Jacksonville Beach Pier on a recent October morning. A few dozen surfers and their families dip their toes in the water and claim the perfect patch of beach to settle in for the day. It’s the start of the 36th annual WaveMasters Contest, and Zoe Benedetto is looking to take home a win in the US Assure women’s pro division.

ACCORDING TO SURFER TODAY, THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 13.5 MILLION SURFERS IN AMERICA. ONLY 19 PERCENT OF SURFERS WORLDWIDE ARE FEMALE.

pro division have been on standby for nearly 24 hours.

They’re finally given the green light, and 16 female surfers start battling it out for first place.

Though a $5,000 prize awaits the woman who outmaneuvers all others, today the bigger victory lies in the fact that the checks for the WaveMasters women’s pros will match those of the men’s. In its three-decadelong history, this is the first time that the WaveMasters contest, the biggest in Northeast Florida, has ever paid an equal purse—$10,000 each for the men’s pro and women’s pro divisions. In full disclosure, Flamingo stepped up to

equalize the women’s purse, which was previously set at $5,000, to shine the spotlight on these female athletes and change the tide across the state.

“I’ve been surfing since I was 5 years old, and my first contest was at age 7,” Benedetto explains from her perch on the sand, with one hand over her eyes to shade them from the sun and the other flipping her blonde hair. “This is my second time at this contest, and it’s great to see us coming to equal terms—playing on equal turf.”

She goes on, “But to be honest, it’s crazy that we’re even celebrating this. It should have always been this way.”

Above: Benedetto, 14,

is an up-and-coming Florida pro. She’s held spots on the USA Junior National Team, USA International Surfing Association World Junior Team and the USA Olympic Surfing Junior Development Team.

Opening spread:

Benedetto heads out for a surf session at the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park.

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Above: Karina

Petroni paddles out for her heat in the WaveMasters pro division; the WaveMasters Contest consists of 22 divisions, including pros and amateurs, men and women, kids and adults, longboarders and shortboarders; competitors came from as far away as California to compete.

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Like women in too many professions, female surfers have fought for decades for equal pay. Since the first professional tour for women began in 1975, females have been competing—and in the case of big-wave surfers, risking their lives—for a fraction of the prize money their male counterparts received. The disparity wasn’t just a few dollars. Men won six-figure prizes while women took home half to two-thirds less.

A now-infamous November 1963 article in Surf Guide magazine by surfer Buzzy Trent titled “Big Waves Are Masculine, Women Feminine” gives a glimpse of how drastically attitudes and culture have shifted.

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“There’s nothing more beautiful than a well-shaped girl riding a 6-foot wave with the wind blowing through her hair,” he writes. “But one thing I can’t stand is girls riding (or attempting to ride) big waves.”

In September 2018, World Surf League (WSL), the governing body for professional surfers, made a big move when it announced that equal prize money would be paid to male and female athletes in all of its events starting in 2019. WSL Vice President for Tours and Competition Jessi Miley-Dyer, who is herself a former pro surfer, is quoted in an article by NPR from last fall saying, “The one thing we wanted to pride ourselves on was being a leader in the

KEITH NOVOSEL

To be honest, it’s crazy that we’re even celebrating this. It should have

always been this way.

FLORIDA’S EAST COAST BOASTS 580 MILES OF COASTLINE PACKED WITH POPULAR SURF CITIES LIKE NEW SMYRNA BEACH, COCOA BEACH, SEBASTIAN INLET, JACKSONVILLE BEACH, ST. AUGUSTINE, ORMOND BEACH, FLAGLER BEACH AND JUPITER INLET.

—ZOE BENEDETTO

space. We wanted to be one of the first sports to do this for the women, and we also thought that it would be a really good stand for us. And it’s important as well for sports to pay attention to what’s going on in broader society.”

She went on to say, “Obviously things are changing for women in the world, which is awesome. So yeah, we paid attention to what people have been saying, and we thought that it was a great time to do it.”

Now the results of those moves are in. When Australian Stephanie Gilmore won the 2018 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, she earned $65,000 while her male counterpart, Brazilian Italo Ferreira, was awarded $100,000. But at the 2019 Rip

Curl Pro Portugal in October, Floridian Caroline Marks, 17, took home first place and a check for $100,000, the same as Ferreira, again the men’s winner. Marks, of Melbourne Beach, is making quite a name for herself globally, as the youngest woman ever to take the No. 1 spot on the World Surf League Women’s Championship Tour.

Females have been shredding waves since the 1600s.

Spanning the Pacific Ocean from Australia to Polynesia to Hawaii to California and across the United States to Florida, iconic women such as Princess Kaiulani, Isabel Letham, Margo Oberg, Layne Beachley, Sarah Gerhardt and Lisa Andersen helped validate a woman’s place in the

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lineup for young athletes like Benedetto.

At Jacksonville Beach this warm October morning, Benedetto hangs out with surfers and fellow Floridians Abigail Remke, 17, and Sarah Abbott, 15. The three girls were supposed to surf the first heats of the women’s pro division on Saturday, but contest organizers chose to put them off a day so wave conditions could improve significantly.

The WaveMasters Contest consists of 22 divisions, which include pros and amateurs, men and women, kids and adults, longboarders and shortboarders. The judges score competitors on wave selection, wave size, their first

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My hope is that younger girls big move on takeoff, speed, flow, control, progressive maneuvers and “finishing with a bang.”

On this particular weekend, surfers like Benedetto have 15 minutes for each division heat and 20 minutes in the final. They are given a five-minute head start to paddle into the pounding surf, while the previous heat finishes up.

Once positioned beyond where the waves are breaking, the surfers try and catch the biggest, best waves possible, and their top two performances determine their fate.

The field includes hometown favorite Kayla Durden, a 26-year-old Jacksonville Beach native who has been

KEITH NOVOSEL

THE BEST SURF BREAKS ARE TYPICALLY NAMED AFTER NEARBY LANDMARKS OR UNIQUE OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES. CHECK OUT COCOA BEACH’S “THE STREETS,” ST. AUGUSTINE’S “THE MIDDLES” OR JACKSONVILLE’S “MAYPORT POLES.”

coming up in the sport won’t even know about the inequality. surfing since age 5 and competing for more than a decade.

Durden can’t remember how many times she’s won the WaveMasters but estimates it to be around four or five.

“I teach surfing and high school basketball in the offseason,” Durden says from the water’s edge after watching one of her students compete in the micro-minis division.

“My hope is that these younger girls coming up in the sport won’t even know about the inequality that has been going on for males and females. I’ve even seen guys getting frustrated with the disparity.”

Durden doesn’t make it out of the semifinals (a testament

to the growing field of female competitors). Benedetto, Karina Petroni, 31, Eden Lange, 17, and Eva Woodland, 18, eventually advance to the finals.

Wearing white, blue, red and yellow jerseys to differentiate them to the judges, the four young women paddle out through head-high waves, hugging the right side of the Jacksonville Beach Pier. For the people watching from the beach, the girl with the hot pink surfboard makes an early play, popping up quickly, carving, cutting and spraying her way from hundreds of yards out to almost all the way into the shoreline. Then she make a U-turn and

—KAYLA DURDEN

Above from left: A surfer

heads out for her heat at the WaveMasters 2019 contest in Jacksonville Beach; competitors in one of the amateur events; Piper Austin of Jacksonville Beach makes a turn during the WaveMasters pro division event.

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paddles out in the choppy surf for more.

With two national titles and three East Coast title wins under the National Scholastic Surfing Association, Zoe earned places on the USA Junior National Team, USA International Surfing Association World Junior Team and the USA Olympic Surfing Junior Development Team. The eighth grader is considered among the best up and coming female surfers in the country.

“I’m saving up for a car,” she says matter-of-factly when asked what she would do with the $5,000 check that comes along with a first-place finish. “That and I would use some of

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it to help with travel expenses for the International Surfing Association championship later this month in Huntington Beach, California.”

WaveMasters is by no means the top surfing competition in the state, but it has a long and respected history in Northeast Florida, and the increased payout has everyone talking and thinking about equality.

“I believe we still have a long way to go,” Woodland says.

“But growing up in this day and age, it’s amazing to see that the WSL has gone to equal prize money. And hopefully, they start sending the women out in waves of consequence, too,

KEITH NOVOSEL

Above from right: Girl groms gather on the beach before the WaveMasters 2019 contest begins; the World Surf League enacted equal pay for female and male athletes in 2019; Tiffany Oliser, owner of Jax Beach Surf and Paddle, sizes up the waves at the WaveMasters contest.

FLORIDA’S NORTHWEST GULF COAST IS ALSO A TOP SURFING DESTINATION WITH PERDIDO KEY, PENSACOLA, FORT WALTON BEACH AND PANAMA CITY BEACH AT THE FOREFRONT.

like at Banzai Pipeline or Teahupo’o. Every little victory, like equal prize money or getting to surf good conditions in an event is a battle won.”

At Surfer The Bar on Sunday night, hundreds of people, gather to enjoy the camaraderie of the contest and learn the results of the pro division. The four female finalists file onto the stage. WaveMaster contest organizer Mitch Kaufmann takes the mic and before announcing the winners explains that “the males usually perform better, and that’s why they make more money in surfing. But today, the waves were big and the girls were putting on a show. It was unbelievable.

They were surfing like pros. That was the best female surfing I’ve ever seen here.”

Benedetto surfed her way to first place for the 2019 WaveMasters US Assure women’s pro, Woodland second, Petroni third and Lange fourth. After receiving a giant $5,000 check and a shower of Veuve Clicquot, she runs off stage, too young to take a ceremonious sip of bubbly, and into the arms of her mother Christine. Minutes later, the duo vanishes from the still reveling crowd, buzzing with excitement over the new future of women’s surfing. They are already driving home to Palm City, preparing for Benedetto’s next big break.

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Suddenly, probably when you weren’t looking, Florida’s capital

became a cycling and hiking mecca By

ERIC BARTON // Photography by MARK WALLHEISER

S

outh of Tallahassee, the city’s signature block-sized oak trees, covered in Spanish moss as if dressed for a holiday, give way to longleaf pines. They’re beanpole trees, those pines, like birthday candles spread out over a frosting of scrub brush. At any given time, they let in only slivers of light, flash-bright at noon and yellow-orange at the bookends of the day. The sound of knobby tires rotating over packed earth announces our group’s arrival into the pine forest on a recent fall afternoon. Careening through the terrain on mountain and gravel bikes, we turn toward a sun that’s a glowing beacon. Even in a state home to seas of grass and sapphire bays and powdered-sugar beaches, this is one of Florida’s most magnificent spots.

It’s part of the Munson Hills Mountain Bike Trail System, a tangle of paths of hard-packed clay that wind their way in never-ending lefts and rights. Leading the way are three regulars on the trails of Tallahassee, three middleaged guys in spandex who regularly bomb into the woods after work to feel like boys again. On our bikes, it takes constant attention to maneuver around roots and trunks and the occasional patch of soft sand. All of us are acting like 12-year-olds—pulling up on handlebars to get air over rises, leaning into turns, thinking about nothing but the ground underneath us. “This is so beautiful,” I find myself saying more than once, to which the group responds simply “Right?” and “I know.”

They’ve gotten used to this kind of reaction in Tallahassee.

For the past decade, Florida’s capital has been remaking

itself as a city of nature trails. Yet almost nobody—including FSU grads, cycling addicts and plenty of locals—knows about them.

The trails cover 700 miles of Leon County, and over the course of another decade, that number will grow dramatically again. The county and city plan to connect their existing trails into a network that’ll swim through the city and its suburbs, a network that’ll rival the paths of most American cities.

This page: The

J.R. Alford Greenway; riders returning to Cascades Park from Munson Hills

To be sure, those who don’t walk, jog or bike might doubt the benefit of investing so much into something used by only a portion of the population. But studies have shown that trails increase a city’s happiness, lower congestion and pollution, increase property values and attract businesses.

As many Florida cities struggle to become more accessible to bikes and pedestrians, here’s how Trailahassee, as it’s now known, began to pull it off— and what it’s like to bomb through the Tallahassee forests.

Cowboy Up Tallahassee’s transformation into a biker’s dream started about 15 years ago when local cyclists just began showing up to every government meeting. They were sometimes loud, taking the mic whenever possible and demanding something different.

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Above: This

bridge rises over 40 feet to cross the Florida Gulf and Atlantic Railroad tracks and looms high over Lake Piney Z.

How to Bike Trailahassee

If you’re planning a bike trip to Florida’s capital, here’s a trail-by-trail guide of what to do pre- and post-ride.

TR A I L S: RED BUG, LAKE OVERSTREET, MICCOSUKEE GREENWAY

Gordos: Cuban cuisine with a lively atmosphere Momo’s Pizza: Signature pies with a slogan of “slices as big as your head” Grove Market Café: Breakfast and lunch with vegetarian and gluten-free options Deep Brewing Co.: Craft beer and local food trucks Sage: Upscale dining from a winner of Florida Trend’s Golden Spoon Award Higher Ground Bicycle Co.: Steps away from top trails, organizer of a Tuesday night group ride

TR A I L S: FERN, MAGNOLIA, LAFAYETTE HERITAGE, CADILLAC, J.R. ALFORD GREENWAY Lucky Goat Coffee and RedEye Coffee: Favorite local roasters for a pre-ride caffeine fix Florida Wing Factory: Known for stuffing wings with bacon and cheese, jambalaya and mac and cheese Azu Lucy Ho’s: Serving Asian dishes in Tally for four decades Great Bicycle Shop: A neighborhood Tallahassee shop since ’72

TR A I L S: ST. MARKS, MUNSON, CASCADES Madison Social: An energetic bar and restaurant on the corner of FSU’s campus Shell Oyster: A Tallahassee classic, cashonly hole in the wall Proof Brewing Co.: Craft brewery with outdoor beer garden ideal for post-ride beers El Cocinero: Cool atmosphere with creative tacos and tequila University Cycles of Tallahassee: A fullservice shop located near FSU’s campus

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Above: On the Munson Hills Mountain Bike Trail, 21 rugged miles through the Apalachicola National Forest

The idea was to simply overwhelm public officials with the concept that walking and bicycling trails could transform the city, says Matt Wilson, who manages the Great Bicycle Shop in town. Now 46, Wilson started riding seriously in high school to get a cycling patch from his Boy Scout troop.

He had a job in IT until 2014, when a guy at the bike shop asked him if he wanted a job and he took a major pay cut to be doing something he enjoys.

When Wilson started riding in the ’80s, Tallahassee’s bike paths were what they call cowboy trails—illegally chopped through city parks and state forests. Tom Brown Park’s trails were the most popular, trails that mostly required a high level of skill to ride. Many of those guerilla paths were converted

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“We just buckled down and said, ‘We’re a midsize city. What do we need to do to improve the conditions for our residents?’”

—WAYNE TEDDER

residents?’” recalls Tedder, who’s now Tallahassee’s assistant city manager.

Creating a more walkable and bikable environment became one of the top priorities of Tallahassee’s longterm vision, especially after all those cycling advocates started showing up to meetings, Tedder says.

Wilson recalls a series of meetings held by the advocacy group Village Square that resembled speed dating for public officials, giving people two minutes to pitch ideas to their politicians. “We just made sure there URBAN GORILLA were a lot of cyclists there, so the official Feb. 2 would sit down at a table and it just became For two decades now, mountain bikers have bikes, bikes, bikes,” Wilson says. “We were gathered on Super Bowl definitely in their faces.”

Sunday to bomb the city’s It helped that, being the capital, Tallahassee trails. The ride begins around has cyclists who also know how government 8 a.m. at City Hall and continues for sometimes as works. For instance, there’s Jimmy Card, the much as 70 miles, with riders president of the Tallahassee Mountain Bike dropping off and joining in Association, who also happens to be a lobbyist along the way. Few make the and “just knew how to ask for things.” whole trip, but those who do will get to sample many of the In 2000, county voters agreed to pay, city’s trails. starting four years later, a penny more on their sales tax to execute a broad vision for D I RT Y P E C A N improving Tallahassee; in 2014, they voted March 7 The Dirty Pecan gravel ride to extend the penny tax for another 20 years. will slice routes of 60 to As a result, the government will be able to 150 miles along mostly clay spend $700 million on new projects, with $15 roads through plantations million allocated for improving the bike route and farmland. Organized

by Jefferson County system. These improvements come on top of Commissioner Betsy Barfield, hundreds of miles of trails that have recently it’s unsupported, meaning been cut through public and private lands. riders bring everything they

Tallahassee Area Bike Events

need. As the event organizers explain, “If you need a juice box and a hug every 20 miles, this is not the ride for you, please stay home.”

TA L L A H A S S E E TR A I L F E STI V A L in the 1990s into official trails that were good enough to host European mountain bike teams as they trained for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

But the paths were still a modest, scattered collection of short stretches that couldn’t move people around the city.

That began to change two decades ago when the Leon County government started thinking about how to reshape the metro area. Tallahassee wasn’t exactly a city planned for smart growth, but city leaders figured it wasn’t too late to change, recalls Wayne Tedder, who started working with the city 22 years ago.

“We just buckled down and said, ‘We’re a midsize city.

What do we need to do to improve the conditions for our

March 20–22 The first-year event unfolds with a series of group rides, local beer and camping in an effort to showcase “the full monty of Tallahassee.”

Find tickets and more info on Eventbrite.

Right: Matt Wilson, manager of the Great Bicycle Shop in Tallahassee, looks through his supply.

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Perhaps the most visible of these efforts is Cascades Park, which saw an old toxic dumping ground converted into what now feels like the heart of the city.

Now with a trail system at over 700 miles, Tallahassee rivals many of the American cities generally considered the best places to mountain bike. Brevard County, North Carolina, has 400 miles of trails, and Park City, Utah, claims 450 miles. After Tallahassee’s coming trail expansion, it will easily double those numbers.

While the trails certainly have fans among cyclists and joggers, they’ve also had their critics. Every time an expansion running through a new stretch of town is announced, some question whether the trails will become homeless camps, grow dangerous at night or lower property values, despite studies that show home prices actually rising after the arrival of bike paths.

Perhaps the most controversial of the plans was a $7.2 million pedestrian bridge across Monroe Street, connecting Cascades Park to the Capital Cascades Trail. After the plans were unveiled at a charette in 2015, the Tallahassee Democrat carried stories wondering if commisB I K E TA L L A H A S S E E sioners got “bamboozled” and were biketallahassee.com wasting taxpayer money. But when it opened in 2016, the modern suspenTRAI LAHASS E E trailahassee.com sion bridge quickly became a shining beacon of the new Tallahassee—at TA L L A H A S S E E M O U NTA I N night, a rotation of colors illuminates

Tallahassee Trail Resources

Bike Association its dramatic tent-like roof. tmba.bike The new Capital Cascades Trail now runs south to the St. Marks C A P I TA L C I T Y CYC L I STS Trail, which makes a 21-mile beeline cccyclists.org to the coast. Along the way, cyclists J O YR I D E B I CYC L E C O L L E CTI V E and pedestrians can also take a sharp @joyridebicyclecollective right west into the Munson trails and the packed-clay paths through the pine trees.

Munson was the first mountain bike trail Betsy Barfield rode. Now, Barfield is a commissioner in Jefferson County, to the east of Tallahassee, and she’s on a mission to continue Leon County’s efforts where she lives. “Some of my critics say, ‘That’s all you think about is cycling.’ I tell them, ‘Yup, that’s what’s on my mind.’”

She’s been fighting with neighbors of the soon-to-come 11-mile Duke Energy Right: Lafayette Heritage Trail Trail to convince them their homes Canopy Walkway won’t lose value once the trail comes in, Bridge built for hikers, bikers and and she’s been selling Jefferson County other outdoor enthusiasts as a world-class destination for gravel

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bike riding, maybe the biggest trend these days in cycling.

But while Tallahassee has 700 miles of trails, they’ve never been well connected, often requiring cyclists to cut through neighborhoods or use shoulder-less county roads to get from one trail to another, Tedder, the assistant commissioner, says. Part of the money from the recently approved continuation of the extra penny in sales tax will be used in the next 10 years to connect the trails into continuous loops through the city—from the airport to FSU’s stadium, into every park, all of it.

With all of this expansion in trails happening, Tallahassee has plans to apply to the International Mountain Bicycling Association in 2020 to become one of the organization’s Ride Centers, cities that are recognized as part of the “pinnacle” class of places to bike. It might sound like a rather obscure designation, but Card says it’ll change the way people think about Tallahassee.

“We are about to blow up. If we get that Ride Center designation, it is going to be huge,” Card says. “Everyone is just waking up to this and realizing what we have here for cyclists.”

Where to Stay THE PARK AVENUE INN, K AY ME YER

TH E PA R K A V E N U E I N N

Construction began on the historic mansion that holds the Park Avenue Inn in 1837, and five generations of the Chittenden family have owned it since. Kate Bruner took over as manager in 2015 and gave the home a facelift; it’s now full of furnishings exuding Southern charm. Bikes can be stored on the patio out back, and it’s just a short, mostly downhill ride to the Cascades Trail.

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A Bike Ride with “That Guy” The morning after our sunset ride at the Munson trails, a group meets at the dusty parking lot for the Miccosukee Greenway Trail on the east side of Tallahassee. It’s a 12-mile stretch of firmly packed gravel that cuts through land that was once a post-Civil War plantation owned by the family behind the Fleischmann yeast fortune. The Miccosukee path beelines below massive limbs of old-growth oak trees that keep the sun off cyclists and packs of joggers, dropping the temperature by double digits.

Among the riders is Bryan Desloge, a 60-year-old former IBM exec who got on the Leon County Board of County Commissioners 13 years ago. Back then, he had a fellow commissioner who made the trails his mission. “He would always go on and on, like, ‘Do you know what the price of gas is? We need to make this city more walkable.’ And I was like, ‘Just shut up.’ But now, I’m that guy.”

As the only Republican on the commission, Desloge originally saw his role as limiting government spending, and trails didn’t fit into that vision. But then, he says, he saw the economic benefit it can bring to make a city more walkable and bikable.

That especially rang true after local officials took a trip out to Boulder, Colorado, and talked to tech companies about why so many of them are relocating there. It wasn’t

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Above from left:

The Munson Hills Mountain Bike Trail cuts through the Apalachicola National Forest; the Munson trail splits from the Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Bike Trail; leaving Cascades Park for the Munson trail; Jose Sanchez, Chris Hudson, Jeremy Floyd and Eric Barton at Proof Brewing Company

tax breaks or infrastructure: it was because employees had access to the city’s legendary mountain bike trails.

That story is now used by Desloge to justify building trails as a way to attract jobs to the city. “To the critics who say that trails are outrageous spending, I say it’s the best bang for the buck.”

Desloge has put together the morning’s group of riders, and among them are two of the county’s top planners. One of them is 43-year-old Jeremy Floyd, a landscape architect who nearly became a pro mountain bike rider.

Floyd falls in behind the commissioner as we head southeast into the Miccosukee trail’s hilly ups and downs. We hit the end about six miles later, stopping for a drink of water in a parking lot shaded by the oaks before turning around.

Talking through deep breaths as we ascend up the steepest part of the trail, Floyd explains that he was living in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2001 when he started applying for jobs in cycling cities, figuring he’d end up in Oregon. He came to Tallahassee for an interview and decided right there he didn’t need to apply anywhere else.

Nowadays, Floyd isn’t racing anymore, often instead pulling his kids in a carriage attached to his bike on their way to and from school. Many parents have followed his lead, and other groups like the city’s Joyride Bicycle Collective, a club that organizes meetups like tours of farmers markets, are helping the city’s path systems gain popularity. Floyd

Biking Elsewhere in Florida

island’s historic architecture and lavish landscaping. The more adventurous cyclist can head west to the Dyer Park mountain bike trails. thepalmbeaches.com

N A V A R R E B E A C H A N D M I LTO N

S A N TO S

In Navarre, rent a ride at Sage Paddle Co. and jump on trails heading through Blackwater River State Forest and the National Seashore.

Right behind the Truly Spokin Bike Shop in Milton you’ll find the 9-mile paved Blackwater Heritage State Trail and the dirt Clear Creek OHV Riding area. getrelaxing.com

GREEN COVE SPRINGS

In September, Clay County unveiled the 2.5-mile Black Creek Mountain Bike Trail, representing several hours of work by Jacksonville’s Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association. sorbajax.org

PALM B EAC H

The 11-mile-round-trip Palm Beach Lake Trail buzzes behind stunning mansions, along the edge of the lake, over to downtown West Palm’s skyline and through quiet neighborhoods showcasing the

Eighty miles of single-track trails for beginners and challenging routes for experts make Ocala’s Santos the state’s perennial top-rated mountain bike spot, with camping available for those who want more than a day. floridastateparks.org

F L O R I D A’ S S P O R TS C O A ST

The rolling hills along the Gulf of Mexico north of Tampa have adopted the nickname Florida’s Sports Coast, in part thanks to 35 parks and 100 nature trails. flsportscoast.com

VIRGINIA KEY

Otherwise pancake-flat South Florida surprisingly has some toprated mountain bike trails, including popular Markham Park and Oleta River State Park. But the mountain bike trails on Miami’s Virginia Key offer a mix of terrain plus views of the ocean, Biscayne Bay and Miami’s skyline. vkbctrails.com

also rides with groups of parents who bike their kids to school using the city’s path systems.

Desloge, who has run marathons, competed in Ironmans and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Denali, is uncharacteristically huffing as we reach the parking lot where we started. He admits it’s because he has already swum laps and done Orangetheory, making this ride his third workout—all before 9 in the morning.

As some of the group loads bikes onto car racks, Desloge breaks to talk about what’s coming for the city, this new interconnected system that will hook all the trails together.

The problem, he says, is getting it out there.

“We’ve got one of the best trail systems in the Southeast, and people who live here don’t even know about it,” Desloge adds.

After he drives off, Floyd leads a couple of us through a neighborhood to the south and onto the J.R. Alford Greenway, with its pedestrian bridge that swoops up and over a wetland.

We snake around Lake Lafayette and onto the Lafayette Heritage Trail. If we took a turn, we’d end up in Tom Brown Park, but instead we head back to where we parked, requiring a bit of a sprint on a road with no sidewalk or bike lane—luckily, at this moment, no cars are passing by.

Don’t worry, Floyd reassures: soon there will be a new trail to connect it all.

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RAINBOW CONNECTION Florida’s Gay Polo League redefines inclusivity in the horse world and beyond.

By CD DAVIDSON-HIERS

Opposite: The annual Gay Polo Tournament takes place in April at the International Polo Club Palm Beach Below: Riders wear

vibrant colors splashed across their horses, jerseys and saddle pads.Â

“ H ECTOR GALINDO CHOKED ON A CHICKEN IN THE END,” announcer Cuko Escapite hollered after a player missed a goal at the 10th annual

Above: Revelers

leave day-to-day stress behind and take a tongue-incheek approach to dressing for the annual Gay Polo Tournament.

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Opposite from top:

The competition is fierce and the party even more so at the Palm Beach International Gay Polo Tournament; a rider celebrates at the 2019 event.

“Alex Green hits left, way to the left, like Bernie Sanders left,” he bellowed.

The sky was a sharp blue and carried cotton ball clouds. It was a weekend at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in one of the horse capitals of the world.

But many of the tailgaters who came out to watch the Gay Polo League tournament were not equestrians and couldn’t have said which of the six teams was winning during the matches.

Even so, they cheered, danced and raised their drinks for each goal. A “Make American Gay Again” flag flapped in the breeze.

The atmosphere was far from the game I remember as a kid.

I grew up on a North Florida farm riding horses. I learned to respect that they are smart creatures who will bolt if a leaf flutters suspiciously. I know they love to have jobs to do. And I know the horses who take to polo—the ones that become polo “ponies”—learn the rules of the game better than the people playing it.

I would have been about 5 in Gulfport, Mississippi, when I saw my first polo match. My parents dressed up as warriors on horseback.

The helmets they donned were wide-brimmed military-style domes with metal cages over their faces. They wore brown knee-high boots, white jodhpurs, brown leather knee pads. My folks wore team jerseys over their shirts, which made them look like they knew exactly what they were doing on the field. But I can assure you that most of the time, they did not.

Polo is lacrosse-meets-golf on horseback at 30 mph. The direction of the game changes with each goal made. There are six “chukkers”

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in each match, and players are ranked from a -2 to 10, depending on their skill and the horse’s.

When I walked onto the immaculate grounds of the polo fields in Wellington, I wanted formality and fancy hats. I hoped to see an Argentine billionaire or two. I expected just a rainbow flag flying over the aristocratic sport I grew up watching. I thought it would be a chance for formerly closeted players to step out onto the field. But that weekend, when the Gay Polo League tournament began and the first bottles of champagne were popped, what I thought was: Well, heck, I don’t know a thing.

The noise of the crowd was deafening from tents pitched at the sides of the 10-acre field.

There were no Argentine billionaires that I could see. I witnessed no British aristocrats who deigned to spectate with their satin gloves and expensive pooches perched in their laps.

This was, instead, a polo where the goal posts were wrapped in rainbows. Drag queens posed for photos. Someone brought a baby lemur.

People in all stages of undress were likely to become your best friend.

As I took in the scene, horses as lean as greyhounds galloped down the pitch, their tails taped into billy clubs, and eight riders in rainbow jerseys whooped and hollered. The communications director of the Gay Polo League led me to her tent, which bore the theme, “Champagne and Seamen.” (I was told that the year before, the theme was “Drink your juice, Shelby,” and offered an armadillo-shaped cake—a nod to Steel Magnolias.) I set up at a table inside, where ladies in cocktail dresses plucked shrimp tails from buckets of ice. Men in

PHELPS MEDIA GROUP, GAY POLO LEAGUE PALM BEACH, GALE DAMON, SAR A COLE; PREVIOUS SPREAD GALE DAMON

Gay Polo League tournament in Wellington.

three-piece suits doffed their ship captains’ hats.

Outside, I watched a group of men in flamingoprint onesies, who couldn’t make it far before being accosted for selfies. Two golden miniature ponies with their manes painted pink and blue dozed in the sun nearby. Their names were Princess, a boy, and Dumbo, a girl.

If you think you’ve seen all that a tailgating party can become at a college football game, then you’re wrong.

Hundreds of spectators thronged the dozens of sponsors’ tents for the shade or AC (one had a generator), the free-flowing booze or the food.

Music thumped from speakers hidden around the field, creating unintended mashups. ABBA and Lady Gaga should never sing together again.

Meanwhile, two teams of four players battled on the field for a white ball the size of a grapefruit. They swung their bamboo mallets and made mad, headlong dashes from one end of the pitch to the other. It was hard to keep track of the score in the hubbub of the gay fete.

Overall, six teams—24 players—participated in this rainbow rendition of the ancient sport of kings. They were dressed the same way as my parents were when I was little, except with vibrant colors splashed across their horses, jerseys and saddle pads.

On the other side of the field, women and men wearing leather outfits gyrated on

scaffolding to Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way.” Some kind of creature in a silver bodysuit with an alien mushroom head caught the attention of passers-by. It kept time with the music while creeping toward kids and dangling long fingernails at the cameras.

Then, when it seemed the party couldn’t get any stranger, a woman appeared by my side with a baby lemur clinging to her shoulders.

The lemur had pulled up around its hips what could have been the world’s tiniest diaper.

The woman said she was there to represent animal rights, though it was unclear what

If you think you’ve seen all that a tailgating party can become at a college football game— THE N YOU’R E W R ONG . organization she was with. One of the drag queens standing nearby asked the woman if the lemur was liable to bite.

“No, but she has sharp teeth,” the woman said.

Animal Rights then wandered off as a throng of people congregated around Tula and Sarah, drag queens who had driven down from Washington, just for the tournament.

“I was looking for something gay and horsey,”

Sarah said. She wore a floor-length white evening gown with a blue flower print and chunky blue earrings and had a white alligator-skin clutch.

She rides horses professionally back home, where she learned of the Gay Polo League.

“At that point, I got Tula very, very drunk, and she consented to come down,” she said. “Now, she plans her year around it.”

“I don’t even really care for horses very much,” Tula said. She was a full head taller than Sarah and wore a strapless red rose-print dress, her blond hair done up high.

“But I love this event,” she said.

At halftime, I met with Gay Polo League founder and communications businessman Chip McKenney, 62. We sat in a golf cart away from the party to talk. McKenney is blond and carries an

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This page from top: The sprawling tailgate party under the tents; players can ride their own ponies or the Gay Polo League will provide one to them.

easy smile. He has a way of talking that belongs in a Jimmy Buffett song. We chatted about the league while ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” blared in the background. When he paused to take a breath, the song—“you can dance, you can jive”—filled in for him.

He founded the league in 2006 when he got the idea that team sports needed to work harder at being inclusive.

McKenney pointed to his own experience as a gay teen feeling ostracized in high school sports for the inspiration. He landed on polo as the perfect torch to carry the message of worldwide inclusivity because “it’s elegant and it’s ancient and it’s international,” he said.

Since its founding, the Gay Polo League in Palm Beach, and its flagship event, has attracted global attention, with smaller events in 13 countries, including the UK and Argentina. This year, the league raised $5,000 for LGBTQ senior advocacy group SAGE at a Friday fundraiser before the games began.

Throughout the years, McKenney has carved out his own niche in the tradition-bound world of polo, making room for anyone to join, whether they have horse experience or not.

“We also incorporate our spectators,” he said. “We engage an audience that comes, and they add to the culture and the day as much as the polo does.”

The weekend attracted not just people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, but also “allies”—anyone who works to support equal rights.

As McKenney drove back to, presumably, the stables, I caught sight of 80-year-old Skip Schlafer walking across the field wearing a wide-brimmed pink ladies’ hat. It was his first Gay Polo League tournament and he didn’t exactly understand what was going on but was having a grand old time.

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“I just think it’s good that organizations are recognizing it,” he said of the tournament and LGBTQ rights. “Whether it’s polo or whatever sport it is—they have that togetherness.”

I waylaid another person crossing the field during halftime. Her name was Kim Koslow, and she turned out to be a representative of Futures Recovery Healthcare, one of the event sponsors. It was her first time watching the Gay Polo League. She wore a flowing blue dress that seemed sensible in the heat, and she found the tournament to be “heaven on earth.”

“I believe so much in what Chip (McKenney) is doing,” she said, “and who he is and what he stands for.”

Koslow, 59, is a gay woman who has spent her life in search of the inclusivity the league offers.

It’s why she works at an actively LGBTQfriendly recovery center, she said.

“Anything goes,” she said and laughed, looking around the field.

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Not long after our brief encounter, two pickup trucks drove out onto the pitch and parked in the middle of the field. Spectators soon followed as servers handed out flutes of champagne from the beds of the trucks. It was time for divot stomping. I hung back to watch.

When horses gallop down the field, their hooves tear out clumps of grass. At halftime at any polo match, it is the spectators’ job to replace these patches of missing earth.

When I was little, I took divot stomping as a divine ordinance. I’d run out in shorts and a T-shirt (at backyard games) or in my dresses and bows (at stadiums) to pick up the lumps of grass faster than the people around me. I kept track of the number of divots I stomped in the competitive way of someone determined to win against unsuspecting strangers.

But the Gay Polo League divot stomp was the first time I’d ever seen stompers in Speedos and leather binding, slacks and stilettos, all working

GAY POLO LEAGUE PALM BEACH, WANESCO IMAGES, SAR A COLE

Opposite: Over-the-top tailgating has become a signature of the Gay Polo League in Palm Beach, founded in 2006 and now there are events in 13 countries worldwide.

Left: Players come from

all over the world to participate in the annual Gay Polo Tournament.

Below: The atmosphere

together to replant the missing clumps of dirt.

(I stomped a couple, for the child within.)

As the matches began again, the pace of the tournament picked up. I could hear Escapite call out the names of the teams, but it was difficult to keep track of it all and keep an eye on the revelers. It was easy to tell that McKenney lofted many of the balls through the goals, though. I know this from the announcer’s chant: “It’s Chip McKenney, McKenney, McKenney, McKenney, McKenney,” sounding

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as if it could have ended on, “Hey! Macarena.”

At the far side of the field, I found polo player Pete Grover, 44, still in jodhpurs and jersey, leaning against his parked car and watching the game.

Grover and his husband traveled from Philadelphia for the weekend, and he’s marked the tournament on his calendar for the past three years. Grover is one of the league’s members with a background in horses.

The Gay Polo League assigns the teams so that they’re as evenly matched as possible based

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on player rankings. People who have their own polo ponies can ride them, and through the Palm City Polo Club, the league provides ponies to riders who don’t.

“What keeps me coming back is the people,” he said. “It’s just a lifestyle. You get into it. It just takes your soul and you love it.”

The tournament’s atmosphere is a change from his job as a human resources director, he said. And the league brought him back to horses.

“If it wasn’t for this event, I would never have played polo, probably,” he said. “I wouldn’t know it would be accessible.”

Nearby, 30-year-old polo player Peter Secor was chatting with other players. Secor also has a background in riding horses, but never played polo before the Gay Polo League. He and his husband traveled from New Jersey, where Secor works as a purveyor of rare jewels. It was his first time at the tournament, and it was “magical.”

“It’s this weird, arcane, king-of-sports kind of sport, but at the same time, with us and

GAY POLO LEAGUE OF PALM BEACH, SAR A COLE

buzzes with playful characters, some dressed in drag, some in pink flamingo onesies.

This page: The weekend attracts not only people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, but also “allies”—anyone who supports equal rights.

the GPL, it really melds,” he said. “You meet people from all over the world and next door.”

After talking with the two players, I made my way over to the shade at the corner of the field and sat to watch the game for a bit. It was close to the end of the tournament, and I watched as the players rode off the field and organizers drove a truck and flatbed trailer out to present awards.

In the crowd of people who thronged about the mobile stage, I caught up with player Katy McKegney—publisher of the Washington City Paper—who considers herself an ally for LGBTQ rights.

“I completely fell in love,” McKegney, 35, said of the tournament. “It’s an addicting sport.”

She added she’s already planning for next year’s tournament, April 2 to 5, 2020.

“There is nothing better than this festive, fun environment that is accepting,” she said, watching as partygoers and players popped even more champagne bottles and cheered for the teams on stage. We were on the edge of a crowd and I could see up near the truck that someone had brought one of the horses out from the stables. It looked as if it was about to be congratulated for its stellar performance during the matches. Horses do love to have their jobs, after all.

At the end, it didn’t really matter who won.

Everyone received an ovation and some sort of award. As the league later posted online, at the end of a day that was about inclusion, love, diversity and equality, “everyone was a winner.”

The party was still going as I started to pack up. The day was turning to dusk, and a soft light settled on the field.

The day’s polo was still the game I knew from my childhood, but the atmosphere was different. There was an unrestrained joy to being at a Gay Polo League match, where silver creatures crawled toward you, lemurs wore diapers, and yet horses still thundered down the field—as they may have done hundreds of years ago when the sport began.

As I walked away, I heard another champagne cork pop behind me.

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WIL More than 50 years ago, as students at Florida State University, naturalist Joe Hutto and singer Rita Coolidge sparked a kinship through music. The woodsman and the Delta lady separated for decades, forging successful careers and marrying other people. This is the story of their unlikely reunion.

ILD AT HEART

By STEVE DOLLAR // Photography by GABRIEL HANWAY

This page: Joe Hutto

and a herd of mule deer, heading out in the mountains in Wyoming circa 2014

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have come to the edge of a swamp to talk to a man who is famous for talking to turkeys, for talking as a turkey. And not only for that, of course, although that is the thing that has brought him a big pinch of popular recognition, but for a lifetime of immersive endeavors in the wild. Joe Hutto may be a human being who walks on two legs, yet he has nurtured a nearly cellular understanding of the way animals perceive, connect and communicate.

He has spent the better part of 40 years embedded in a range of habitats—from the brackish marshes of the Florida Panhandle to the wide-open prairies of the Great Plains— forging intimate bonds with, among other creatures, wild turkeys, bighorn sheep and mule deer.

Right now, though, he’s pulling me down the proverbial rabbit hole.

Hutto, a lean and ease-making fellow whose biological clock seems to have paused a couple of decades shy of his current 74 years, uses the term to describe his free-flowing thought process. He loves to hop into rich and colorful discourse on the mysteries and revelations of the natural world, which he’s surrounded by daily in his home outside Tallahassee, where he is writing a new book, an expansive summing-up of a lifetime of practice as a naturalist, archaeologist, wildlife biologist and artist.

What’s the gist of it all?

“Every living thing is inhabited by a sense of its own identity,” begins Hutto, the author of several books including his most widely known, Illumination in the Flatwoods: A Season With the Wild Turkey (Lyons Press). “I’m basically going through different plants and animals and giving examples of how not only are they aware … but they are brilliantly aware in their particular unique way,” he says of his project.

The book in progress, Hutto says, will be called The Light in the Eye of the Deer: The Conscious Imperative in Biology. Seated next to him on a sofa in their den is Rita Coolidge, two-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, who married Hutto, her college

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sweetheart, a year ago after decades apart.

“What’s the other subtitle?” she prompts him, with a knowing glance. Hutto smiles. “An Indictment of Human Nature.”

I came to talk wild turkey but what I found was much harder to tame­ —love shared between two madly accomplished individuals whose paths led them both through the spotlight to where they are now and where they might never have expected to find themselves again: together.

Hutto and Coolidge have lived on this 8-acre patch of land, part of a long stretch of old plantation property a few miles south of the Georgia state line, for the past two years. They landed here about a year after their fateful 2016 reunion at Word of South, the literary and music festival in downtown Tallahassee, where the performer had come to read from her memoir, Delta Lady (Harper). Hutto wasn’t going to go, assuming Coolidge would be “inundated,” as he says. Then his friends

xxx: xxxx

Helge and Carol Swanson intervened, dragging the shy woodsman to Cascades Park.

The second Coolidge came off the stage, Carol Swanson ran through the crowd yelling “Rita!

Joe’s here!” Hutto blanched. “I literally died,” he says. And then, boom.

During their days at Florida State University, a relationship sparked from their mutual love for making music. When the romance rekindled after more than 50 years, the couple circled back to Tallahassee, where it all began— Coolidge moving from Southern California, where she lived on a sprawling avocado grove, and Hutto from Wyoming, where he had most recently spent nine years studying the behavior of mule deer.

The couple sits holding hands on an autumn afternoon, each plaid-and-denim casual, sharing a view through one of the large glass windows that make the rustic, roomy home feel scarcely removed from the abundant wildlife outside. The backyard extends to a cypress marsh whose

BILL GREER, DAWSON DUNNING; PREVIOUS SPREAD COURTESY OF JOE HUT TO

This page: Hutto, Coolidge and her daughter Casey Kristofferson at a 1977 FSU homecoming concert; Hutto studying bighorn sheep on the Continental Divide in 2016 Opposite: The

decades-long connection between Hutto and Coolidge burns bright.

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“We were encouraging this nice little population of foxes and starting to develop a personal relationship with these foxes.”

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—joe hutto

years ago, he found 50 species Above: A wild turkey and of plants per square meter, Hutto in 1995 which was then the world’s highest plant species richness measured on a meter-square basis. Florida’s wilderness erupts with life in every form.

Not every critter drawn to Hutto’s property fits into the idyllic picture, however. “We were encouraging this nice little population of foxes,” Hutto says, “and starting to develop a personal relationship with these foxes.” One day, Hutto heard a noise in Coolidge’s car. Expecting to see a pack rat, he instead was assaulted by a rabid fox that “hit me like an NFL linebacker.” The fox sank its teeth into Hutto’s leg. Coolidge was exposed when she tended to the wound, so they both had to take a painful and extensive course of rabies shots, as did the two game wardens who arrived to put down the fox.

ZAHUR ANEC , JOE HUT TO

various microhabitats foster families of deer, cottonmouths, foxes, alligators, plus all kinds of birds—cardinals and crows appearing to be most populous on a couple of recent afternoons, and occasional wood ducks and pileated woodpeckers. The Edenic scene was the site of their marriage ceremony, with about 50 close friends in attendance, including musicians like Graham Nash and Coolidge’s Nashville collaborator, the blues guitarist Keb’ Mo’, who performed after the vows. Pure Panhandle.

In regard to what makes this particular part of the planet so special, Hutto cites his friend Dr. D. Bruce Means, a field ecologist who is an expert on Florida carnivorous plant bogs.

Means estimates that the wet flat bogs of the Apalachicola National Forest are likely as speciesrich, if not more so, than any he’s sampled.

In a notable North Carolina study, done 25

“Every one is worse than the one before,” Coolidge says of the treatments. “They’re shooting fire into your hand.”

But what was more excruciating was the bill. $21,000 per person. “That,” Hutto says, “was an $85,000 fox.”

The upside? Coolidge smiles. “We can play with baby raccoons now.”

Turkey Talk The way he recounts the story, Hutto’s brush with fame was kind of a fluke. Illumination in the Flatwoods: A Season With the Wild Turkey was published in 1995. “It did relatively well for that kind of book,” Hutto recalls. “It came and went like a record.” Then one day, years later, he answered the telephone. It was Bill Buford of The New Yorker. He’d read the book and wanted to do a story about the man who talked to turkeys. Hutto took a pass. He told him, “‘Mr. Buford, I’ve got a research project going in Wyoming’—I was living with bighorn sheep at 12,000 feet—‘I don’t think I can do that. I’ll have to get back to you.’”

Hutto rang up his editor and shared the news.

“There was this dead silence on the phone,” he says. “She said, ‘Get your ass to Tallahassee

right now! Bill Buford IS The New Yorker magazine!’” Hutto scrambled back to his native Panhandle to meet Buford, and the rest was history. The article, called “Talking Turkey,” was published in 2006 and gave Illumination a second life, with 10,000 copies sold. Then a producer in London, England, picked up The New Yorker issue while sitting in a doctor’s office and decided that Hutto’s experience was too weird not to make a documentary about. My Life as a Turkey, which first aired in 2011 on the BBC, recounts how the naturalist imprinted and raised a brood of wild turkeys and mastered their language. “It was huge,” Hutto says. “I had no idea what I was getting into.”

The media exposure made Hutto’s reputation and marked him as a singular figure in his field.

As Buford wrote in his profile: “Effectively, Hutto turned himself into a turkey. He walked like one. He went up into a tree like one. He learned to hunt for bugs like one. Without

This page, from top: Hutto

holds his most wellknown book, which was published in 1995 and had a resurgence in popularity in 2006; Hutto and mule deer “Peep” examining Hutto’s Emmy in 2013

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strumming it, and he soon had company. “This lovely young woman came and sat down next to me. We knew all the same songs. I heard this voice and thought, ‘These college girls are good, this is going to be fun.’” But when Hutto left, he did so without her name or phone number.

“You idiot,” he says. “What were you thinking?” Turns out, Coolidge was performing a lot around town, and Hutto was tipped off to a show at the LeRoc Lounge in the old Hotel Duval in downtown Tallahassee. Coolidge had dropped out of her sorority and gotten in deep in the campus art department.

“We prided the paint on our jeans,” she says.

As was true elsewhere around the country in the early 1960s, the campus had a budding folk music scene, and Coolidge was an integral part of what there was of it, singing tunes by Joan Baez, Eric Andersen and others. “We spent every spare minute—if you’re not doing something else, you’re rehearsing, playing music, because it’s the most fun thing to do,” she says.

Coolidge graduated a year ahead of Hutto and moved back to her native Tennessee. She lived with her sister Priscilla and found work

Above: Coolidge in concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles Below: Coolidge’s 2016 memoir; a 1997 picture of Walela, the band formed by Coolidge, her late sister Priscilla and Priscilla’s daughter Laura Satterfield

Totally In Tune When Rita met Joe for the first time, they sang together for hours at a beach house. It was Hutto’s first party as a college freshman, only a summer out of high school. He was too nerdy to bring a date, he says, so he had his guitar instead, a nice Martin that “cost twice as much as my pathetic automobile.” He began

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JILL JARRET T, MAT T BEARD PHOTOGR APHY

instruments or recordings, he learned also to talk like one, modulating his vocal cords to match the complex, almost musical notes that now surrounded him. ‘A language of not just 13 basic sounds that some experts had identified but many subdivisions within those categories of sound, a vocabulary of at least 50 different kinds of verbal instruction. I spoke to them and they, in turn, talked to me, too.’”

“When you’re 20 years old everything’s about you. And as I get older, I realize it’s not.

It’s about him.”

—RITA COOLIDGE

Above: A 2015 shot of Coolidge in California for Safe in the Arms of Time

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doing radio spots and studio sessions around Memphis, where the music scene was blowing up with soon-to-be-legendary labels like Stax Records. She became close with the musicians Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett and by 1968 was headed west to Los Angeles, the whirling epicenter of a musical revolution. “I hadn’t even been in front of audiences except at the LeRoc Lounge until I started working with Delaney and Bonnie,” says Coolidge, who had to borrow the outfits she wore for appearances on TV shows like Shindig. She had three pairs of jeans and four shirts, but she also already had a song that was a No. 1 hit on LA radio.

“I had never imagined anything like that,” Coolidge says. “It was LA at the end of 1968.

The Doors were in one studio. Mick Jagger would wander into our sessions. My eyes were like saucers. I couldn’t believe it. We were just a bunch of kids. Everyone in the band was

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Above: The happy

couple on their property; Coolidge’s latest album dropped in May 2018

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in their 20s.” Although she’s never stopped working, the singer is so happily detached from what Joni Mitchell called “the star-making machinery” and its trappings that it was Hutto who asked to take her gold and platinum records out of storage and hang them on a wall in their music room.

Coolidge goes into more detail about the era in her memoir, which charts her emergence into the spotlight, from singing on Joe Cocker’s epochal 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour to her breakthrough as a major star with her 1977 cover of Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart. She largely focuses on her complicated musical and romantic partnership with singer-songwriter and former husband Kris Kristofferson, with whom she had her daughter Casey. “[LA at the time] it was just so beautiful. The musical community was so connected in such

JILL JARRET T

loose ends. Then Coolidge came to town.

“It was instantaneous,” he says. “As soon as we saw each other it was like, ‘OK, this is Joe and Rita time.’

“I was always aware of this vacuum inside where I felt Rita should have been,” Hutto confesses. “I wasn’t made miserable by it, but I was always aware of it. We never had a bad moment, not an unkind word, in all the years we knew each other. When I saw her after 40 years it was like no time had passed.”

The couple radiates a vibe of laid-back contentment and creative equilibrium. Their

fields of achievement contrast. Coolidge still performs for thousands of fans in sold-out arenas. “We have to do what we call the ‘former hits,’” she says. “We’re still rockin’ it.” Hutto mines his rich experience of communion with the wild. But they both Above: Hutto have music to tie it all and Coolidge together. “When you’re at her 2018 Grammy Museum 20 years old everything’s presentation in Los about you,” Coolidge Angeles says. “And as I get older, Below: Coolidge’s 2018 release concert I realize it’s not. It’s with Keb’ Mo’ at the about him.” She glances Troubadour

a positive way,” she says. “You could drive up through Laurel Canyon at night and just hear music, just coming from everywhere. It was fun and it was authentic and it was friendly.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t go now!” Hutto interjects.

“I told you, I told you, I told you,” she says.

Hutto, who made a go of it as a professional musician with the Tallahassee Band in the 1970s and has recorded with country music great Tom T. Hall, among others, had to follow his own path: into the wild.

“I knew that was where I belonged,” he says.

“I’m not a savant by any means, but there was no doubt in my mind that she was on a trajectory, it was so apparent. I knew that wasn’t going to happen for me.”

They saw each other briefly when Coolidge and Kristofferson played the FSU Homecoming Pow Wow in 1977. “We were very close,” Hutto says. “Married to other people but best friends.” A lot of near misses followed. “We lost each other for decades,” Coolidge adds.

Hutto passed up chances to see her concerts when tours brought her his way, wary, he says, of being a distraction, hungry for her attention.

“You would have had it, too,” Coolidge tells him, “had my full attention.”

Hutto was back in the Panhandle in the winter of 2016, living in a cabin on a lake. His third wife, Leslye, died in 2014, and his nine years with the Wyoming mule deer, chronicled in Touching the Wild and its companion PBS documentary, had come to a close. He was at

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vocal coach, but we had run into her when I was a little kid. Brenda Lee and I were cheerleaders together in Nashville. A lot of those people are no longer with us.”

Coolidge’s memoir put a lot of personal details on the table, along with plenty of backstage anecdotes—like how she wrote the (still uncredited) piano coda in the Derek and the Dominos hit “Layla,” one of the most indelible melodies in rock history.

“But when I do interviews and people tell me, ‘I read your book! Please tell me the Eric Clapton story again,’ I’m like ‘Really?’” Yet the impact made by sharing her own struggles

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as a woman in a male-dominated industry was greater than she expected. An aspiring performer wrote to thank her. The letter “said I’m going through what you went through now and I’ve taken so much crap from guys and I’m not doing it anymore,” Coolidge says. “If I just helped that one girl, because she’s really talented … It’s hard not to get knocked down in this business, even now.”

Trying to Illuminate Hutto, by his own account, was not a good student. “I thought I was wasting my time,” he says. “I needed to be out there. So the

DAWSON DUNNING

Above: Jam at Hutto and laughs. It’s session at home not for nothing that the with Coolidge on the keyboard and last song on her 2018 Hutto on guitar album, Safe in the Arms Opposite: Hutto of Time, is called “Please with mule deer Grow Old With Me.” “Blossom” sizing up the world Ribbing aside, such a hard-won perspective is a valuable prize, something of which Coolidge is often reminded. Watching the Ken Burns series Country Music left her in tears every night, “laughing and crying,” she says. “I knew personally probably 60 percent of the people.

My sister and June Carter [Cash] had the same

six-eight hours at school was agony until I got back home.” Hutto took inspiration from writers like the conservationist Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac, and transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden, and modeled his work on the examples of pioneering primatologists Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, but largely struck out on his own trail. “My perspectives are unique, in that my approach has been unusual,” he says. “A lot people do wildlife research and observe animals, but not the way I have or with the level of intensity.”

Curious about exactly how intense? Let your eyes take in an unusual piece of art that hangs on the wall by Hutto’s desk. It is an illustration, made by a colleague and old friend, Florida State University professor Helge Swanson, that visualizes the themes from the first draft of The Light in the Eye of the Deer. Terms like “evolution,” “art,” “bliss,” “existential angst,” “my chosen path” and “The Quest” cluster together

in a fevered whirl of blue or red Magic Marker script in a sequence of interconnected bubbles ringed by red arrows that ultimately point to one big word in the heart of it all: “Consciousness.”

it back together, and showed how each thing relates or doesn’t relate to the other and it just disturbed me so much when I saw it. I thought, ‘Oh my God. What am I doing?’”

Whatever the answer is, Hutto has been doing it for the better part of three years, poring through his old field journals.

Some of them are a real mess, with pages smeared with blood drawn by ravenous mosquitoes and yellow flies and muddied by turkeys walking over them with dirty feet.

Hutto is putting his thoughts and experiences together, because he wants to let the world know what the animals have told him.

“I’ve lived a huge part of my life embedded in the experience of wild things and have come to understand that their experience of the material world is extraordinary and they are truly awake in ways that human beings frankly aren’t,” he says. “We are the least-conscious creature that I know. I have spent my life with animals that are actually awake on the planet and I’ve come to know the difference. I’ve always experienced this sort of embarrassment about my lack of awareness that is constantly pointed out to me by these creatures, who are actually awake, and I’m reminded how dull I am in comparison.

That’s what I’m trying to write about and make people understand: that we don’t set the bar on consciousness by any means. That’s human arrogance. We think we’re so extraordinary.

Of course, we are, but every creature is. It’s not a competition. Nature doesn’t understand superiority. That is a human perception, entirely.

Every living thing is absolutely extraordinary in some way.”

It’s fun to wonder what, say, a closely observant raccoon would make of the couple. The critter would hear Coolidge singing throughout the day, and Hutto says he is bound to hum along, as he is a “harmonaholic.” No matter what language a creature might choose to describe this habitat, it is surely as universal as music and love.

“I’ve lived a huge part of my life embedded in the experience of wild things … they are truly awake in ways that human beings frankly aren’t.”

—joe hutto

This is a map to the rabbit hole.

“That’s what my brain looks like and I didn’t realize it,” Hutto says. “He completely disassembled every concept in this book, and put

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Lake Kissimmee, Lake Wales, FL

Where Go With The Flow Is No Metaphor.

It doesn’t get any sweeter. Find the ultimate vacation with real Florida adventures. | VisitCentralFlorida.org

Explore the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world on the campus of Florida Southern College. flsouthern.edu/fllw

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A true paradise, Bok Tower Gardens is home to Olmsted gardens, a children’s garden, Pinewood Estate and the Singing Tower.

— sunny dispatches from NW FLA —

Panhandling B y P ri ssy E l ro d

into the wild

Learning, the hard way, to embrace the outdoors (thanks Mom!)

MARCDUF/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

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n 1987, I told myself sleepaway camp was a good idea for our daughter, Garrett, then only 9 years old. No matter that the quiet child never spent the night at a sleepover and didn’t even like playing outdoors. She was a girlie girl who liked air conditioning and Barbie dolls. She was nothing like her 5-year-old sister, Sara, who loved getting dirty. They were opposites in every way: night and day; poodle and retriever; chocolate and vanilla.

“I’m not going. I’ll hate it!” Garrett screamed. “Please don’t sign me up, Mom.” “Too late, precious. I already did. Besides, you can’t hate something you’ve never tried.

Everybody loves camp.”

I leaned in to kiss her left cheek as she pulled away.

“Did you?” she asked. I answered with a smile and wink.

The theme for camp was Fun, Fitness and Fashion. It couldn’t get any better for someone who loved flipping through fashion and decor magazines and making collages from her scissor cuttings. The creative juice ran straight from her body to the No. 2 pencil outlining her sketched designs.

In truth, my worn-out words of encouragement had exhausted me.

“Once we get your trunk, you can decorate it with magazine clippings. That’ll be fun,” I coaxed.

Courtney and Mary Heather, her best

Above: Prissy’s oldest daughter, Garrett, tried to warn her mom that not everyone is an overnight camp kind of girl.

friends, were also signed up. They were triple whiners sabotaging each other.

“I have an idea. Invite Courtney and Mary Heather to spend the night. I’ll order pizza and rent a movie,” I said, digging in the refrigerator for a bottle of chardonnay.

Later, I pulled out of the Blockbuster Video parking lot with The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills, the original released in 1961. The setting was a summer camp with twin sisters who meet for the first time, then decide to get their divorced parents back together.

I’d seen the film as a child and remembered

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it made summer camp look fabulous. I felt confident Hayley could pick up where my mouth left off. That old cliche, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” ran through my overwrought brain.

Hayley Mills worked her twin magic. By the next day, all three girls were excited. But I’d gone through a lot of work for one measly week of camp.

I began the preparation following movie night. Goodwill rewarded me by having the perfect trunk. Garrett decorated the sucker to almost cute. We went shopping

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Panhandling

sunny dispatches from NW FLA

for fresh fashions, then lined the decorated trunk with new summer frocks. I headed to Walgreens and filled up her Caboodle—a popular accessory container—with delicioussmelling Finesse shampoo and conditioner.

I purchased a Le Clic pocket-size camera, some scented stationary, two ChapSticks and a couple sheets of stickers.

Finally, her departure day arrived. I laid her pillow and blankie (the one she still sleeps with—shh!) inside and clamped the trunk shut.

It was blazing hot that July day. I watched

poured from his brow.

The counselor, Peaches, was delightful, cheerful and helpful, although I could have braided the hair hanging beneath her armpits. I cried with guilt all the way home.

“She’ll be fine,” Boone said, gripping my restless hand.

Her first letter arrived two days later. I’m begging you please pick me up. The next day another. I’m sick on a cot in the clinic. I called to check on her and learned she was pretending so they would send her home.

Their first outing was by van to a hair

“Jody, it’s Girl Scout camp, not a kidnapping.” with trepidation as my husband Boone loaded her trunk and the four of us—Boone, Garrett, Sara and I—climbed inside the Oldsmobile. I wasted no time with peppy, nonsense blabbering.

“You’re so lucky, I wish I could go to camp for a week,” I squealed over the radio.

I looked back to see Garrett in the backseat sitting on her anxious hands with both eyes actively twitching.

The camp was in the country off Route 20. The first thing I saw when we pulled into the parking lot was a seven-foot rattlesnake crossing the steamy asphalt. It was spitting distance from our car.

Hayley Mills had a cabin; Garrett had a tent in the middle of Nowhere, Florida. She had dirty wood floors and mosquito nets over a slim, thin, stained cot. The bathhouse was outside where, I was confident, more rattlesnakes slept.

There was no fan in sight and little room for the decorated trunk filled with adorable clothes. Stifling, Boone began reorganizing the space to fit her trunk as pools of sweat

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school to watch the students train. The next was a “fashion” excursion to Gayfers at the Tallahassee Mall. That was when Garrett spotted someone she knew and bolted.

“Help me, Mrs. Elliott!” she begged, sobbing and clinging. “Call my mother.”

Jody used the pay phone inside the store and called. I answered after the third ring. I listened as Jody recapped the saga of my hysterical drama queen.

“I think you should pick her up, Prissy,” my friend urged.

“Jody, it’s Girl Scout camp, not a kidnapping,” I replied.

It was a parent’s conundrum, a nightmare, of a sort. Should I rescue the homesick child or use the experience to teach her how to make the best from the worst? I wanted to rescue her, I did. After all, she was only 3 miles away. But I told myself she would always believe quitting was an option when times were tough.

It was a difficult choice, a memorable moment, and one of life’s great lessons—for both of us. With only three days left at camp I made the choice for her to stay. She claims

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she’s still mad about my decision. But I’d like to believe the experience taught her to circle the arena, find the positive and not focus on the negative in life.

After returning to camp from her failed rescue attempt Garrett discovered the fitness portion of Fun, Fitness and Fashion camp. And that was found in the great outdoors and turned out to be an enriching experience. They would hike the woodsy paths strewn with sunning turtles as dragonflies danced above in the cerulean blue sky. Lizards scampered around the beaten dirt path as the guide pointed out wild pennyroyal, longleaf pines and cabbage palms. The girls observed colorful butterflies as they fluttered around thriving wildflowers. The butterflies didn’t mind the heat and humidity, so why should they? Their afternoons were spent swimming, giggling and cooling off in the pool, the only place mosquitoes stopped feasting on their already-chewed-up skin.

There would be other summer camps for my two daughters. A North Carolina Christian camp came later. Garrett wrote, Mom, tell Dad I want to be a Baptist. I’m never going back to the Episcopal Church.

Sara’s drama in North Carolina rivaled even Garrett’s. She kept threatening to run away, and the camp staff believed her. The cabin counselor grew weary of dragging her cot against the cabin door to keep Sara inside each night.

“We’ve never had someone this homesick.

Please pick her up,” the lady said when I answered the phone. It wasn’t a suggestion but an order. So, I did.

Years later, as a junior at Florida State University, Sara elected to go on the London program with nine of her sorority sisters. I was confident she’d outgrown her anxiety about being away from home by then. Still, I called the morning she landed at Heathrow airport to check on her safe arrival.

“I’m homesick.”

“That’s normal, honey. You will definitely be better by tomorrow.” I felt the familiar pang in my stomach.

FIND JACKSONVILLE PERFECTION - with -

E L I Z A B E T H LO F T I N Early the next morning, I called to recheck on my jet-bounder. I was told she was already on a flight back. After hanging up with me she called my mother. Softer than me, her grandmother purchased a return ticket. Sara lasted less than 24 hours abroad.

It would be years before either of my daughters learned the truth about me. I never went to summer camp. My mother didn’t make me, and she didn’t care if I hung around playing Barbies and coloring. I was the indoor type, just like her.

Both my sisters—Deborah and Gina— went to camp. Gina was only 7 when they shipped her to North Carolina. We still have her letter of intent. Come get me, or else I will jump off the mountain.

My parents didn’t. Gina didn’t jump.

There are so many rules and suggestions when it comes to parenting our young children, teenagers and adult children. And so many ways to fail. We just do our best and hope it works.

Both my daughters remain homebodies to this day. They are drawn to their roots. But they also learned how to survive the perils of life, from the smallest (homesickness at sleepaway camp) to the monumental—the unexpected and tragic loss of a father. I’ve learned we are all stronger than we know.

And we keep on.

As a memoirist, I’ve discovered another truth. For everything I did wrong in my life—and trust me, I did—somehow, someway, I did something right as a parent to two beautiful human beings.

R E A LT O R ®

Elizabeth Loftin remembers what is was like to be new to town once too. From the St. John’s River to the beaches, Loftin applies 17 years of area expertise to customize each client’s search for the perfect home.

© 2019 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity. Information not verified or guaranteed. If your home is currently listed with a Broker, this is not intended as a solicitation.

904.477.0219 eloftin.floridanetworkrealty.com Elizabeth.Loftin@FloridaNetworkRealty.com

Prissy Elrod is a professional speaker, artist and humorist and the author of Far Outside the Ordinary. She was born and raised in Lake City and now lives in Tallahassee with her husband, Dale. Chasing Ordinary, the sequel to Far Outside the Ordinary, was released in early 2019.

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WADING IN

— fin e arts, favor ites, f lings —

ON THE FLY — FLORIDA WILD —

C a r l t o n Wa r d J r. i n a w e o f a n A p a l a c h i c o l a o y s t e r m a n

— BIRD’S-EYE VIEW —

F ort L aude r dal e ’s ne w he ar t of c ool

— GROVE STAND —

M i a m i ’s h o t c u l i n a r y d u o w i t h a g l o b a l i m p r i n t

— THE ROOST —

Homes with gorgeous gardens and backyards

— DESIGN DISTRICT —

Tw o l a n d s c a p e a r c h i t e c t s e l e v a t e t h e g r e a t o u t d o o r s

— THE TIDE —

Statewide events not to miss this winter

— FLORIDIANA —

KEITH NOVOSEL

T h e K e y We s t h o m e t h a t h o s t e d s e v e r a l U . S . p r e s i d e n t s

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WINTER

WANDERLUST JUST THE CHILL YOU NEED

While away this winter at our luxurious oceanfront resort. The beach beckons for a walk, a bike ride, or the lure of a good book. A championship golf course, Har-Tru tennis courts, a recently renovated fitness center, and heated ocean view pools await. Rejuvenate in our lavish spa. Shop our boutiques.

Dine with a view of the ocean. Dig your toes into the sand–do it all or do nothing at all.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL 32082 | PONTEVEDRA.COM | (866) 991-0143

ON THE FLY: FLORIDA WILD P H OTOGR APHS & F IELD NOTES B y C ar lton Ward J r.

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The Last Harvest

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first got to know Kendall Schoelles in 2013 during a self-imposed assignment to explore the nature and heritage of Apalachicola Bay for our Florida Wildlife Corridor Glades to Gulf Expedition that would be traversing this region the following winter.

For me, having grown up on and fallen in love with Florida’s Gulf Coast, Apalachicola had long represented the ultimate wild destination—a storied landscape, where a million acres of public land protect a vast watershed.

In my mind, Apalachicola is the Everglades of North Florida. Schoelles had carried forward a legacy protecting the nature that NOTES surrounds him by tonging for wild-caught oysters every day on the same family lease — HABITAT— where his father and grandfather did the ST. VINCENT SOUND same. Schoelles and his family harvested the APALACHICOLA BAY oysters sustainably, by not taking too many, and the health of the bay benefited.

— SEASON — During our expedition in winter 2015, WINTER our team paddled the Apalachicola River to Apalachicola Bay and spent a day with Schoelles. This was my favorite part of — TIME OF DAY— EARLY MORNING the 100-day expedition and the film, The Forgotten Coast, which chronicles the journey. Schoelles had concerns then. When — SUBJECT— KENDALL SCHOELLES the Deepwater Horizon oil spill threatened TONGING FOR OYSTERS the northern Gulf and the oysters in Apalachicola Bay, large sections were opened for harvest. Oystering in public waters wiped out nearly all the oysters. But Schoelles only took the same amount he would have any other year. When asked why, Schoelles said, “What if the oil doesn’t come? If we take too many there will be nothing left for next year. And even if the oil does come and kill oysters, we still need to leave enough of the reefs intact so a new generation of oysters will have a place to grow.”

Since I last saw Schoelles, Apalachicola Bay oystering continued to collapse. The decimating harvest before the oil spill was compounded by salinity problems from overuse of freshwater upstream on the Apalachicola River, climate change and oyster thieves ravaging leases like Schoelles’. He stopped oystering in 2016, and the great bay that once provided 10 percent of America’s oysters and 90 percent of Florida’s is now devoid of them. Had everyone followed Schoelles’ example and only taken what nature could replenish, it might be a different story.

29°42’41” N

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85°7’49” W

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ON THE FLY:BIRD’S-EYE VIEW

A WA L K I N G G U I D E TO O U R FAVO R I T E N E I G H B O R H O O DS

cozy and cool in FTL

In less than a decade, Flagler Village has become Fort Lauderdale’s heart of all things trending 1. THE WANDER SHOP E. Sunrise Blvd.

1.

2. WINE WATCH

3.

2.

6.

NE Third Ave.

4.

8.

9.

11.

10.

12.

3. NOTORIOUS CREAMERY

Owned by a rapper and attracting a hipster crowd. We’re obsessed with the Cookie Monster, which may or may not turn your tongue bright blue.

908 N. Flagler Drive

4. INVASIVE SPECIES BREWING

A brewery known for crazy concoctions—like the Ninja Juice, a rice beer fermented with Japanese sake yeast—the taproom is a key stop on the Ale Trail.

726 NE Second Ave.

5. GLITCH BAR N. Andrews Ave.

W. Broward Blvd.

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5.

After 36 years of selling nothing but special wines from a totally cramped space, Wine Watch moved across the street. It now has its own wine bar and happily continues its wildly popular pop-up dinners.

837 NE Third Ave.

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13.

Somehow a video game bar became the hottest club in the area.

Tip: Order the margarita.

905 NE Fifth Ave.

6. CHOPS + HOPS | AXE THROWING LODGE

The stylish circular bar headlining the space would be a draw on its own, although the caged-in axe-throwing aisles make for a fine night out.

702 NE First Ave.

ILLUSTR ATION BY LESLIE CHALFONT

7.

The men’s and women’s boutique owned by Marisa Folz began its life in a pop-up tent, then an Airstream, before finding a headquarters in July 2018.

915 N. Flagler Drive

F L O R I D A ’ S O N LY S T A T E W I D E L I F E S T Y L E M A G A Z I N E

Tourists turn to it. Locals live by it.

7. SISTRUNK MARKET PLACE AND BREWERY

Fort Lauderdale’s first food hall spent this fall perpetually just about to open, although previews showed a stylish space of various vendors.

115 NW Sixth St.

8. HENRY’S SANDWICH STATION Owner Marc Falsetto traveled the country searching out recipes to put between two slices of bread. Don’t leave without crunching through the crispy chicken with hot honey.

545 NW First Ave.

9. PETER FELDMAN PARK

A pocket park that serves as the neighborhood’s playground for kids and adults, Peter Feldman hosts a food truck roundup on every second Friday.

310 NE Sixth St.

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MAG.COM

10. BREW URBAN CAFE

Mismatched furniture, a bay door overlooking where trains scream by outside, a travel trailer converted into a gift shop and a secret bookshelf doorway to a design studio make this one of the coolest shops around. Also, the coffee is excellent.

537 NW First Ave.

11. RHYTHM & VINE

At happy hour, the scene is chill on the AstroTurf that makes up much of this garden bar. Late at night, though, the places turns into one of the city’s hottest spots.

401 NE Fifth Terrace

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12. NOBLEMEN’S CUT AND SHAVE

Old-school barbershop vibes ooze from an otherwise modern space that’s as much a hangout as it is a place for a good trim.

504 NW First Ave. #3204

13. THE DALMAR

Fort Lauderdale’s first downtown hotel in a century brought with it a metropolitan flair, with a fine dining restaurant, super-cool chill lounge and a rooftop bar where ballers go to party.

299 N. Federal Highway

Follow us @theFlamingoMag

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ON THE FLY: GROVE STAND SEASON’S EATINGS B y E v a n S . B en n

Delizioso Duo

Fiola Miami’s Fabio and Maria Trabocchi have created a fine dining restaurant empire that stretches from Coral Gables to Washington to Venice, Italy.

This page: Fiola oysters

and caviar prosecco zabaglione with pane carasau

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IF

you’ve been wise enough to reserve an upcoming table at Fiola in Coral Gables—this is the high season, FIOLA MIAMI after all—you’ll be rewarded with — LOCATION — delicacies that Fabio and Maria THE LANDMARK Trabocchi’s jet-setting customers 1515 SUNSET BUILDING 1500 SAN IGNACIO AVENUE in Venice, Italy, and Washington, CORAL GABLES D.C., may never have the pleasure — HOURS — of enjoying: fresh Florida triggerfish LUNCH: TUES.–FRI. NOON–2:30 P.M. dressed in local coconut, Key lime DINNER: and avocado; Key West royal red MON.–THURS. 6 P.M.–10:30 P.M. shrimp arranged with Florida citrus FRI. 6 P.M.–11 P.M. SAT. 5:30 P.M.–11 P.M. and basil; a tangle of delicate greens SUN. 6 P.M.–10 P.M. from Palm Beach County’s Swank MARTINI HOUR: MON.–FRI. 4 P.M.–7 P.M. Farms, topped with ripe strawberries. fiolamiami.com Ah, winter in Florida. This is why we’re here, right? To bask in the sun while other parts of the country endure frigid temps, and to relish in the bounties of a robust growing and fishing season while many U.S. fields and streams are covered in frost.

Above: Fabio and Maria Trabocchi in the dining room of Fiola Miami Below: Fiola Miami is situated in the historic 1515 Sunset Building in Coral Gables.

It’s also why the Trabocchis, a husband-andwife hospitality super duo with eight restaurants special-occasion dinners a little more than a to their name, decided to open a branch of it would be in Miami,” Maria said. “It’s year into its run. their Michelin-starred D.C. flagship restaurant, beautiful, and the Latin culture feels very “Miami has been even more magical than Fiola, in Coral Gables. And it’s why their welcoming and comfortable to me, being Fabio and I had hoped,” Maria said. “We love stunning dining room, with floor-to-ceiling glass from Spain.” how people there have welcomed us, embraced walls displaying wine bottles and crisp white But, as countless out-of-town chefs can us. Literally, hugging us tablecloths that seem to make every plate of attest, succeeding in whenever we’re there.” food more colorful, remains a destination for Miami’s competitive When it opened in power lunches, celebrity stop-ins and romantic restaurant scene late 2018, Fiola Miami requires more than a was their first restaurant proven track record outside of the nation’s and national awards. capital. They’ve since To make it work in added a Fiola in Venice, South Florida, the Italy, and just this fall a Trabocchis combine location of their moretheir formula for casual Sfoglina Pasta success—he runs the House in Arlington, kitchen with intrinsic Virginia. They run two Italian culinary — M A R I A TR A B O C C H I other Sfoglinas in the prowess, and she keeps District, as well as Del Mar, which features the front of the house humming with graceful coastal Mediterranean cuisine, a nod to Maria’s hospitality—with a hyper-local sensibility Spanish upbringing. that gives Fiola Miami a sense of place.

“We always said to each other that if we were Fiola Miami in many ways mirrors going to open a restaurant beyond Washington, its siblings in D.C. and Venice with its

FELIPE CUEVAS, MARCO CIMMINO

I say I’m Fabio’s No. 1 fan, but other people are too . . .

We have regulars in D.C. who will come see us at Fiola Miami when they’re on vacation.

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ON THE FLY: GROVE STAND SEASON’S EATINGS

Above: Find Fiola’s tiramisu recipe at Flamingomag.com; elegant finishings create an elevated ambiance; wild hamachi with red imperial Carabineros prawns

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Fiola Miami Seabass Ceviche S e rv e s 4 – 5

LECHE DE TIGRE

cup freshly squeezed lemon juice cup freshly squeezed lime juice 1/2 cup diced celery 1/4 cup cilantro stems 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fish fumet 1/4 cup minced shallots 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons branzino fillet or any white fish, skinned and diced 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemongrass 2 teaspoons fresh Calabrian or Fresno chili 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons ice water 3 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoons granulated sugar 1/4 cup Hass avocado

3/4 3/4

PREPARATION: Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. Strain through fine mesh strainer. Refrigerate until ready to use.

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SEA BASS AND PLATING

5 fresh branzino fillets, skin and bones removed 2 cups fresh corn kernels cut from the cob 1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin on mandolin 2 cups leche de tigre Freshly chopped cilantro, as needed 1 cup crispy fried chickpeas (for garnish) Fresh whole cilantro leaves (for garnish)

PREPARATION: Add all ingredients except chickpeas to a large bowl and mix together well. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Sprinkle fried chickpeas over the top, and garnish with cilantro leaves Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

K ATE OAKLE Y/ADORNED PHOTOGR APHY, MARCO CIMMINO, MARCEL BOLDU

fine-dining approach to seasonal Italian cooking. But Fabio empowers his chefs to add local ingredients and cooking techniques to their menus. In Coral Gables that sometimes means a bright ceviche with locally caught bass and a Peruvian-inspired leche de tigre marinade or a salad with Florida-grown lettuces, oranges and avocados. For extra Miami swagger, you can work your way through “Italian French toast” with Key lime mascarpone at the Sunday jazz brunch, where the “Bloody Mary Royal” features a jumbo tiger prawn hanging over the rim.

“There’s nothing more Italian than to showcase the cooking and ingredients of whatever area you’re in,” he said. “In Miami, we’re working with local farmers, but we’re also welcoming Latin cooking influences into our dishes.”

That menu variety is a perk for the Trabocchis’ most loyal customers, who frequent their restaurants here, in Washington and abroad. They come for his earthy bison tartare, his comforting tiramisu and his exquisite pastas, like his signature lobster ravioli. (“Always, always the lobster ravioli,”

Maria said.). In that dish, perfect pockets of lobster-filled dough swim in a rich pool of ginger-enhanced lobster stock that props up even more lobster meat. It’s a dish Fabio has been known for since he entered the U.S. dining scene.

“I say I’m Fabio’s No. 1 fan, but other people are too,” Maria said. “I like that he has such a big fan base. We have regulars in D.C. who will come see us at Fiola Miami when they’re on vacation, or people who will plan a trip to Venice and make a point to go to Fiola there.”

Getting to know regular customers has helped give Fabio and Maria the inspiration and ability to expand. They met one of their eventual partners in Fiola Miami when he

There’s nothing more Italian than to showcase the cooking and ingredients of whatever area you’re in.

FELIPE CUEVAS

— FAB I O TRAB O C C H I would travel to Washington on business and dine at Fiola there. That customer introduced the Trabocchis to Facundo Bacardi, chair of Bacardi Ltd., who owns the 1515 Sunset Building, now home to Fiola Miami.

None of it would have come together if the foundation of the Trabocchis’ empire— exceptional food and hospitality—weren’t rock-solid. Fabio and Maria know this, and it’s what drives them to endlessly shuttle between Florida, Washington and Italy, always pushing, always striving for perfection.

“It’s emotional and beautiful, this life,” Maria said, “but we feel extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a team of people who are so talented and do what they do so well.”

This page: Fiola’s

signature lobster ravioli

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January 17-26, 2020

• Florida’s Enchanted Island •

ON THE FLY:THE ROOST RE AL ESTATE DOLLARS & SENSE B y C h ri st i n a C u sh

Secret Gardens

When lush ferns, palms, vines and flowering shrubs synchronize with modern patios and pools to create luxurious outdoor escapes

PONTE VEDRA BEACH

NEAL SMITH OF EAST COAST VIRTUAL TOURS

A

n elegant blue European estate complements the natural tones of the Atlantic Ocean at its back door. The front of the house is privacy-shielded by thick layers of palms and native plants and the faรงade of the home is adorned with tidy garden beds. Inside, opulent finishes in each of the five bedrooms and eight bathrooms make this 11,000-square-foot stunner a special place to live and entertain. Greet guests in a magnificent foyer complete with grand doublesided staircase, then cook in the gourmet kitchen while soaking up sun rays and beach views. The backyard landscaping and outdoor living spaces on the almost two-acre property are enchanting as well, most especially a tucked-away patio nook reminiscent of a Tuscan-style grotto. There are Old World tiered gardens fortified with charming stone walls and pebbled pathways. At 28 feet in elevation, the property is bolstered by a robust dune, with wild plantings and a long private boardwalk that stretches over 165 feet of sandy beach until it meets the water's edge.

1193 Ponte Vedra Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach $8,900,000

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Starting here creates confidence there.

Explore what Bolles has to offer by visiting www.Bolles.org or calling us at (904) 256-5030.

A Bolles experience develops successful young adults who know how to thrive.

Frances Rice Bolles Class of 2019

#ThisIsBolles

Baylor - MBA University of South Florida Summa Cum Laude Graduate Major: Marketing Minor: Mass Communications D1 Athlete in Track and Field National Society of Collegiate Scholars

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HEART OF MARSH LANDING

9 0 5 0 Marsh View Ct., Ponte Vedra Beach Here’s the spacious renovated home in Marsh Landing Country Club you’ve been waiting for! On over 3/4 of an acre, it’s richly landscaped with a redone pool/spa and a fire feature. Some highlights: remodeled kitchen and baths, wood floors, wet bar with wine fridge, tankless water heater, retractable screens, built-ins, home automation, office, and a 2015 roof. 3 bedrooms are down and 2 bedrooms up. OFFERED AT $1,295,000 Gwinn Volen

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JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL BOOK OF LISTS 2019

ON THE FLY:THE ROOST RE AL ESTATE DOLLARS & SENSE

WINTER PARK

AL AN FREABEL

T

he dark wood floors and ceiling beams that accentuate the lavish yet family-friendly interiors of this sixbedroom, seven-and-a-half-bathroom home add warmth and coziness to its 7,654 square feet of living space. Extravagant wish-list items on the inside include laundry rooms on both floors, a fully appointed in-law suite and an elevator. The outside amenities that decorate the two-thirds of an acre property are just as fabulous as the thoughtful interior spaces. For example, there are resortquality, meticulously groomed walking paths wrapped in crisp green grass as well as an outdoor bar and fire pit that are screaming to be used for entertaining. After a long, hot day on the boat, dock it in the fully functional electric boathouse, rinse off in the shower, then take a plunge in the pool and spa.

Absorb the glorious Lake Maitland scenery in the shade from the covered, columned patio or on the swings of the play set.

1731 Pinetree Road., Winter Park $5,500,000

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ON THE FLY:THE ROOST RE AL ESTATE DOLLARS & SENSE

SARASOTA

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RYAN GAMMA PHOTOGR APHY

U

ndoubtedly, this Spanish-style 7,258-square-foot home with 6.5 bathrooms, a four-bedroom main building and a two-bedroom guest house is gorgeous and well-appointed. The attention to detail on the interior is superior, with visual and architectural delights around every corner, such as custom ironwork and coffered ceilings. However, the undeniable allure of this restored 1930s house is the half-acre bayfront property it rests on and the way the grounds have been artfully landscaped and designed. Touring the main house, there are ample opportunities to admire the pretty outdoor features, such as a screen-protected kitchen and dining space and a beckoning infinity pool and hot tub that are trimmed by a chorus of tropical plants that will deliver bursts of color year-round. There’s also a vine-laced pergola with columns and a brick pathway that add sophistication and romance, plus a sunny terrace enhanced by a water fountain and the picturesque Sarasota Bay. 25 S. Washington Drive, Sarasota $4,750,000

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[ ON THE FLY: DESIGN DISTRICT

By Nila Do Simon

Outer Beauty Two landscape architects work to make the Florida outdoors as important as what’s inside our homes

I

nside an office space with floor-to-ceiling concrete block walls, exposed ductwork and oversized iMac screens, ideas for the outside world are formed. While decidedly industrial in style, the space breathes life into gardens, streetscapes, public parks, plazas, trails, playgrounds and other outdoor spaces, thanks to the perspectives of landscape architects Rebecca Bradley and Gage Couch.

As principals of Cadence, a landscape architecture firm based in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Bradley and Couch have been reshaping the way Floridians interact with the outdoors. Beyond their passion for design, landscape architects are an amalgamation of several characteristics: planners, surveyors, problem solvers, conservationists and more. Part of their job, Bradley and Couch say, requires educating homeowners on how to extend their homes beyond the walls.

“Usually in a residential project, there’s a natural emphasis on the actual structural build, like remodeling a kitchen or bathroom,” Bradley says. “Landscape architects, however, figure out how the outside can become a part of the entire home.”

This page:

Landscape architects Rebecca Bradley and Gage Couch of Cadence feel a responsibility to bring residents back to nature with their designs, including at this Weston home.

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RYAN STONE, CADENCE, MICHAEL STAVARDIS

The way they see it, landscape architecture projects, especially the most successful ones, can connect the physical world with the social environment. A prime example is New York City’s Central Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The 843 acres are designed to unite people with plant life, water, promenades and rock structures in one environment, allowing visitors to organically interact with one another.

The same is true with Cadence’s work. “Our projects bring people together, whether it’s bringing a family together at a residence or in the community, where we create that chance for social interaction at parks and trails,” Couch says.

Take, for instance, their work on a residential home in Fort Lauderdale’s upscale Rio Vista neighborhood. Cadence’s clients, a family with two young kids, purchased the lot adjacent to their home to expand their outdoor space. After consulting with Cadence, the plan This page from top: was set: Tear down Bradley and Couch of Cadence; in the original structure Fort Lauderdale, a on the newly acquired raised planter with moonshine snake land and create a plants elevates massive, livable outdoor a driveway to a courtyard; a paradise. Bradley and handcrafted tile wall in Oakland Park Couch designed a pool

complete with a water wall, remodeled the existing garage’s facade into an open-air cabana for additional seating and planted native flora—including ferns, air plants, fragrant shrubs, palms and grasses to provide layers of visual texture—throughout the property. Not only did the project receive the 2019 American Society of Landscape Architects Florida Design Award of Merit, the family say their children are now rarely found

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inside the house. “We changed how they use their home,” Couch says.

Couch, from South Carolina, remembers his childhood filled with building treehouses and ziplines, and Bradley, from Louisiana, draws inspiration from her days growing up as a ballerina. The two separately came to the Sunshine State eager to reshape Floridians’ experience of the outdoors. “Like dancers, landscape

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ON THE FLY: DESIGN DISTRICT

Below: This Fort Lauderdale home has Alexander palms with orchid accents and gamma grass.

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transform a city street.

They focused on a row of rundown warehouses around the corner from Opposite: (clockwise, from their office and converted top left) coral stone deck veneer the block into a dozen and loungers in pop-up businesses for a Fort Lauderdale; views of a single day in 2012. The 400-square-foot event was one of several plunge pool in a Fort Lauderdale catalysts for transforming home; a kitchen an entire neighborhood with an automatic weather-censored into what has become shade; a limestone the Flagler Village arts water basin favored for its district (See our Birdssustainability Eye-View map on pg. 98).

With each project, both Bradley and Couch say their philosophy of landscape architecture among the built environment is evolving as well. To them, it’s become focused less on designing and more on improving people’s relationship with the outdoors. As Bradley puts it, “Nature is already beautiful and doesn’t need anyone to design it.”

Above: Three types

of palms plus live oaks in Fort Lauderdale

CADENCE, MICHAEL STAVARDIS

architects are choreographing moments for people,” Bradley says.

After finding synergies in their core values while working together at their previous firm, Bradley and Couch branched off in 2010 to form Cadence.

These days, it’s rare for the firm to have a project that they don’t tag-team.

CADENCE “I sometimes forget whose — LOCATION — ideas are whose and how things 435 N. ANDREWS AVE., NO. 2 got where they are,” Bradley says.

FORT LAUDERDALE The two have an intense desire cadence-living.com to take advantage of the range of Florida’s native plant life and pollinators. Considered one of the nation’s most prolific regions for plant hardiness, with temperatures that allow a range of both tropical and subtropical plants to grow year-round, Florida is a mecca for plant lovers. “We always try to sneak some native plants into our design,” Bradley says.

In addition to homes, Cadence’s Cadence’s plan for a community-centric commercial work includes the expansion village with features such as a lagoon pool, of Stock Island Marina Village, just orchid pavilion, herb and vegetable garden, outside Key West, which opened in waterfront eateries and more.

November. Designed to be a premier Among their more ambitious projects waterfront wedding and event venue, was Better Block Fort Lauderdale, in which Stock Island’s expanded footprint features they got help from urban design students to

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CHECK INTO HIGH-END EXCITEMENT THE DAYTONA HOTEL PUTS YOU AT THE CENTER OF ONE DAYTONA - THE DAYTONA BEACH AREA’S NEWEST OUTDOOR RETAIL, DINING AND ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION. LOCATED DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE LEGENDARY DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEEDWAY, THE DAYTONA EMBODIES THE EXHILARATION OF RACING IN ITS PUREST FORM. THE DAYTONA IS FULL-SERVICE AND PURE EXCITEMENT, JUST MINUTES FROM THE ICONIC SANDS OF DAYTONA BEACH.

THEDAYTONA.COM | ONEDAYTONA.COM | 1870 VICTORY CIRCLE | DAYTONA BEACH, FL 32114 | 386-323-9777

ON THE FLY:THE TIDE ROAD TR IP–WORTHY EVENTS (NORTH) DICKENS ON CENTRE A M E L I A I S LA N D

Dec. 13–15

Roam the streets of this Victorian inspired holiday festivity filled with costumed characters, live performances and vendors with seasonal gifts. Expect readings of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas as you sip hot cocoa and await the arrival of Saint Nick. ameliaisland.com

2020 TOUR DE FELASCO A LA C H U A

Jan. 11

Join fellow cyclists on 50 miles of trails that wind through rolling hills and creek crossings at the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park. This test of endurance raises money for the conservation of the park and the wildlife that reside there. sanfelasco.org

30A WINE FESTIVAL A LY S B E A C H

30A SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL S O U T H WA LT O N

Jan. 17–20

Take in four days of unmatched talent from some of the best writers and musicians making music today. More than 175 songwriters perform in venues from listening rooms to amphitheaters along 30A, a highway that bisects one of Florida’s most idyllic Gulf Coast settings.

30asongwritersfestival.com

Satisfy your gourmet cravings with fine wine and fare at this annual jubilee, set in the heart of an idyllic coastal enclave. Chef Drew Dzejak of Caliza Restaurant kicks off the five-day fete with a four-course meal with wine pairings. Next fortify your inner Southerner at Friday’s popular B3 event with barbecue, beer and bourbon from vendors from around the nation, including Central BBQ and Reservoir Distillery. Learn the fundamentals of making the perfect cocktail at a toasty mixology seminar. The festivities continue on Saturday when revelers gather on the beautiful South Charles Street to enter the Grand Tasting, a culinary celebration with more than 80 wines from vineyards across the globe. Boozy brunch and a friendly game of croquet round out the weekend—croquet whites are encouraged. Guests also have a chance to win a basket of goodies in 30A’s annual silent auction, in which all proceeds support Children’s Volunteer Health Network. 30awinefestival.com

SAINT AUGUSTINE FILM FESTIVAL

BUTTS & CLUCKS COOKOFF ON THE BAY

OLUSTEE FESTIVAL

Jan. 16–19

A PA LA C H I C O LA B AY

Jan. 23–25

Feb. 14–16

Win bragging rights and up to $15,000 in this grilling face-off with four categories: chicken, ribs, pork butt and brisket.

Compete for the best deviled eggs or barbecue sauce. apalachicolabay.org

Spend the weekend at an arts and crafts show with makers and food trucks from across the country, then mosey over to Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park for a reenactment of Florida’s largest Civil War battle. olusteefestival.com

ST. AUGUSTINE

COURTESY ALYS BEACH

Feb. 19–23

Mingle and party with filmmakers and enthusiasts at the 10th-annual celebration.

Original films shown in five different screening rooms around downtown. staugfilmfest.com

OLUSTEE

STEINHATCHEE FIDDLER CRAB FESTIVAL S T E I N H AT C H E E

Feb. 14–16

Cheer on the crabs, fish the tournament and enter the raffles.

Grab a bite and a sip in the food and wine garden before catching a parade and Rolling Stones and Garth Brooks tribute bands. steinhatcheechamber.com

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ON THE FLY:THE TIDE ROAD TR IP–WORTHY EVENTS (C E N T RA L ) ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA SPEEDWAY D AY T O N A

Jan. 25–26 For 24 hours straight, race car drivers test their endurance on the Daytona Speedway and compete in teams for the chance to win a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch.

Fans can collect autographs, and access the University of Northwestern Ohio Fanzone. daytonainternational speedway.com

FLORIDA FOOD AND BREWS FESTIVAL P I N E L LA S PA R K

Feb. 1

COCOA BEACH

Dec. 24

Each year, Santa Claus kicks off Christmas Eve by trading in his sleigh for a surfboard. Now in its 11th year, Surfing Santas has become a holiday staple for the Space Coast. Hundreds of beard-clad surfers take to the waves in their best Christmas getups, often before a crowd of more than 10,000 onlookers.

Every year the Santa wave swells, and organizers hope to see more than 1,000 Kris Kringles ripping this Christmas Eve, says founder George Trosset. The holiday craze does more than cause a scene—it has also raised more than $100,000 for charity. While the event is free, funds from T-shirt sales go to Grind for Life, an organization supporting families affected by cancer, and the Florida Surf Museum, which preserves the state’s surfing history. Surfing experience isn’t required to participate, but for those who’d like to avoid a wipeout, there’s plenty of fun on shore. Shredding begins at 8 a.m., and BYOB (Bring Your Own Beard) to compete in the costume contest. facebook.com/SurfingSantas

ENCHANT CHRISTMAS ST. PETERSBURG

Nov. 22–Dec. 29 Follow the elf on his search for Santa’s reindeer through this maze of lights and ice-skating trails. Ward off the cold and snowfall with a cup of hot cocoa from the Christmas Market, with more than 40 vendors. stpete.enchantchristmas.com

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FLORIDA MANATEE FESTIVAL

KUMQUAT FESTIVAL

C R Y S TA L R I V E R

Jan. 18–19

Jan. 25

Enjoy live music, food trucks and fine art while celebrating one of Florida’s most iconic residents. Catch a ride to Three Sisters Spring to see manatees in their natural habitat. gomanateefest.com

Find the magic of Old Florida at the kumquat capital of the world. After visiting the car and truck show and the fresh farmers market, sample kumquatinspired dishes like pie, ice cream, cookies, salsa and more. dadecitychamber.org

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DADE CITY

LAKERIDGE WINERY WINEFEST CLERMONT

Feb. 7–9

Take a free wine tour with a glass of pinot in hand at this event highlighting the best of Florida wines. Listen to live music and browse aisles of local fine art.

Don’t miss the return of the popular wine and cheese bar. lakeridgewinery.com

WILD, WONDERFUL WITHLACOOCHEE LA K E PA N A S O F F K E E

Feb. 13–18

Paddle through the Withlacoochee River on a six-day kayaking adventure. Hearty meals keep paddlers energized en route from Lake Panasoffkee to the Gulf of Mexico. paddleflorida.org

SURFING SANTAS

SURFING SANTAS

Test your taste buds and vote in the five categories of competition, including best vegan entree and best food truck. Catch music and games while supporting anti-violence and youth programs by sipping locally brewed beer or wine. foodbrewsfestival.com

Mira Lehr wor ks at t he int ersection of ar t and nature, f ocusing on t he relationship wit h our sur roundings. Discover her myst er ious wor ld, whose beauty reminds us no t onl y of t he gif ts we ha ve been given by nature — but t he im por t ance of preser ving t hem f or future generations.

Mi ra Lehr, Creat ion, 2017, s i l ver emul s i o n o n pan e l, ign it e d gu n p owder, bur ned and dyed J apan es e paper, an d a c r y lic.

C our t esy o f t he ar tist .

900 E. PRINCETON ST. • ORL ANDO, FL 32803

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WWW.MENNELLOMUSEUM.ORG

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ON THE FLY:THE TIDE ROAD TR IP–WORTHY EVENTS (SOUTH) PIGGY’S REVENGE OFF ROAD CHALLENGE VENICE

Jan. 5

This competition takes cyclists through a 10-, 20-, 40- or 60-mile stretch of Florida wilderness.

Throughout the trails, expect to see alligators, snakes, deer and wild boar. Registration includes a ticket to compete, a Piggy’s Revenge T-shirt and a bratwurst fresh off the grill. blog.piggysrevenge.com

PALM BEACH MODERN + CONTEMPORARY W E S T PA L M B E A C H

Jan. 9–12

The quieter cousin to Miami Art Week, this four-day event showcases pieces from the world’s top galleries, attracting seasoned art connoisseurs, collectors, budding enthusiasts and a posh Palm Beach crowd. artpbfair.com

SUPER BOWL LIVE MIAMI

Jan. 25–Feb. 1 Only 65,000 fans of the 2020 Super Bowl will watch history in the making from inside Hard Rock Stadium. As for the other 1.5 million football revelers expected to wash over downtown, a Miami-style party will be going off all week long. This free event invites fans to celebrate their favorite teams or just simply live it up with free concerts, local food, fireworks and 14 blocks of activities. Interactive technology and building projections keep the thrill of the game hyped up all week, and a players and legends meetup creates a unique experience for football buffs unmatched by other NFL events. To amplify the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee’s Ocean to Everglades conservation campaign, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Everglades Foundation will have a presence at the Environmental Village, where attendees can learn about plastic pollution and also get up close and personal with Florida wildlife. This weeklong celebration unfolds on the waterfront grounds of Bayfront Park in the heart of Miami. miasbliv.com

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW MIAMI

Feb. 13–17 Enhance your boating skills and keep up to date on the latest and greatest in fishing and cruising vessels. Join sailing seminars on the water or take a walk through the display room to satisfy all your boating and fishing needs. miamiboatshow.com

WINTER STAR PARTY BIG PINE KEY

MIAMI ART WEEK

MIAMI

Oct. 12–April 12

Dec. 3–8

The interactive mirror maze provides a hands-on experience that exposes mathematical patterns in the natural world.

Puzzles and activities challenge guests’ critical thinking skills. frostscience.org

A collection of shows, anchored by Art Basel, with attendance by artists from over 1,200 global galleries.

Collectors, curators, museum professionals, enthusiasts and party people convene for a grand exhibition. artmiami.com

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PALM BEACH FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL PA L M B E A C H

Dec. 12–15

Dig in to some of the best food South Florida has to offer. Attend seminars hosted by prominent chefs including Clay Conley of Buccan and Lindsay Autry of The Regional Kitchen & Public House. pbfoodwinefest.com

Feb. 17–23

During the week of a new moon, astronomers from around the country gather in Big Pine Key to observe 360-degree views of clear skies and twinkling stars. Guests participate in photo contests, listen to prominent speakers and exchange information with fellow astronomy enthusiasts. scas.org

CHUYN /ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

A MIRROR MAZE: NUMBERS IN NATURE

The 32nd Annual Premier Event

FEBRUARY 13 - 17 DOWNTOWN MIAMI ONE HERALD PLAZA

MiamiYachtShow.com

FLORIDIANA ALL THINGS VINTAGE B y E ri c B a rt o n

A Presidential Escape Why Truman and several other U.S. presidents found solace in a simple Key West home

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He would fish in the mornings, work during the day and play poker all night.

Gradually, what started as a vacation turned into a habit. Truman returned to the house 11 times, with his visits amounting to 175 days of his presidency. There, he wrote his State of the Union addresses and entertained 100 guests after his reelection in 1948. The unassuming house by the sea became Truman’s Little White House.

Still, the retreat was neither lavish nor ornate.

His wife dismissed it as nothing more than a fish camp. Years later, the place hosted Presidents Taft, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter and Clinton.

Since the building reopened as a museum in 1991, the staff has worked to return it to the charmingly understated look of Truman’s days.

Wolz, the executive director emeritus, says that’s the allure. “I walk in and I can understand

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Above:

President Truman at the Little White House in Key West

Truman the human. He was the same as us,” Wolz says. “It’s a trip inside the mind of a man who didn’t want pretension.”

Most people who visit the museum are searching for the same thing Truman was: respite from troubles back home. Luckily for them, the humble house still stands as an escape for the weary.

KE Y WEST PUBLIC LIBR ARY

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early everybody hated Harry Truman in the fall of ’46. He was fighting with labor unions, accused of neglecting millions of starving Europeans and had dropped two nukes on Japan. “Give ’em hell Harry” was on the brink of unraveling.

“Truman had worn himself to a frazzle,” says historian Bob Wolz. “He needed a break.” So when Truman’s doctor prescribed a vacation, Adm. Chester Nimitz told the president about a place he knew.

Located on a submarine base in Key West, the home, known as Quarters A, was the spartan residence of the station’s commanders. Behind the rows of shutter windows and peeling white paint, Truman found some reprieve in the waterfront home.

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