Spring 2025 Travel Issue

Where Floridians Flock

&CATCH

&R � L � AS �

Explore crystal clear Gulf waters and world-class galleries. Treat yourself to luxe resorts and iconic fish joints. From beaches to nightlife, you’ll find just what you’ve been looking for and then some.

A Living Canvas

Immerse the whole family in Naples Botanical Garden’s slice of the tropics this spring.

Avisit to Naples Botanical Garden feels like stepping into a living masterpiece, where every leaf, bloom and pathway tells a story of tropical splendor. Nestled in the heart of Naples, this lush, 170-acre sanctuary is a celebration of botanical artistry and environmental stewardship, offering visitors an immersive experience of nature’s wonders. With multiple habitats to explore, from an ode to Brazilian landscapes to an oasis of more than 2,000 orchids and a river of grass inspired by the Everglades, every corner reveals something new, making it an ideal destination for curious minds. While Naples Botanical Garden is a must-see for any true nature lover, it’s also a destination for families looking for an outdoor alternative to the beach.

The Garden’s latest exhibit is Frame & Flora, which features artistic compositions through natural textures, colors and scents, open now through May 26. As you walk through the Garden and come upon the immense frames, take a moment to reflect on the nature within. View the space as a true living plantscape. Parents and kids alike will love posing, posting

and being the subject of their very own phone art.

There’s also an emphasis on children’s programming that encourages the next generation of little gardeners to dig in and learn about the natural world. Three nature play areas encourage the young and young at heart to play, climb and discover to their heart’s content. The Draw Together series is a workshop offered on select dates where adults and children (ages 8 to 12) embark on a creative journey capturing the beauty of their surroundings through an art project with pastels. Drop-in activities like the W.O.N.D.E.R. program (Walk, Observe, Navigate, Draw, Explore, Read) run Fridays through Mondays on the Performance Lawn, inspiring curiosity and creativity in little ones.

ages.

exhibitions, offering an unforgettable way to kick off the weekend. Sunset Wednesdays and Friday After 5 run annually, February through April.

Since the Gulf Coast is known for its aweinspiring sunsets, dusk is a spectacular time to visit. As the sun dips below the horizon, the Garden is awash in golden light and dramatic shadows. On Sunset Wednesdays, enjoy twilight strolls, capped off with dinner and drinks at Fogg Café in addition to informal sunset tours available on select evenings. There’s also Friday After 5 unfolding each week in the spring as the Garden buzzes with live music and special

And, of course, what’s a botanical garden without special events? This spring there’s plenty of blooms to view, including at the Naples Flower Show & Garden Market (March 14-15, co-hosted by the Naples Garden Club) and at Blooms & Brews (April 19), featuring the best of southern Florida breweries and local musicians.

With so many ways to explore this gallery of green, it’s a destination that deserves to be visited again and again. Whether you’re drawn by rare blooms, inspired by creative exhibits, moved by music under the stars or simply seeking a serene escape, Naples Botanical Garden promises an unforgettable journey into the heart of Florida’s tropical beauty. Visit naplesgarden.org

Naples Botanical Garden blooms with events and new nature play areas for garden-lovers of all

58

FINDING FLAVOR IN MEXICO CITY BY ERIC

BARTON

Board a rainbowcolored trajinera and glide through the ancient Aztec canals of Mexico City, a culinary thoroughfare bustling with local vendors selling tacos al pastor and lemony micheladas. Hit up local hangouts and revel in the fiesta that is CDMX.

On the cover: Step aboard a trajinera for a

FEATURES

68

THE KEYS TO PARADISE BY

MELISSA PUPPO

Travel to a place perpetually suspended in island time, complete with coral reefs, sunset cruises and Key lime pie. Choose your Florida Keys adventure with our curated itineraries for the Old-Florida enthusiast, the adventurist and the solo traveler.

78

LAND OF THE LOST BY CRAIG

PITTMAN

In a state filled with tourist attractions and commercial fakery, an authentic treasure remains. Climb 51 steps to the top of the tallest Native American mound in Crystal River Archaeological State Park for panoramic views and a peek into Florida’s past.

Cover Photography by JOSH LETCHWORTH

trip down the canals of Mexico City’s Xochimilco that will ignite all five senses.

14

WADING IN 16 /// STONE’S THROW: Georgia is on our mind at this elegant estate.

23 /// THE SPREAD: These entrepreneurs believe that the future is fermented.

29 /// MADE IN FLA: Don’t forget to pack these three Florida-made items.

35 /// THE STUDIO: Order up! Noah Verrier serves fine art with a side of fries.

38 /// MY FLORIDA: A visitor brings hope to a hurricane-ravaged town.

44 /// DIVE BAR: Singer-songwriter Madison Hughes on the making of her debut album

48 /// JUST HATCHED: Twelve new spots to sip, stay and kick back all day

DEPARTMENTS

55

COLUMNS

55 /// CAPITAL DAME: Diane Roberts says sayonara to her favorite Tallahassee watering hole.

87 /// PANHANDLING: Prissy Elrod and a Sherlock Holmes for dogs went on a hunt for the family pet.

106 /// FLORIDA WILD: One can never be too sure of what’s lurking underwater in the Everglades.

90

ON THE FLY

92 /// GROVE STAND: This chef brought pachadi salad to Palm Beach Gardens.

100 /// DESIGN DISTRICT: Reconnect with nature in these earthy abodes by Brillhart Architecture.

104 /// BIRD’S-EYE VIEW: This spring, find us in Fort Lauderdale.

108 /// THE TIDE: Wine, dine and unwind at these 22 state-wide happenings.

112 /// FLORIDIANA: Welcome to the Redneck Riviera.

On this spread: Dry Tortugas National Park, located about 70 miles west of Key West, is easily accessible by boat or seaplane from the Florida Keys.

Bucket-List Twist

The mood was giddy inside the coffee shop, where a crowd was forming on a rainy, cold February morning in Mexico City. This wasn’t just any morning. It was the day of our much-anticipated walking tour ending at the home of famed artist Frida Kahlo, an experience at the top of the bucket list for my mother-in-law, Jenny, who had set the whole thing up. While we waited for the tour to begin, my husband, Brian, his parents and I chatted with other tourists from all over the world.

The only person missing for the 9 a.m. tour was our guide. After an hour and several calls to the tour company to confirm we were in the right spot, a petite, soft-spoken Mexican woman finally arrived. She invited us to leave the cozy cafe and step into the rain to begin her walk-and-talk.

The four of us huddled under two hotel umbrellas as the group snaked through the Coyoacán neighborhood’s historic parks, ancient church yards and cobblestoned back streets. (Note: It’s not ideal to share an umbrella with someone like Brian because he’s so tall.) Between the increasing rain, dipping temperatures and the guide’s quiet broken English, our joy faded to misery. Fifteen minutes in, we defected.

We googled “food near me” and beelined to a restaurant with great reviews and a menu of modern Mexican fare. You know that feeling when you leave the wet, cold weather behind and settle into a corner table in a restaurant with a vibrant atmosphere and the aroma of fresh-baked bread wrapping around you like a blanket? For the next hour, we laughed about our botched tour while enjoying tapas and homemade bread. And for Jenny’s sake, we agreed to still make it to Frida’s. When we walked up to the historic landmark that afternoon, the sun was shining, and our spirits were renewed.

We explored the homestead, lingering in front of still life paintings and meandering the gardens. Jenny was in heaven. For me, however, the best part of the day wasn’t seeing Frida Kahlo’s iconic blue house or her famous works, but it was our imperfect journey getting there and the hidden gem we found along the way.

Brian and I like to curate our own travel itinerary by wandering neighborhoods, discovering local food (not the touristy spots), shopping markets and boutiques, popping into art galleries, bar hopping and—in Mexico City, at least—dancing. This was our second trip to CDMX, or Ciudad de México as it’s known, a vast metropolis with a population of almost 23 million people situated at an altitude of 7,350 feet—that’s higher than Denver, Co. It feels more like Paris, with its wide boulevards, Old-World architecture, eclectic boroughs and cafe

culture, than what someone who has never visited might imagine.

For Floridians, Mexico City is an easy weekend getaway with all the beauty and buzz of a European city but without the transatlantic flight and jet lag. (Fly direct from Orlando, Miami and Tampa in less than four hours, and experience only a one-hour time difference because Mexico City is on Central Standard Time.) And for Flamingo readers, we think it’s the perfect destination to kick off our 2025 print editions.

So, bienvenido to our Travel Issue, where we head west to CDMX with writer Eric Barton as he eats himself silly on tacos and tostadas. Then, back at home, we crisscross the Sunshine State from the outer reaches of the Florida Keys to the top of the Native American mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park, and up the Panhandle to the Alabama border for the Flora-Bama’s notorious mullet toss competition.

You’ll also find the debut of our new travel department, Stone’s Throw, which will appear regularly in print and spotlight destinations near and dear to our state. In its first installment, a Miamian channels his inner Southern gentleman among the ruins and refinement of the Barnsley Resort in North Georgia. Then, we have music by Jacksonville native Madison Hughes, climate-conscious designs by Miami-based Brillhart Architecture, fastfood fine art from Tallahassean Noah Verrier and so much more.

Wherever you’re headed this spring— near, far or somewhere a little bizarre (mullet toss anyone?)—don’t be afraid to let the unexpected detours shape the adventure. Sometimes, it’s not the main attraction where our most cherished memories are made but the rain-soaked moments in between.

Editor in Chief & Publisher

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

FLAMBOYANCE

THOUGHTS FROM THE FLOCK

Home Is Where the Heart Is

We asked you to share a place, activity or tradition that makes your corner of the Sunshine State special. From cemeteries to mineral springs and strawberry shortcake, the endearing features of home that you shared were as surprising as a snowstorm in the Panhandle. These dispatches inspired us so much that you might see your town in a future Flamingo issue. In the meantime, here’s what some of you had to say.

We live in the most forgotten town Florida’s Forgotten Coast. Panacea is so forgotten, there is not even a flashing caution light, let alone a traffic light. The definition of panacea is a cureall, as Panacea goddess of health. There were mineral springs here for eons that the native Floridians used for medicinal purposes. In the late 1800s, it became a spa of sorts that was only reached by a muledrawn tram from a train depot 10 miles west or by a two-track road from the closest town between here and Tallahassee, 10 miles north. There are numerous boat ramps that enable us to fish inshore no matter which way the

wind is blowing and we consider mullet to be “the other white meat.” We also have a first-rate Tiki bar/restaurant and the Trident (restaurant), which is an experience and a destination in itself.

—AJ Newman, Panacea

We live in Tallahassee, and we love much about it: live oaks dripping with moss, easy access to the woods and water. One special place is the

I proudly live in Lake Worth Beach, Florida! We are a vibrant, laid-back, artsy, cozy and coastal town that hosts the world’s largest Street Painting Festival every February. Xoxoxo.

—Christine McEntee, Lake Worth Beach

Market in

plant

city is that one place that always says you’re home, whether I go there to grab a strawberry shortcake and sit in the garden, browse the new goodies or grab a shake and then shop for fresh produce! —Shirley

Steele, Plant City

I was born and raised in beautiful Mandarin on the St. Johns River, which at the time was 20 miles from the Jacksonville city line but now is incorporated in the city. There are still some lingering gems from the old days in Mandarin. Mandarin Road features beautiful houses on the river, both old and new. Along the way is the Mandarin Cemetery, dating back to Civil War times, Church of Our Saviour built by Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society. —Payson Tilden, Jacksonville

The La Chua Trail goes out onto Paynes Prairie near Gainesville. There are birds, big gators, bison and wild horses.

—Jim Cato, Gainesville

EDITORIAL

Editor in Chief and Founder JAMIE RICH jamie@flamingomag.com

Deputy Editor Emilee Perdue emilee@flamingomag.com

Creative Director Holly Keeperman art@flamingomag.com

Contributing Designer Ed Melnitsky edit@flamingomag.com

Art Production Manager Kerri Rak

Senior Writer and Contributing Editor Eric Barton

Editorial & Marketing Assistant Helen Bradshaw helen@flamingomag.com

Contributing Writers

Steve Dollar, Prissy Elrod, Alyssa Morlacci, Craig Pittman, Melissa Puppo, Diane Roberts, Maddy Zollo Rusbosin, Kati Schardl, Nila Do Simon, Greg Wakeman, Carlton Ward Jr.

Contributing Photographers & Illustrators

Leslie Chalfont, Stephen Lomazzo, Josh Letchworth, Jules Ozaeta, Kristen Penoyer, Carlton Ward Jr.

Copy Editors & Fact-Checkers

Patty Carroll, Amanda Price, Mary-Lou Watkinson

Editorial Interns Ava Deegan, Isabella Scoma

SALES & MARKETING

Publisher JAMIE RICH jamie@flamingomag.com

Advertising Sales Director Janis Kern janis@flamingomag.com

Advertising Sales Megan Zebouni megan@flamingomag.com

Newsstand Distribution Tom Ferruggia tferruggia@msn.com

Contact Us JSR Media LLC 13000 Sawgrass Village Circle Bldg. 3, Suite 12 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

P: (904) 395-3272 // E: info@flamingomag.com

CONTRIBUTORS

MELISSA PUPPO traded Pittsburgh steel for Florida sunshine nearly a decade ago to launch her editorial career. A former editor for South Florida glossies, Puppo has written for a range of outlets including Time Out Miami, Byrdie, Giadzy and Courant. An expert on what to do in her adopted hometown of Miami, Puppo covers arts and culture, culinary hotspots, travel, wellness and beauty. In this issue of Flamingo, she takes a road trip through the Florida Keys, sharing curated itineraries and insider tips. Find out what’s new and where Puppo loves to “get lost” in the Keys on page 68

KATI SCHARDL is a Florida native who grew up exploring Jackson County’s woods and waters. She learned her craft as a journalist at the Florida Flambeau, a rabble-rousing independent newspaper. Over the course of nearly 20 years, Schardl served as music columnist, theater critic and general arts and features writer and editor at the Tallahassee

Democrat. In her Flamingo debut, Schardl introduces readers to Pinky, the refugee flamingo who came to roost in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge after Hurricane Michael in 2018. Read how Pinky helped heal a community in her My Florida essay on page 38

JOSH LETCHWORTH is a regular Flamingo contributor and avid outdoorsman who loves nothing more than combining his enthusiasm for camping and water sports with his passion for photography. The Sunshine State native has traveled the globe creating beautiful images for brands like Yamaha, Columbia, Adidas, The North Face and more. Letchworth is at his best capturing photos of people in their natural element. And that’s just what he does in Flamingo’s latest travel issue, where he heads west to Mexico City, bringing readers a visual feast from our neighbor to the west in our feature story on page 58

JULES OZAETA is a Ponte Vedrabased graphic designer and multimedia artist from the Philippines. When she’s not on her computer designing magazine spreads and marketing materials, she’s illustrating detailed pet portraits or molding single-wire sculptures of animals, faces and human interests. One of Ozaeta’s favorite creations is a wire portrait commissioned by Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle for Pope Francis. See her work in this issue on page 78, where she beautifully interprets the history, wildlife and topography of the mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park.

CRAIG PITTMAN has covered Florida’s quirks and creatures for Flamingo since 2016, writing about springs, panthers, manatees, python hunts and Ross Allen, the snake man of Silver Springs. He published his seventh book, “Welcome to Florida: True Tales from America’s Most Interesting State,” in March 2025. Pittman also writes a weekly column for the Florida Phoenix and co-hosts the Welcome to Florida podcast. In this issue of Flamingo, read Pittman’s account of how Florida’s ancient Native American mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park were almost lost to a trailer park overlord on page 78

MADDY ZOLLO RUSBOSIN has served as a contributing style and travel editor at Flamingo since her return to the Sunshine State in 2016. A former beauty editor for Seventeen and People Style, the Orlando native has also written for national and regional publications, including Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, Robb Report, Southern Living and Orlando Magazine. She currently lives in Winter Park with her husband and two children, Jackie and Rocco. In this issue, Rusbosin writes about one of her passions—shopping—by introducing three Florida travel must-haves and the makers behind them on page 29

MAYAN OASIS

THE SLICE

PRODUCTS + EVENTS + PROMOTIONS

PRODUCTS + EVENTS + PROMOTIONS

From sculptures to escapes: ART, ADVENTURE & INTRIGUE await inside this TRAVEL ISSUE.

Perfectly positioned in the Yucatán Peninsula, and about 70 miles from Key West, Club Med Cancún offers an up-scale all-inclusive experience designed with families in mind. Fresh off a renovation project that reimagined its Sports & Wellness Island and created a dedicated Family Oasis with Kids Club, Baby Club Med and a new splash pool with Mayan-themed water features, every need and experience has been carefully considered. Flamingo traveled to Club Med Cancún this spring to check it out firsthand. Scan the QR code to read our story on the luxury digs and family fun awaiting at this oceanfront resort. clubmed.us

“BOY WITH WINGS”

It wasn’t the sunshine that brought Johnny Cruel to Florida in the 1930s. It was the wings protruding from his back. After escaping the locals who believe he’s the spawn of Satan, Johnny journeys throughout the South, meeting murderers and merry bands of misfits in Mark Mustian’s new book, “Boy With Wings.” markmustian.com

FL-NC CONNECTION

Artist Marcia Moore spent 15 years living in Florida without facing a hurricane as destructive as Helene, which tore apart the region of North Carolina where she now lives and works. Moore is most recently known for her signature sculptures made from upcycled bicycle tires (like the deer head pictured above), but she is also a talented illustrator. See her depictions of Native American communities that inhabited an area of Florida known today as Crystal River Archaeological State Park inside this issue of Flamingo starting on page 80. For more on Moore, her drawings, forensic sculptures and TireSquatch art, follow @marciakmoore.

THE SLICE

PRODUCTS + EVENTS + PROMOTIONS

PRODUCTS + EVENTS + PROMOTIONS

Travel with us to FLAMINGO FETES, BUZZY HOTELS & DREAMY DAYTRIPS this spring.

MEET THE FLAMINGO TEAM

Follow Flamingo to our signature events this spring. The Natural Life Music & Arts Festival (pictured above) comes alive March 8 in Jacksonville Beach with performances by headliner Moon Taxi and other artists like local Madison Hughes (read her profile on page 44), as well as dozens of experiential tents, including Flamingo’s. For a double dose of our flock, head to Word of South, a literature and music festival at Tallahassee’s Cascades Park, April 4-6. Find us at the Flamingo stage rocking out with Miami’s Mustard Service. Or, if otherworldly fungi are more your speed, talk all-things sci-fi with bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer. For more details on each event, check out our event listing, The Tide, on page 108.

STAYCATION

INSPIRATION

Dreaming of a vacation, but short on time? Booking a private cabana, spa package or massage is just a few taps away, thanks to the Daycation app. Founded in Miami, this ondemand daypass service lets you plan an afternoon enjoying luxury hotel amenities. With participating resorts throughout the Sunshine State, you can play tourist in your own city— and the app is expanding to other states and tropical locales as well. It’s the easiest way to treat yourself, no hotel check-in or suitcase required. daycationapp.com

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Before Kissimmee’s ette hotel flies out from underneath the radar like their Queen Bee specialty cocktail, make it your business to book a stay or, at the very least, spend an evening imbibing on the rooftop bar. In fall 2024, this boutique resort rolled out an exotic mixology program rivaling anything else in the state. Helmed by international cocktail professor Jarl de Vries, the extensive menu caters to those with a penchant for smallbatch spirits, fresh botanical ingredients and applause-worthy presentations—all in perfect harmony with Michelin-starred chef Akira Back’s restaurants, Lipa Rooftop and Salt & The Cellar. ettehotels.com

Queen Bee

From Ette Hotel

MAKES ONE COCKTAIL

1 1/2 ounces tequila or mezcal

1/2 ounce smoked honey

1 1/3 ounces pear and parsnip juice

4 dashes rice vinegar

PREPARATION: In a shaker, add tequila, smoked honey, pear and parsnip juice and rice vinegar over ice. Shake well. Strain twice before pouring into a chilled glass.

On location at Montage Palmetto Bluff

— Floridians, fare, finds —

WADING IN

Stone’s Throw —

The Georgia mountains are calling, and we went.

The Spread —

Pucker up for some pickle-juice cocktails.

MADE IN FLA —

Three Florida-made travel-essentials unpacked the studio

Noah Verrier’s fast food is fine art.

My Florida

The feathered friend that had birders tickled pink

Dive Bar

Hitting the right chord with Madison Hughes

Just Hatched

Historic homes, haute hotels and high-end hangouts

This page: Leftover ingredients from picklejuice cocktails. Find the recipes on page 24.

Through a Child’s Eyes

The Rollins Museum of Art presents a child-curated experience at their latest exhibition.

Paintings loom high above small heads. Signs bark, “Do Not Touch!” Narrow gallery corridors leave little room to roam. Despite the vivid colors and boundless creativity on display, museums can often feel off-limits to children—quiet, restrictive and at odds with the spirited energy kids bring. But the Rollins Museum of Art is changing all that with its latest exhibition, “Symbolic Languages: Children’s Understandings of the Collection.”

“You get to see something in a very new, different light,” says David Matteson, associate curator of education at the Rollins Museum of Art. “It’s not just from the perspective of an art historian or a museum educator, but from 50 different children who shared and contributed their thoughts, responses and interpretations of these artworks.”

The Winter Park-based art museum has teamed up with the Rollins College Hume House Child Development & Student Research Center to create an exhibition for kids, by kids. The project started in April 2024 with a group of 50 child co-curators, from 2 to 5 years old. Informed by the Reggio Emilia approach—an educational philosophy focused on child-led, hands-on learning—the adult co-curators guided the youthful group through the Rollins collection. The kids selected their favorite works of art and shared the reasons for their choices. The resulting exhibition teems with life, showcasing a diverse array of abstract art, sculptures and portraits.

One of the pieces included is “Reflection VII–Red Line” by American artist Richard Anuszkiewicz. Upon looking at the combination of bright blue lines on a rich pink background, one child curator exclaimed it was a “music machine,” like a radio, and started dancing on the spot. Another piece included in the exhibition is “Lucas,” a large-scale photorealist portrait by famed painter Chuck Close.

It was very popular among the children, with one tiny curator describing it as a “rainbow firework.”

To elicit more responses from museum visitors, the RMA team brought the art closer to the kids by installing it at a lower level and posting childfriendly prompts in the artwork labels. Interactive areas throughout the exhibition invite guests of all ages to respond and create alongside the works—a station with felt ribbon to experiment with lines, a magnet board to interact with shapes and a stickynote wall to play with color, all with the intent to engage more deeply with gallery-goers. There’s also a section called Fantastical Narratives, where the child curators wrote storybooks inspired by the exhibition and are available for guests to read.

Art

isn't just aesthetic. It is participatory. It engages us.

DAVID MATTESON

According to Matteson, hands-on experiences are an integral part of intellectual growth. “I don’t think learning stops when we turn a certain age, and I think the museum should be a platform for the learning experience for people of all ages and abilities,” he explains.

Looking at something from a child’s perspective has the power to transform it into something new—which is exactly what is happening at the Rollins Museum of Art. “Art isn’t just aesthetic. It is participatory. It engages us, and I hope that in showcasing the responses of children, visitors really see value in their own unique interpretation and response to works of art,” Matteson says.

To embrace your inner child and see the artworks for yourself, visit “Symbolic Languages: Children’s Understandings of the Collection,” on display now until May 11 at the Rollins Museum of Art.

Visit rollins.edu/rma for more information.

Top: A 5-year-old child curator chooses his favorite artwork among a selection of pieces from the RMA collection. Bottom: Chuck Close (American, 1940-2021), Lucas, 1993, Woodcut with pochoir on Korean kozo paper 6 1/4 in. x 36 in. Museum purchase from the Wally Findlay Acquisitions Fund 1995.11, © Chuck Close, courtesy Pace Gallery

WADING IN: STONE’S THROW

By Eric Barton

Tucked away in the North Georgia hills lie the ruins of a storied Southern estate and The Barnsley resort that took its place.

Old-World Escape

My wife, Jill, chose the prettiest of horses, Honey, with a coat the color of custard pie and a streak of white down her nose. A blond mane cascaded on both sides of Honey’s face as if the mare had an Instagram following to consider. Honey took up the rear as we turned onto trails through the Georgia hills, dropping into rocky streams and clopping over wooden footbridges. Hooves rustled leaves, an ancient sound.

If there’s a more peaceful way to spend an afternoon under cloudy skies, I haven’t found it. The ride set the tone for most of the weekend I spent at the Barnsley Resort

in North Georgia, which sits at the edge of the Appalachians. I’d come here to find out if the storied resort’s recent $6.2 million renovation lived up to the buzz that made its way to my hometown of Miami and whether the icon has managed to hold onto the history and Old-World elegance it has become synonymous with. It’s hard to tell from photos whether the resort would feel more like a Disney creation or, in this case, an authentic slice of buttermilk pie.

To find the place, it’s about an hour northwest of Atlanta and a six-hour drive from the Panhandle, passing defunct farms, front-yard car collections and palatial homes for city commuters before arriving

at Barnsley Resort’s guard gate. Under big oaks, the Barnsley’s 3,000-acre property lies out like a village with a series of 39 charming cottages. Its car-free promenade feels like a centuries-old town square. Follow the main path, and you’ll end at the ruins of Woodlands, once a palatial estate built in the 1840s by cotton magnate Godfrey Barnsley. The plan was that he and his wife, Julia, would raise their children in the cool air of land once sacred to the Cherokee. Ten thousand acres splayed out beyond the 24-room mansion’s manicured gardens. Yankees trashed it after a Civil War skirmish on the property. A tornado ripped it apart in 1906. Then, a murder and

This spread: An aerial view of the Manor House Ruins and Gardens; a cottage at the resort

WADING IN: STONE’S THROW

tales of ghosts landed like a hill country fog rolling in after a day’s rain. Ruins of the Manor House sat unloved on farmland until a resort rose around them in the 1990s. Now the remains stand like a series of brick monoliths, with the fireplaces still lit for events, and you can let your imagination picture its antebellum grandeur as you wander the creaky planks.

Not far from the brick structure, Jill, our dog, Finn, and I stayed in one of the duplexes, a comfortable place with no fewer than three porches, a wood-burning fireplace and a view of the firepits in the square where families toast marshmallows

at night. Last year, the Barnsley spent millions to update the cottages and its 55-room inn, situated near the entrance.

Charlotte Lucas Design out of North Carolina oversaw the renovation. Our cottage was decorated in dark woods, rich hues, heavy furniture and a field-stone fireplace, which evoked the elegance and tradition of a stately Sea Island, Georgia retreat. I asked about the exterior paint colors (for that someday-country home we’re all planning for) and wasn’t disappointed by the choices: dried thyme, sage and Roycroft bronze green. The patios and doors, they’re charwood-stained.

PERKS & PURSUITS

— THROWN IN —

(What’s Included In Your Stay)

Barnsley Farm

Biking

S’mores Supplies

Lawn Games

Disc Golf

Evening Bourbon Ritual

Catch-and-Release Fishing

— BUCKET LIST —

(Can’t-Miss Moments)

Take aim at the Beretta Shooting Grounds

Relax at The Spa at Barnsley Resort

See the Manor House Ruins and Gardens

Toast at the Biergarten

Practice ax throwing

— DETOUR —

(Stops Along The Scenic Route)

Columbus Botanical Garden

Providence Canyon State Park

Callaway Gardens

Jimmy Carter National Historic Park

Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site

This page, from top: horseback riding through the Georgia hills; Manor House Ruins and Gardens Opposite page, clockwise: sourcing farm-to-table ingredients; Rice House; wingshooting; Julia Cottage

WADING IN: STONE’S THROW

On the first night, we had our splurge meal at the Rice House, featuring lengthwise-cut fried okra and a filet served on fine china. There’s a more casual restaurant near the Jim Fazio golf course, along with a new outdoor Biergarten, where families and their doodles get cozy by the big fireplace.

After our horseback ride, I headed a few miles from the Barnsley’s front gate to the Beretta Shooting Grounds, which features a 1,000-yard gun range and two sporting clay courses, where bright orange shards polka-dotted the grass. I jumped into an ATV with Jesse O’Kelley, a seasoned guide who led me down a path of trampled grass and through a field of straw. Two dogs, Skittles and Sky, worked to flush quail as O’Kelley translated their deft movements to this city boy—stop and point, flush and fire just above the tree line.

It was the most Southern thing I had ever done, shooting quail in the Georgian hill country, before heading back to meet my wife and dog at the Biergarten for a

bourbon, straight-up. While I was dressed in a Vuori polo and my nicest Banana Republic jeans, I noticed one gentleman in a Stetson hat and cowboy boots and another in a tweed sports coat that made me wish I’d dressed better. That is part of the appeal of traveling to a place that’s unlike back home: wishing you were more like the salty fisherman on Eleuthera or, in this case, more genteel, more Southern. That night, a party formed by the firepits with a group from an elevator company. Families stayed past bedtime to point out stars. The WiFi was out, and complaints over missed text messages turned into listening to the firewood crackle. The best of moments.

This page, clockwise: An outdoor firepit; a fireplace in a cottage bedroom; a pup enjoying a pet-friendly perch; one of seven bedrooms in the Godfrey Cottage

® Here, you’ll uncover a sense of belonging. Experience the warmth of southern hospitality and embrace the laid-back lifestyle. Let Ocala/Marion County be your personal oasis.

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FLORIDA-FRESH BITES & BEVS

By Emilee Perdue • Photography by Kristen Penoyer

BRINE & DANDY

How a Jacksonville couple harnessed the power of pickles

On a recent winter day in Jacksonville, a glowing neon pickle casts its light over barrels of fermented foods, artisanal cheeses and racks of T-shirts with sayings like “Make Pickles Not War.” Giddy shoppers browse blue and pink bags of pickle juice standing proudly on refrigerated shelves alongside a rainbow of pickles, olives, sauerkraut, kimchi and more. A salty refreshing smell fills the air. But in the corner, amid all the technicolor, a collection of mostly black-and-white family photos hang quietly—conspicuously keeping watch. The stern, weathered faces of six generations of southeastern European

This page: Pickletini with pitted Castelvetrano olives, spicy dill mango margarita, and dragonfruit and strawberry paloma

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FLORIDA-FRESH BITES & BEVS

Pickletini

MAKES ONE COCKTAIL

2 1/2 ounces vodka

2 ounces Kosher Dill LiveBrine

1 pack pitted Castelvetrano “butter” olives for garnish

PREPARATION: Add vodka and Kosher Dill LiveBrine to a shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with pitted Castelvetrano olives.

fermenters stare out from the frames. While pickle-making has been the Tzabari family’s unofficial business for ages, its modern-day iteration—a brick-and-mortar store, viral online presence and nationwide distribution—sprang from a longing for home and the flavors of Israel.

It’s quite rare to find a naturally fermented food in the modern-day marketplace, and Charlotte Tzabari, Olive My Pickle co-founder, started the product line by accident with her husband, Shai. “We just stumbled right into it,” she says. Before Olive My Pickle became an online retail sensation and they opened their first storefront, The Pickle Factory, in 2024, it was a humble labor of love and a way for Shai to connect with his family’s traditions. In 2008, he was craving the tastes and smells of Israeli cooking—and to cure his homesickness for Haifa, Israel, where

Above, from left: Pickletini with pitted Castelvetrano olives; Shai and Charlotte Tzabari Opposite page, from top: Classic Kosher Dill LiveBrine; spicy dill mango margarita

They may not have known the science, but they understood that there’s something about these foods.

— CHARLOTTE TZABARI

he grew up. Shai made a batch of kosher dill pickles at home using an old family recipe from his grandmother, a Bulgarian woman named Ester (he calls her Safta), who fled Europe to escape the Holocaust. It was all-natural and no-nonsense, made with fresh cucumbers, a mix of spices and pure high-mineral sea salt. After the fermentation finished and good bacteria flourished, the vegetables transformed into a tasty pro- and prebiotic-packed superfood—and eventually became Olive My Pickle’s best-selling product.

“Food is a big part of the culture in Israel, and (Shai) loves to cook,” Charlotte says. In a brief oral history of fermented foods, Charlotte enthusiastically shares that superfoods like olives and kimchi have been present on ancient tables in Middle Eastern and Asian cultures since early human civilization. Rather than a trendy health fad, fermenting was a way people preserved their food for long winters before the invention of refrigeration. “They may not have known the science, but they intuitively understood that there’s something about these foods—when we eat them with meals, we feel better and we digest better,” she says.

But creating a niche product wasn’t the Tzabaris’ intention. When the couple started making pickles, Shai simply followed his Safta’s recipe. He didn’t know he was creating a superfood and that the process was called lactic acid fermentation, Charlotte says. “He was just making his grandmother’s pickles.”

Shai and Charlotte met as globe-trotters

in Brazil, fell in love, married and put roots down in Jacksonville in 2010. Shai had always been passionate about cooking, while Charlotte, a native Californian, worked in consumer branding, sales and marketing. Jacksonville was fertile ground for startups, according to Charlotte. “A city like Jacksonville, which in many ways is sort of an up-and-coming city … There’s ground floor opportunity here, versus an Austin or Nashville.” In the beginning, Olive My Pickle distributed only through farmers markets, eventually launching an online

Spicy Dill Mango Margarita

1 sliced serrano pepper

1 ounce Kosher Dill LiveBrine

1 ounce lime juice

1 1/2 ounces tequila

3 ounces mango juice

1/2 ounce Cointreau triple sec

Lime, salt and Tajín, for rim

Lime, dill sprig and pickle slice, for garnish

PREPARATION: Muddle serrano pepper, Kosher Dill LiveBrine and lime juice and add to a shaker. Add tequila, mango juice and Cointreau and shake well. Rub lime wedge on rim of glass and dip in salt and Tajín. Add ice to glass and pour drink from shaker. Garnish with lime, dill sprig and pickle slices.

platform for people to easily access their small-batch fermented foods. The pickles, olives, sauerkraut, kimchi, hot sauce and other products from Olive My Pickle all contain probiotics, prebiotics and enzymes, which according to the National Institutes of Health, build and strengthen the gut microbiome—the colony of good bacteria that lives in your body—in a healthy and efficient way, leaving consumers feeling their best.

Aside from eating pickles, one of the easiest ways to reap the fermented benefits is by infusing pickle juice into recipes—or by taking a shot of pickle juice every morning. The Tzabaris sell their enhanced saltwater fermented juice, which they call LiveBrine, by the bag in fun flavors like blue spirulina and lemon, dragonfruit and strawberry,

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There are so many people that identify as pickle lovers.

— CHARLOTTE TZABARI

aji amarillo chili and mango and more.

“You can take a shot, but you can also make a LiveBrine spritzer or a mocktail or cross the bridge and go into the land of cocktails,” Charlotte says.

Just like the fermented foods they make, Olive My Pickle is constantly moving, growing and changing— a sure sign that the business is alive and well.

“There are so many people who identify as pickle lovers, and (The Pickle Factory) is a place where they can come and just be delighted and have fun,” Charlotte says.

While today’s success is wrapped in vibrant, fun packaging, it was built on yesterday’s tradition of survival.

All one has to do to appreciate the legacy is stop and look at the portraits hanging on the shop’s wall—six generations of Tzabaris watching as the business ages to perfection.

As far as what’s next, Charlotte points to the slogan on her T-shirt: “The Future is Fermented.”

Dragonfruit & Strawberry Paloma

MAKES ONE COCKTAIL

2 ounces tequila

2 ounces grapefruit juice

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce Dragonfruit & Strawberry LiveBrine

1/4 ounce simple syrup

2 ounces sparkling water Grapefruit, for garnish

PREPARATION: Pour tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, Dragonfruit & Strawberry LiveBrine and simple syrup in shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly to combine. Pour into glass, top with sparkling water and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.

Each day here, the sun rises and stress levels fall. Where sun meets sea, great dining, golf & accommodations join together as well. The Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach is t for A-listers, with oceanfront views, a world-class spa & live music nightly. A boutique hotel, the newly renovated Bahama House o ers kitchene es, complimentary breakfast, a seaside pool & more. Visit DaytonaBeach.com.

WADING IN :MADE IN FLA

HOMEGROWN MAKERS, DESIGNERS & SHOPS

By Maddy Zollo Rusbosin

FRAME WORTHY

Abaco Polarized shades define fun in the sun in Palm Beach and beyond

BREAKING YOUR FAVORITE

sunglasses

is a plight all Floridians can relate to. And unfortunately, for every scratched lens or broken frame, you’ll likely have to buy a replacement. Thankfully, Abaco Polarized is changing that with their line of highquality glasses: from bamboo shades that float in water to aviators with prescription lenses that aren’t just affordable, but are also backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Before Greg and Maricelly Sarkin launched Palm Beach-based Abaco, the

founders owned a small retail store selling high-end sunglasses in Abacoa, a small town near Jupiter. It was there that they connected with customers over constant frustrations about broken shades, eventually leading to the “ah-ha” moment that inspired them to start their own line.

“During this time, it was not uncommon for us to take a quick boat trip to the Abaco Islands,” Greg said. “When we launched our brand of sunglasses, we wanted a name true to our store, as well as our adventures.”

This year marks a decade of business for Abaco. With more than 40 frames and 225 styles (bearing names like Pitbull, Vero and Outrigger), every design is informed by the needs of customers—with a wink to their Sunshine State roots. Not only that, but every pair of Abaco’s sunnies are polarized, making them ideal for cruising along the Intracoastal or going on any adventure where the rays will be shining. Talk about having it made in the shade. abacopolarized.com

This page, clockwise: A model wears the Ella in white tortoise/chrome; the Jesse II in matte black/deep blue; the Avery in rose gold

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IN THE BAG

Simplify your suitcase, and your life, one Mumi organizer at a time

PACKING FOR VACATION

doesn’t have to be a free-for-all where you’re haphazardly throwing things into your bag. The solution: these sleek packing cubes. The two friends behind the design are Gabriela Mekler and Maribel Moreno, the founders of Miami’s Mumi Design. They formed the brand in 2014 after looking for a way to tame the chaos that comes along with running a household. Using their experience juggling motherhood and daily demands, Mekler and Moreno created packing accessories that are both practical and pretty.

Their line is all about simplicity and organization, and a welcome solution to streamlining everything from your suitcase to your closet to your junk drawer. Mumi’s packing cubes are a must-have for any traveler thanks to the lightweight, durable material and easy-to-open double zippers. True to their mission of always keeping families in mind, the cubes come in eight different colorways, allowing each person to have their own designated shade. Genius, right? As the saying goes: Mom always knows best.

mumidesign.com

This page, clockwise: Toiletry cubes; Mumi’s founders, Maribel Moreno (left) and Gabriela Mekler (right); the classic packing cubes come in a pack of five.

Whether it’s hiking a trail, biking a path, or checking out our famous Wings of the West trail, it’s time to Spring breakaway to West Volusia. Right now, our Cool Craft Beverage Trail is in full swing. Explore unique downtowns as you enjoy artisan coffees and smoothies to award-winning local craft beers, wines and mead. It’s time to let the “spirits” move you to West Volusia.

WADING IN :MADE IN FLA

INTO THE GROVE

Sustainable and sunproof, Mang apparel is rooted in a good cause

SIMPLY PUT,

the mangrove is pretty badass: It improves water quality, provides life for marine species, protects the coastline against storm erosion and traps carbon. Knowing the power of these plants, Mang cofounder Kyle Rossin always felt connected to them.

“There’s something about the mangroves—those resilient, tangled roots—that speaks to the strength and beauty of nature,” he explained. That’s why he and his twin brother, Keith, set out to turn their passion for Florida’s ecosystems into a purposeful endeavor by starting Mang in 2015.

The twins design apparel with Florida’s toasty climate in mind,

including sun shirts made from breathable fabrics with UPF 50 sun protection in a variety of conservation-themed motifs

like their signature mangrove camouflage pattern and fine art wildlife scenes of everything from manatees to flamingos,

all hand-painted by their Aunt Sheri. What’s even better is for every item sold, a mangrove will be planted. “It wasn’t just about making high-quality apparel,” Kyle said. “It was about creating a movement.” Mang is also dedicated to educating the next generation of Floridians on the importance of mangroves by holding monthly community events in their West Palm Beach headquarters to plant trees and encourage habitat restoration. Since the brand’s inception, more than 730,000 of these tropic powerhouses have been planted to revive our state’s coastlines and make way for a better tomorrow. manggear.com

This page, from top: Bimini Twist Mangatee long-sleeve sun shirt in pink; Mang founders Kyle Rossin and Keith Rossin

ALREADY

With 17 miles of sun-bathed beach, bountiful coastal cuisine, and relaxing places to stay, this is where people with too much going on go to forget about it all. So, if you’ve been looking for your happy place, Relax, you’ve found it.

WADING IN :THE STUDIO

FLORIDA ARTIST PROFILES

By Steve Dollar

McDonald’s Manet

A Tallahassee oil painter turns fast food into a fine art Phenomenon.

This page: Noah Verrier paints his favorite junk food in his popular still lifes.

To paraphrase an old saying, one man’s junk food is another man’s treasure. At least if that man is Noah Verrier, whose oil paintings of highly processed snacks, cheeseburgers hot from the drive-thru window, luminous gummy bears and other dubious dietary choices have made him a viral sensation and a highly collectible artist.

of national media attention, including a spot on CBS News Sunday Morning, kept Verrier sleepless over the holidays, rushing to meet demand.

Last fall, The New York Times praised his “particular flair for the zeitgeist,” nodding toward his hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views across X, Instagram, Reddit and other online platforms where he posts images of his work. Other outlets have likened the 44-year-old Tallahassee artist to Édouard Manet, the 19th century modernist who painted “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe,” and Jean Siméon Chardin, the 18th century master of the still life—two of the most celebrated Frenchmen to ever pick up a brush.

It’s only appropriate that we meet in a coffee shop across the street from Tallahassee’s so-called historic Whataburger. As of writing, a painting of one of the popular chain’s combo meals, marked by the orange stripes and bold “W” logo of its packaging, has 4,582 likes on the artist’s Instagram page. Invitingly arrayed, with burger unwrapped and two French fries lazily dipped in a tiny, unsealed ketchup container, the morsels are graced by a swooning sunflower, which leans out of a semi-obscured Ball jar.

Such paintings, which run the gamut of branded munchies and beverages, can sell for as much as $15,000 and have generated commissions from some of the featured corporations and beyond, including McDonald’s, Domino’s, Little Caesars, Walmart, QuikTrip and even the Brooklyn Nets basketball franchise. A recent flurry

“There’s this connection of all the cultural trickle that this is having,” he says, “and I’m not full of myself like that. I don’t really believe it, and then I have actual brands call me, ‘Hey, this is Popeyes. So, we want to talk to you about doing a painting,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh shit. People are really seeing this.’”

Verrier’s success, though driven by social media—the artist has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram—comes after years of effort. He offers anecdotes about dismal

trips to weekend art fairs when he came home with “minus $600 over and over and over again.” It’s no wonder he’s a little spun. It’s also a vindication.

“What the hell is happening?” the artist asks, lightheartedly. “Especially when they told me in school that nobody gives a shit about oil painting. ‘Painting is dead, Noah. Why do you keep doing it?’”

One answer is that it’s probably encoded from childhood. Verrier has an early memory of his mother painting. “She was doing Modigliani watercolors … Then she did a Picasso copy, and she was really good. It looked just like the Picasso,” he says. “I remember seeing that, and it set off a spark.”

Years later, Verrier graduated with

You can take this mundane object and make it beautiful.

—NOAH VERRIER

WADING IN :THE STUDIO

FLORIDA ARTIST PROFILES

bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts degrees from Florida State University, where he also taught. He recalls exhibiting paintings there of a Heineken can with sunflowers in it.

“I really like cans,” says the artist, evoking the spirit of Andy Warhol, who elevated the humble Campbell’s soup can from the supermarket shelf to a museum icon. “It’s really beautiful to think that you can take this mundane object and make it kind of beautiful.”

Yet, Verrier may have had his real breakthrough staring at the sun.

While working on his MFA, Verrier set up a durational project, making 150 sunset oil paintings on the same site every day.

“The strict structure he kept to had led him to adventurous experimentation,” recalls Cynthia Hollis, a curator and former FSU professor who taught Verrier. “One day he slyly commented on his process, ‘boredom can cede to fearlessness.’” The idea still

informs his current work, which Hollis calls “a combination of pop art subject matter executed with Vermeer-esque facility.”

The high/low aspect of the paintings is, of course, a big part of their appeal. They evoke classic still lifes but then have a giggle: Look at this beautiful flower … surrounded by Taco Bell. In the process, the juxtapositions also compel a closer look at what people see every day and never think much about. The craft is evident beyond the humor in that the paintings make you feel hungry, nothing more so than the delicate globs of peanut butter and jelly oozing between triangles of white bread, light gleaming off the impressionistic brush strokes.

Verrier confesses to a practice of “method acting.” What he paints, he eats or drinks. “You have to get it and try it, find a connection with it,” he says. “Do you love it? Do you hate it? If you hate it, you’re probably not going to paint it. I have to do

a whiskey one right now, but I don’t want to chug a bunch of whiskey in the middle of the day. And at night I’m too tired, so I keep putting it off.”

As to what it all means, the artist finds it harder to say. He occasionally falls into arguments with his wife about it. “She says, ‘You have to paint this. Everyone’s gonna love this. I have the perfect idea.’ And I say, ‘It’s not about the subjects.’ I don’t know why I take it so personally.”

For sure, the paintings punch a lot of buttons. And in ways that can be ambiguous.

“It’s the food. It makes you salivate. It’s nostalgic. It hits a lot of different things. I think it’s all about the art of it. It’s not a formula. It’s not about the fact that everyone remembers these things, but it is,” Verrier says. “To my wife’s argument, she is right. It is about the subject, but I don’t like to hear that because I like to think that it’s a cool, really great painting.”

Above: Verrier’s oil paintings of junk food, including Chinese takeout, gummy bears and a Gatorade Arctic Blitz, have catapulted him to new levels of social media stardom. Opposite page, clockwise: Tallahassee artist Noah Verrier; Verrier’s oil painting of a PB&J and a jar of milk

My Florida

By Kati Schardl • Photography by Lisa Baggett

PINKY PROMISE

How the roosting of a rare flamingo in North Florida brought hope to a hurricane-rattled community, and in particular, one passionate birder

On a brisk winter day in 2018, a small group of birders are clustered on the banks of the Stoney Bayou Trail in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the Florida Panhandle. Some have driven hundreds of miles to be in this coastal preserve of salt marsh and pine flatwoods. All have focused their binoculars, birding scopes and long-range camera lenses on a pink dot at the far edge of the brackish tidal pond.

I am there among the birding brethren, shivering with excitement as I squint at the pink blur through my binoculars. A friend gestures toward her birding scope, and I bend over it, using my good eye to look through the lens. Suddenly the dot looms into view and becomes a tall, gangly, neon-bright bird. My heart thuds behind my ribs, and my breath catches in my throat as I focus on the rosy-feathered anomaly social media has already dubbed Pinky—a wild American flamingo.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, situated 26 miles south of my home in

This page: Pinky, an American flamingo, landed in a North Florida refuge in 2018.

fla-keys.com/arts-culture 1.800.fla.keys The Sistine Chapel has nothing on this.

Tallahassee, was established in 1931 to provide a safe wintering habitat for migratory birds. It is sacred ground to me. I have been birding there for decades and have logged some thrilling sightings. A Ross’s goose, a very rare visitor to the area, stopped by one winter. Then there was the tiny, fearless and redder-than-red vermilion flycatcher that set up shop right by the roadside several winters in a row. I once watched a peregrine falcon hunting over a brackish pond, diving and rising, diving and rising, an exquisitely beautiful killing machine. A raft of white pelicans, larger and more solemn than their brown cousins, never fails to make my heart skip a beat.

And each winter from 2009 to 2016, I joined the throngs gathered there to watch the arrival of young captive-

hatched whooping cranes led to the refuge by ultralight aircraft pilots dressed as adult cranes to mimic the parental process of imprinting a migratory route as part of Operation Migration’s efforts to reintroduce the endangered cranes. The cranes were my biggest birding thrill at St. Marks—until Pinky blew in on the devastating winds of Hurricane Michael.

Born to Be Wild

Florida’s wild flamingos vanished from the state over a century ago. There were once resident populations in the Everglades, but plume hunters killed them, along with countless egrets and herons, in the late 1800s to supply adornments for ladies’ hats. At the time Pinky appeared in 2018, the only flamingos in Florida were found

in zoos and aviaries, and as plastic replicas with wire legs stuck into thick St. Augustine grass lawns. Some wondered if Pinky was a captive bird, blown north by the storm. But Pinky’s spindly backwardbent legs were not banded. He was a wild bird, most likely from Cuba or Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

It’s not unusual for birds to become swept up in tropical cyclones like the one that deposited Pinky at St. Marks. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November each year, which coincides with fall migration, when billions of birds fly south to their wintering grounds. Fall migration is usually at its peak from August through October, which is also the busiest time in hurricane season.

This page: Pinky found a home among other birds in St. Marks.

These patterns have existed for millennia, and birds have evolved to adapt. They can sense when a big storm is coming. Some will pause their migration to hunker down and ride it out in place. Some will veer around the path of a storm in a temporary detour. And some birds, particularly pelagic birds such as petrels and frigatebirds, who spend most of their lives on the wing, get swept up in the bands of wind and rain and clump together for safety in the calm eye of a storm. They can become entrained there, safe from the chaos raging outside the eye, until the storm blows itself out.

Birds that congregated in the eyes of Florida’s most recent hurricanes—Helene and Milton—showed up as blue blobs on weather radar images that caused a stir on social media. Some people thought the blue blobs were A.I.-generated, others worried about the poor birds caught up in the immense weather events.

Bird migration scientists like Andrew Farnsworth at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology know that it’s common for migrating birds to become entrained in a hurricane’s eye. Most are able to resume their migration after a storm passes, and even birds blown far off their migratory path can usually find their way back to the route hardwired into their DNA.

Farnsworth says that birds have adapted to these storms and have evolved with them. They know how to deal with these things. And sometimes, some birds deal with these things like Pinky did: by settling in for a long visit in a place that looks and feels like home.

A Meet Cute

Pinky showed up just when I needed something bright and miraculous. After Michael made landfall at Mexico Beach, it barreled inland and hammered Marianna, the little town where I grew up.

My Florida

SUNSHINE STATE STORIES

Two days after the storm, I drove over to deliver a care package to a friend. The damage in the town was horrific. The little red brick house where I had lived with my family still stood, but the trees I climbed as a kid were gone, chain sawed and stacked in a towering pile of debris on the curb. Behind the house, the woods where I had played and dreamed had become a crippled grove of snapped trunks and tangled limbs.

I drove outside the town center to Florida Caverns State Park, where I had camped and hiked and explored as a Girl Scout, and where my love for nature blossomed into a lifelong passion. At the entrance to the park, downed trees and dangling power lines blocked the road. My heart broke then, and I turned the car off, leaned my head on the steering wheel and sobbed.

I cried for the park’s delicate habitats and rare plants decimated by the storm, for the birds and animals killed or forced from their homes, for the people whose livelihoods depended on the park. I cried for the little girl who knew the park’s secret places and had learned to read nature’s moods on its paths and in its woods. I cried because I felt helpless and hopeless in the face of such

Hope Has Wings

Pinky hung around the refuge for five years, sometimes alone, sometimes with a group of roseate spoonbills, seemingly oblivious to the stir he caused. I loved watching him do his peculiar feeding dance, a subaquatic flamenco shuffle designed to jostle brine shrimp and other microscopic tidbits out of the alluvial muck to be siphoned through the decurved scoop of his bill.

The thrill of seeing Pinky, even from afar as a pop of color in the muted landscape of dun-colored marsh grass, never waned. My heart pumped harder, and I held my breath every time I gathered him close through the binoculars and watched his elegant neck rise from the water, droplets glinting like gems on his feathers.

I had been a regular visitor to the refuge for decades, but I began making the 30-minute drive from Tallahassee even more often after Pinky appeared. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I began driving down two or three times a week, just to get out of the house and remember what the real world looked and felt like.

I wasn’t the only one. My friend Lisa

It's common for migrating birds to become entrained in a hurricane's eye.

—KATI SCHARDL

destruction, and I cried because new grief has a way of conjuring old griefs.

Not long after that visit to my hometown, I met Pinky at the wildlife refuge for the first time. It seemed fitting that the same devastating storm that wrecked so much of what I loved as a child had delivered the marvel of this flamingo to a place I treasured as an adult.

Baggett had fallen under Pinky’s spell much like I had, captivated by that initial zap of bright coral on the far edge of a tidal pool.

Baggett, 58, had a thing for flamingos long before Pinky showed up. She has been accumulating flamingos of the lawn variety for years, rotating them in her yard with adornments reflecting holidays like

Halloween and Christmas. Her neighbors call her “the crazy flamingo lady.”

As the pandemic clamped down, Baggett began spending hours at the wildlife refuge watching Pinky, and she often had him all to herself. She grew to know his favorite hangouts and honed her skills as a nature photographer taking photo after photo of Pinky flying, Pinky feeding, Pinky gazing into the distance, Pinky with his pals the roseate spoonbills. Baggett was rewarded with moments so personal and intimate that she felt a special bond had developed between her and the bird.

“When the world was crazy with COVID and I couldn’t visit my mom for months, Pinky was a bright spot,” Baggett told me on a recent cold, brilliant winter day at St. Marks. She turned to Pinky and the refuge for solace when her mother entered hospice care. Grief seemed to slip away as soon as she drove through the refuge gates.

“I can come out here and be eaten alive and covered with ticks, but if I’m seeing

My Florida

SUNSHINE STATE STORIES

something like Pinky that feeds my soul, it’s worth it.”

Just as Pinky gave Baggett relief from the stressors of her life, he lifted me out of the emotional turmoil of the pandemic isolation period and the deep sadness for the devastation I saw in Marianna. Pinky was an uncomplicated, calm presence in a chaotic world.

regular updates on his whereabouts so day-trippers knew where to see him. Then, in August 2023, Hurricane Idalia delivered six new wild flamingos—a flamboyance—to the refuge. The group included a couple of adults and several gray-toned juveniles. They were part of a post-Idalia flush of flamingo sightings in states as far north as Wisconsin.

When the world was crazy with covid and i couldn't visit my mom ... pinky was a bright spot.

—LISA BAGGETT

New Arrivals

Five years after he arrived, Pinky had become a local celebrity whose appeal extended beyond hardcore birders looking to log a big find on their life lists. Parents brought their kids to see him. The refuge gift shop started selling stuffed flamingo dolls and Pinky stickers, and they posted

When the Idalia flamboyance showed up, Pinky observed them for a while, then sidled up and introduced himself. People had wondered over the years whether Pinky was lonely for a mate. It seems maybe he was, or at least he was lonely for his own kind. He was photographed hanging out with an adult female flamingo and a few of the juveniles. When the new birds took off after a few days, Pinky wasn’t far behind. He had disappeared before for brief periods but had always turned up again. This time, he was gone for good.

Baggett had watched the new flamingos—“the pink lining to the hurricane’s storm clouds,” she called them—for hours. She was there when Pinky met the new birds. And she was also there when Pinky flew away with them one night. It was the last time she ever saw him. She knew he wasn’t coming back when birders familiar with the distinctive markings of his bill spotted him in Cedar Key on his way south. She was bereft, but she didn't give up hope that Pinky—or another flamingo— could come back to our corner of

PHILLIP POLL0CK

Above: Bird enthusiasts flocked to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge to try to spot Pinky.

I missed that pink prince of the tidal ponds, too.

—KATI SCHARDL

North Florida someday. Every time she went to the refuge with her camera and binoculars, she looked for a sign of him.

I missed that pink prince of the tidal ponds, too. I was surprised at how personal his departure felt. He had become a part of the wildlife refuge, just like the ibises and roseate spoonbills he congregated with, and he had become a part of my own natural cosmos—a touchstone bird in my touchstone environment. I missed feeling my heart lift on coral-colored wingbeats when he rose from the water to fly, ungainly but magnificent, before settling to feed again. I missed watching people catch sight of him for the first time, and I missed his air of lofty dignity in the midst of a pond full of honking, croaking coots and gallinules.

Hurricanes keep coming, bigger and fiercer. The big storms bring fear, devastation and heartbreak. But lately, they have also brought a pink glimmer of hope. Wild American flamingos appear to be returning to Florida. Audubon Florida counted more than 100 in the state at the beginning of the 2024 hurricane season. The birds have been seen in Florida Bay, at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, around Pine Island and in other locations around the southern part of the state. Scientists hope the flamingos will settle in and establish breeding colonies.

And in early December 2024, a lone wild flamingo appeared once again on the shores of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. The Pinky patrol, Baggett included, went into overdrive, tracking the bird and posting

photos and daily updates. At the time of writing this, he’s still there.

Is it Pinky? This bird seems more wary of people than Pinky was, but he also has a similar distinctive marking on his bill. Maybe Pinky dropped a pin on his avian GPS map during his previous sojourn and has returned to a place that feels familiar and safe. Maybe it’s one of the flamingos that flew in after Idalia. Maybe it’s a flamingo that’s entirely new to this area.

One thing is certain: For those of us whose lives were touched by that first wild miracle the rosy color of hope, Pinky and his kin are reminders that sometimes good things blow in on the winds of the darkest storms. That is the promise of Pinky.

This page: Before wild American flamingos disappeared from the Sunshine State at the turn of the 20th century, thousands of the birds roamed Florida's shores. The birds have rebounded some in past years but still remain a rare sight, especially in North Florida.

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FLORIDA MUSICIANS ON THE RISE

By Steve Dollar

HerFindingVoice

Madison Hughes talks “The Voice,” what a modern-day Music City grind looks like and her debut album, “All That I Am.”

Jacksonville native Madison Hughes had her first brush with fame in 2022 when she wowed the nation (and superstar judges Camila Cabello, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani) on “The Voice,” stirring big emotions with her version of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.” The singer only had one more appearance on the popular vocal competition, but the brief turn in the spotlight helped kickstart her artistic ambitions. Her debut album drops this spring, a big moment for an artist coming into her own. Hughes, now 27, spoke with Flamingo about her earliest inspirations, what it takes to make it in Nashville and how she’s defining her own voice after “The Voice.”

WHAT FIRST KINDLED YOUR LOVE FOR PERFORMING?

Madison Hughes: My dad and I were taking guitar lessons with local Michael Bennick, who grew up playing with Derek Trucks and was very involved in the music community in Jacksonville. He would teach us all the fun classic rock songs like Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” and one of the first songs I performed live was called, “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. My fifthgrade talent show moment—that was the song I chose. That was really hard to step out in the public eye and do

Above: Hughes’s debut album, “All That I Am,” releases this spring.

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that. I was shyer and more introverted. It took me a while to get on my music journey. So many people have gotten their start way sooner, and although I performed early, in fifth grade, I didn’t treat it like a real thing until recently. I was like, “Oh, I really actually want to try this. It’s not just a dream world.”

WHAT DID YOU TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR APPEARANCES ON “THE VOICE”?

MH: You realize your own uniqueness when you do these singing shows, because obviously there’s so much vocal talent around you ... but you are focused. You are put to the challenge of focusing on “what makes me unique. What makes me stand out?” You get to meet fun people who also live in Nashville, and it’s like “Camp Rock” sort of, so there’s that fun element. I got to spend the summer in Hollywood. That was great. It’s good times. But that was only about two years ago.

NASHVILLE LORE IS FULL OF STORIES LIKE KRIS KRISTOFFERSON’S BEING DISCOVERED WHILE HE WAS A JANITOR AT A STUDIO. WHAT’S THE MUSIC CITY GRIND LIKE FOR YOU?

MH: The grind turned into posting on social media and trying to go viral. And it never happens when you try. It happened to me last year when I was completely just having fun and posting a song I liked and had a moment there (when I recorded a video covering Morgan Wallen’s “I Deserve a Drink”). But there are so many new people every week that get signed and have a viral moment, and then you have to stop comparing yourself to everyone else. It’s crazy how the music industry has changed. It’s so fast now. I was applying to coffee shop jobs the other week, because I need to get out and about with real people again. I don’t want to be isolated from the normal

This page: Since her appearance on

day-to-day life. Another part of the grind is doing these songwriter rounds every week. You never know who’s listening. You never know when that moment will come.

Madison Hughes’s

1 “I DESERVE A DRINK” Single, 2023

2 “MEET ME IN THE WOODS” Single, 2022

3 “SOMEDAY SONG” Single, 2024

4 “YOU OR THE WHISKEY” Single, 2023

5 “MYSTERY HIGHWAY,” All That I Am, 2025

YOUR DEBUT ALBUM IS COMING OUT SOON. TELL US ABOUT IT. MH: It’s such a long process of finding your writing style and finding the right songs and finishing the songs and working with your producers on what the sound should be. What are you going to be known for? People have different brands and so what is Madison Hughes, the original artist brand, known for? It’s hard for me to think in that strategic way. This album ended up being really cool and across genres. I worked with these two awesome producers (singer-songwriters Lera Lynn and Todd Lombardo). They reached out to me after “The Voice.” I grew up listening to (Lynn’s) music, and I’ve been a fan of her since I was 14. A lot of the songs were co-written with her, but I’ve never gone through such a challenging process musically. You’re trying to make a work of art. You see everyone on social media (posting) a new song

every week. And that’s just not (how it is) when you’re creating an album. It’s like half Americana, half adult alternative. We were kind of inspired by Robert Plant (and) Alison Krauss’s album, “Raising Sand.” It’s mature and not geared toward the young country, inner teeny-bop audience. I don’t want to be “pageant-girl country,” and I don’t want to be super edgy rock ’n’ roll, either. I want to find my own point of view through art.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SPOTS TO PLAY IN FLORIDA?

MH: The Local in Neptune Beach and then Prohibition Kitchen in St. Augustine. I have a heart for the Atlantic Beach, Neptune, St. Augustine area. They’re so fun, because they’re walkable places and just high energy.

I’ll play with a full band at The Local, and then the Prohibition Kitchen is a duo thing. I haven’t played the Blue Jay (Listening Room in Jacksonville Beach) in a while, but I feel like everyone loves that one, too.

Know a band with Florida roots?

SCAN THE CODE AND TELL FLAMINGO!

“The Voice” in 2022, Madison Hughes has released over a dozen singles, including “Nobody Knows Your Love” and “Mystery Highway.”

Get up close to iconic flight-flown space vehicles, tour behind NASA’s gates, meet an astronaut and feel the rumble of a live rocket launch. Experience the past, present and future of human space exploration, here at America’s premier spaceport.

ALL NEW: The Gantry at LC-39 boasts interactive exhibits and one of the closest launch viewing sites available. Visit as a part of the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour this spring.

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LA NOUVELLE

ST. AUGUSTINE

The third time’s the charm for Chef Michael Lugo who has a new restaurant to add to his St. Augustine culinary empire, which includes Michael’s and Pesca Vilano. This time, he brings a taste of Paris to the Lincolnville neighborhood, where La Nouvelle welcomes diners to the Victorian-era Jefferson House, the restored former home of Thomas Jefferson’s great granddaughter, Maria Jefferson Eppes Shine. The choice of cuisine is apt, as the founding father was a noted Francophile who served as the American ambassador to France. Chef Matthieu Landillon, who graduated from the exacting Le Cordon Bleu in

Paris, oversees classic fare that includes le tout: from moules frites and steak au poivre to escargots de Bourgogne and lobster bisque. And, in a nod to “Pulp Fiction,” there’s even a royale with cheese. lanousta.com

OTHELLO JACKSONVILLE

Named after the titular character in Shakespeare’s play, this restaurant serves a menu as complex as the character himself, which features a mix of dishes that combine the cultures of northern Africa, the Middle East and southern Spain. It’s the project of father-daughter team Jeriees Ewais, a longtime Jacksonville restaurateur, and Vanesa Ewais, who applied her

skills as a restaurant designer and former captain at New York’s beloved Gramercy Tavern to the enterprise. The kitchen also features the expertise of Sebastian Velez, who has worked under French-born, New York-based Chef Daniel Boulud. Notably, Othello focuses on sustainable values with locally sourced bread, seafood and beer, and fresh herbs on its patio. Diners can’t miss it either; it’s housed in a gem of a Spanish-style building in the Springfield neighborhood. othellospringfield.com

THE MONROE TALLAHASSEE

Modern American cuisine in an upscale casual setting comes to the southside of Tallahassee, in

the shadow of the state capitol, with The Monroe. It’s the latest endeavor of the city’s Seven Hills Hospitality Group, which also owns the popular spots Liberty Bar & Restaurant, the Hawthorn Bistro & Bakery, Bar 1903 and Black Radish. The dinner menu offers eclectic shareable small plates like etouffee fritters with andouille sausage, crawfish and chicken, brandy cured foie gras torchon and main events like the artichoke rotolo, duck confit and lobster bucatini. Guests can also order up larger platters with enough to share for two or three (Nashville hot chicken or black angus ribeye? Flip a coin!). Happy hour, Tuesday to Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m., offers the classics—dirty martinis, old fashioneds and planters punches—for an inflationfighting $6 or $7 each. themonroetlh.com

WILD OLIVES

SANTA ROSA BEACH

Twenty years after he opened the original Wild Olives in Rosemary Beach, Chris Trovas has expanded on its successful run with a new edition, which partners the chef with bar maestro Slayde Martin. The bistro is a culinary standout among 30A’s beach-bar lineup, offering plenty of seafood— catch of the day prepared multiple ways, for instance— and landlubber faves like filet mignon and paprika chicken with pancetta. The cocktail lineup is vividly imagined with such concoctions as Mai Hands Are Tai’d (a variation on the rum-based mai tai) and You, Me & The Sea (tequila with a housemade lime cordial, orange water and sea salt foam). wildolives30a.com

Above: Enjoy upscale casual dining at The Monroe, Tallahassee’s latest modern American restaurant.

PRESENTED BY PUBLIX

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SOUTHERN LIVING

MARCH 28-29, 2025 | AARON BESSANT PARK

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BAR KADA

WINTER

PARK

Sake is the centerpiece at this inviting lounge that also serves up small plates and a curated wine list. The 30-seat space is like the laid-back sibling of the Michelin-starred restaurant, Soseki, located next door. While it’s also the brainchild of the same chef, Winter Park’s Mike Collantes, don’t expect strictly omakase here. There are plenty of a la carte items, including inventive bites like caviar donuts. If you’d prefer the chef to choose for you, they recently added a five-course tasting

Benjamin Coutts will happily educate you on the ins and outs of rice wine. Experiment with different varieties with one of their sake flights to see which flavor profile you like best. A few sips in and you’ll be clinking glasses and saying kanpai (the Japanese word for cheers). barkadafl.com

PISTIL HOUSE ST. PETERSBURG

Equal parts flower shop and wine bar, Pistil House feels like you’re hanging out in your best friend’s living room. Located in a restored 1926 bungalow in St.

founders’ backgrounds working in Oregon wine country and local floral shops. In terms of blooms, browse the curated fireplace display before picking out flowers and greenery to add to your own bouquet. Pistil House’s pick-and-choose ethos extends to its food offerings, which allow guests to create custom cheese and charcuterie boards or kick back on the front porch with various snacks like cucumber dip and Fritos or the rotating sandwich special of the week. Local beers and eclectic wines flow along with kegged cold brew and other

ANDREW’S COFFEE LAKELAND

Instead of starting your day with the usual Starbucks order, try “If Robert Pattinson Was A Latte” (a blend of oat milk, espresso, Irish cream, macadamia nut, honey and brown sugar). Or how about an Oreo latte? While Andrew’s Coffee offers all the basics you can find at your typical java joint, what sets them apart is their adventurous flavor combinations and quirky straws themed for every holiday, from Thanksgiving turkeys to pink rubber ducks for breast cancer awareness. Plus, how many

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own beverages, which, if tasty enough, could be added to the menu and earn rewards if others order it? Beyond coffee, find energy drinks, seltzers, pastries, light bites and lots of laughs (if you follow their Instagram). andrews.coffee

LUMA

NEW SMYRNA BEACH

Luma, an outdoor cafe and bar designed for carefree kickbacks, opened last spring and quickly became a go-to hangout with its boho beach club vibes. The open green space and adjoining patio, outfitted with a mix of eclectic tables, white umbrellas, cozy

sip on sunshine

couches and hammock chairs, welcome people and pups alike. A giant sandbox and yard games keep little ones entertained while music and drinks flow. Situated in the heart of downtown New Smyrna Beach on Flagler Avenue, Luma’s menu features a variety of light bites and refreshers, including black bean burgers, Mexican street corn dip, gelato and an Orange Blossom pilsner (brewed in Orlando). Just a short walk from the ocean, Luma provides the perfect complement to any beach day— no need to change out of your cover-up or sandals. lumansb.com

Above: St. Petersburg’s Pistil House is a one-stop shop for flowers and wine.

Above:

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PALM HOUSE

PALM BEACH

If Palm Beach were a color, it would undoubtedly be pink—a hue that the recently debuted Palm House hotel wears with effortless charm. Located just a block from the Atlantic Ocean and a short walk from the exclusive shops of Worth Avenue, this retreat marks the first U.S. property for Londonbased Iconic Luxury Hotels. The Palm House channels the island’s signature coral-colored allure while taking a playful step into the whimsical with cheeky Slim Aarons photographs lining the hallways and Murano glass chandeliers cascading like delicate feathers overhead. At their restaurant, the Dining Room, Japanese flavors meet Peruvian ingredients in a tantalizing fusion, and guests are welcomed by the host

and chefs with “irasshaimase,” a warm Japanese greeting meaning welcome. Out back, the Sunset Pool Deck offers a heated oasis flanked by pastel-pink cabanas and umbrella-shaded loungers—because it’s Palm Beach, where poolside perfection is practically a mandate. palmhouse.com

MARINA VILLAGE FORT LAUDERDALE

Create a chic food hall, but make it distinctly Fort Lauderdale. That was the vision Knallhart Management Group—known for buzzworthy local haunts like Harrel’s and The Federal— brought to life with Marina Village, an open-air, waterfront venue redefining the food court concept. Opened last fall along the bustling Intracoastal Waterway, Marina Village is anything but understated. The

al fresco complex is anchored by three concepts: The Promenade, an eight-kiosk food hall serving global flavors; The Mainland Bar, a breezy outdoor watering hole with room for 44; and The Shorely, a two-story, 500-person ferry turned floating lounge where bottle service, plush cabanas and lively entertainment set the tone for unforgettable nights. Marina Village proves the city’s flavor isn’t just on the plate— it’s in the air, the water, the cocktails and the vibe.

marinavillageftl.com

UNIDOS NAPLES

Dining at downtown Naples’s Unidos is an experience that feels like stepping into the heart of Latin and Central America— without ever leaving Florida. Drawing from their family’s rich

Latin heritage, Salvador Muñoz, his wife, Jamie, and business partner Carlos Angel created a vibrant indoor-outdoor restaurant celebrating culinary traditions. The menu dazzles with Argentine asados (woodgrilled meats), flaky empanadas and a ceviche bar offering a kaleidoscope of flavors. Even the drinks embody Latin flair, with handcrafted cocktails starring tequila, rum and other iconic spirits. At the heart of Unidos is its open kitchen, where guests can engage with the chefs, adding a personal touch to every visit. Unidos isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a celebration of Latin culture, one plate at a time. unidosrestaurant.com

SUNNY’S

MIAMI

What started as a pop-up has become Miami’s newest “it” restaurant, combining dinnerparty vibes with impressive culinary chops in an indooroutdoor setting that’s nothing short of magical. Sunny’s originated as a steakhouse and has since added a raw bar menu and delectable pasta dishes (such as the spicy pork sugo rigatoni). It all takes place in the Little Haiti neighborhood, where Sunny’s courtyard twinkles with patio lights woven into the branches of its voluminous banyan tree. The eclectic spot is a multipurpose entertainment juggernaut that is hard to confine to one restaurant category. Here, find yourself ordering a 30-ounce Australian Wagyu ribeye within an Art Deco-inspired, white-tablecloth dining room or go under-theradar with al dente pasta at the relaxed patio. Confounding? Yes. Mildly confusing? Yes. Spectacular? Absolutely. sunnysmia.com

Unfiltered Fodder —

Capital Dame —

By Diane Roberts

Last Call

Diane Roberts toasts to the Tallahassee watering holes where she’s laughed, cried, drank white Russians and learned the meaning of life.

LOSS IS PART OF LIFE: we all know this. But when you lose your favorite bar, your clubhouse, your dear old dive, well, that’s a pain that never goes away, a wound a dozen martinis could not heal.

After 32 years, Waterworks, the world’s

greatest tiki bar, is no more. It survived the 2000 presidential election vote recount mess, various hurricanes, COVID-19 and even the occasional incursion of frat boys. It was part of Tallahassee’s history; it was part of my personal history. I laughed in that bar; I cried

in that bar; I fell in love in that bar; I flounced off to that bar to drink white Russians after a bad breakup. It was my clubhouse.

The building, located in what’s now called Midtown, once housed a smoky joint called Kent’s Lounge. The Leon County Sheriff’s

Capital Dame

UNFILTERED FODDER

Office was right next door. Kent’s served up cheap drinks and stellar live music, including The Replacements, Alex Chilton and Florida Music Hall of Famer and hot sauce genius Bill Wharton. When Kent’s shut up shop, Don Quarello—a Miami boy with a taste for tropical decor, his grandmother’s killer eggplant Parmesan recipe and a cheerfully twisted sense of humor—threw open Waterworks’s palm frond-canopied doors. Don somehow kept the best part of Kent’s vibe going but with a double shot of wit. He hosted events called Science Salons at which researchers from Florida State University, Florida A&M University and more would discuss particle physics, superconductivity and the complex social structure of fire ant colonies. There was a yearly celebration of Dr. John B. Gorrie of Apalachicola, the father of airconditioning. There were jazz performances by local musicians, surf bands, folky punk (or punky folk—I never could decide). A guy in a gorilla suit who called himself Jungo ran bingo. Every time I went to Waterworks, it was as if I were stepping into a really good party already in progress.

But Don decided to move away, writing in a Facebook post on Jan. 24, 2024: “We’ve had 32 years of ridiculously amusing times ... it’s a good time to wrap it up and we did, last Saturday.”

Since the announcement, I’ve had to try out other bars. And in the process, I’ve taken a trip through Tallahassee’s long and weird watering hole history: the fancy bars, the cheap bars, the cool bars, the scary bars, the ones packed with sharp-suited women and men in red ties, the ones festooned with longhaired girls in cowboy boots and the ones where grad students argued over pantheism and the embodied text in “Moby Dick.”

You can get decent literary and political conversations at Ology Brewing Co. on Sixth Avenue, a haunt of Tallahassee artists and journalists. Ology means a subject of study, a branch of knowledge. Booze is, after all, chemistry, an art and a science reaching back thousands of years to Egypt and Mesopotamia. The brewery and distillery makes beers with names like Sensory Overload and Spa Goggles, plus their own vodka, gin and birthday cake-flavored cream liqueur. You can park yourself here all day: they do coffee (I’m partial to the Cardy B, a latte with black pepper and cardamom) and if you’re hungry, you don’t even need to get up—the excellent pizza place next door will deliver one to your table. Ology, Gaines Street Pies and Battle Pony (a small whisky bar lit like a 1940s mystery movie) collectively occupy a space once home to Lucy Ho’s Bamboo Garden, Tallahassee’s first Chinese restaurant. When it opened, the town rejoiced. We’d all been raised on fried chicken and green bean casserole, so sweet-and-sour pork and fried rice seemed positively miraculous. Sitting in Ology, I could almost smell the pineapple juice and rice vinegar, though it could have just been another of their aromatic ales.

Late one spring afternoon I found myself sitting in Bar 1903, staring into the amber heart of a Sazerac, thinking about what I might order next. The title page of 1903’s cocktail menu says, “Atheneum,” declaring itself “an institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning.” They’re not joking: cocktails are listed chronologically, from pre-1880 (the Sazerac was invented in

1838 by a New Orleans apothecary named Antoine Peychaud) up through the 20th century and into the 21st. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is a jewel box of rosy brick and tall windows, heart pine floors and graceful balustrades. The bar calls itself a “Library of Cocktails,” and quite right, too: it was built 122 years ago as Tallahassee’s first public library. Somehow it escaped being razed in the name of “downtown improvement.” By the 1960s, it was no longer a library, but the headquarters of Springtime Tallahassee, a civic group that organizes an annual festival held on either the last Saturday in March or the first Saturday in April. I remember going in there once with my mother, marveling at the dim, dusty shelves and a large, ornate, rather dirty chair in one corner, allegedly once the property of Prince Achille Murat, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, who descended on North Florida in the 1820s to run a cotton plantation. In 2020, a local restaurateur rescued the building and turned it into

Above: At Bar 1903, historically significant booze has replaced books on the shelves of the Walker Library, named after a former governor.

Above: A citrusy IPA from Ology Brewing Co.

this beautiful—if tiny—bar: it only holds 36 customers. Sitting by the window, eating some of 1903’s fancy deviled eggs, I looked out onto Bloxham Park with its old oak trees and big white houses lining the street. I can’t see the huge, hideous glass building that squats next to the bar or the ugly condo tower a block away. This is the Tallahassee of my childhood—only with good booze.

My attachment to bars began when I was a high school junior. Believe it or not, kids, Florida’s drinking age in those ancient times was 18, not 21. Therefore, along with my best friends Juanda and Mary Sue, we made a point of drinking at 17 at the Subway on Tennessee Street near FSU. Now, when I say drinking, I don’t mean we got drunk. We were terrified of getting caught. Sometimes we shared two salty dogs between the three of us and ate several slices of pepperoni pizza to cover any possible smell. Breaking the

on campus. In long, late conversations, I learned how Florida fruit pickers were often treated like slaves, that the CIA interfered in democratically elected governments in Latin America and that films by Nicolas Roeg brilliantly challenged the idea that there’s any such thing as normal.

Like all good things, Finale’s died, too. We moved on to other bars, other lives, real careers in journalism, law and academia. The cycle continues: students at FSU and FAMU will find their own grubby bars and, 30 years after graduation, talk fondly of them, recalling the great conversations, the epic hangovers and the rites of passage that launched them into the wide world. Isn’t there some cliche about when one bar closes another one opens?

Waterworks was torn down last summer. I find it hard to drive by where it once stood, though the site is going to be put to good use: the splendid independent bookstore next door will now be able to

When you lose your favorite bar ... that’s a wound a dozen martinis could not heal.

—DIANE ROBERTS

Florida laws and defying our parents made us feel sophisticated.

We weren’t sophisticated, of course, but bars can make you feel urbane and worldly and smarter than you actually are. In college, The Grand Finale, successor to Subway, was my favorite and not just because on Thursday nights you got four drinks for the price of one. Finale’s (as everyone called it) was the house bar for the Florida Flambeau, the independent newspaper I wrote for. Louis the bartender would see me coming and get a gin and tonic (on the weak side, extra lime, no ice) ready. The education I received there was probably as good as what I got

expand. But gone are the 1970s sofas and the tiki mugs and the portrait of Prince Murat, painted on lacquered toast. All that’s left is the little garden of native flowers Don Quarello planted and the ghosts of Friday nights past.

Diane Roberts is an eighthgeneration Floridian, educated at Florida State University and 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.

This page: At Ology Brewing Co.’s Midtown taproom, beer enthusiasts can choose from over a dozen locally brewed beverages, including stouts, IPAs, sours and lagers.

CD MX FindinG Flavors in

By ERIC BARTON /// Photography by JOSH LETCHWORTH

Mexico City

Iapproached our trajinera driver knowing this conversation would be tricky. Like a lot of South Floridians, my Spanish is limited to ordering croquetas and cafes con leche so instead of attempting to use words, I decided to use charades to convey my request. I mimed the motion of holding the wooden pole-shaped oar and pushing our boat forward.

The driver shrugged, but his smirk showed that he understood—less “What do you want?” and more “You asked for it.” With a casual handoff, he gave me the pole, leaving me to discover just how much skill it takes to navigate the famed canals.

European settlers arrived, and it remains a series of canals that cut through the native wetlands south of Mexico City. Nowadays the canals are teeming with a rainbow fleet of covered trajineras, each carrying 20 or so hungry passengers who have come to savor food from vendors navigating the waters in dugout canoes carved from fallen trees, selling fresh tacos, tamales and more that they make right there on the small boats.

I don’t believe I’d find a better food destination than mexico city.

— ERIC BARTON

In front of us was the winding system of waterways that striate the area known as Xochimilco (pronounced: so-chee-meel-koh). The Aztecs inhabited it long before the

I stood on the stern of the trajinera, the oar gripped firmly with both hands and pushed down into the mucky bottom of the canal. The boat swerved left, then right as I overcorrected. Finally, our driver had to take over to straighten us out. My two buddies also took a turn. My friend Mike was last, and I think he’d admit that he was the most unsuccessful at steering the unwieldy craft. Heading dangerously toward the shore, he pushed hard on the oar

to get back on track, which is when the oar shot up out of the water behind him. We heard a splash and looked back to see Mike’s wife, the best-dressed of us all in her white velour two-piece, looking shocked. She was polka-dotted from head to toe with Xochimilco mud.

The laughs we all tried—but failed—not to let out in that moment are what make this experience one of my fondest memories ever, our day floating on the Mexico City canals. As we drifted along, vendors pulled up to us with offerings of tacos al pastor, chicken-stuffed tamales and lemony micheladas in paper cups with spicy and sweet salt rims. For some, Xochimilco is a party trip, but for others it can also be a cruise into the flavors and foods of Mexico City.

Before going, I’d heard a whole lot of promises about our neighbor across the Gulf. Among the best foodie cities on the planet, many people told me about a place where fine-dining restaurants, taco stands and longstanding family-owned places abound.

Could it possibly be that the Mexico City food scene is as good as they say? To test the theory, we began our first night there on a grand tour de tacos.

Mexico City Test No. 1:

Tacos

Club Tengo Hambre offers the type of tours you see on Tripadvisor and wonder if all the positive reviews are actually true. Our group of six met our tour guide just before dusk near Mexico City’s main square, Zócalo. From there, the animated 20-something led us to taco stands and tiny shops in the Centro Histórico and just beyond it. Mostly, these are places you simply wouldn’t find on your own, because they’re tucked away in neighborhoods not frequented by tourists or, by the look of them, you wouldn’t even know they’re restaurants.

That was clear from our first stop at Quesadillas Las Escaleras, which is nothing more than a woman leaning out the window of an apartment building. She handed us paper plates of quesadillas stuffed with squash blossoms and Oaxaca cheese—crispy outside with stretchy cheese within and hot sauce made from just-roasted chiles on top.

We continued on to Tacos de Canasta El Flaco—basically two guys serving tacos from a wicker basket out of a doorway. These were unlike any taco I’d had in the States.

Previous Spread: tacos al pastor and costra chicharron from Taquería Orinoco

This spread, from left: Panadería Rosetta; a king’s donut, also known as nuestra rosca de reyes, from Panadería Rosetta; Churrería El Moro makes their churros in-house; a plate of churros from Churrería El Moro

Where to Roam

Six can’t-miss Mexico City neighborhoods full of charm and their own food personalities

ROMA NORTE

A bit hipster and often called the Brooklyn of CDMX, Roma Norte mixes street corner taco stands with finer restaurants that have all the buzz of a New York City hotspot. There’s plenty of sit-down stars, like Máximo Bistrot, where chef Eduardo García puts out a seasonal menu that feels something like a dinner party. Once you’re taco-ed out—which does happen, I’ll attest—there are small plates and legit Neapolitan pizzas for a good price at Pizza Félix

LA CONDESA

La Condesa is the more artsy cousin of Roma Norte and a more likely place to find Mezcal cocktail bars, like the speakeasy-esque La Clandestina

CENTRO HISTÓRICO

In many cities, the historic center is full of chains and T-shirt shops. While those are on the always-bustling streets, you’ll also find authentic taco stands and fine-dining restaurants like El Cardenal, where breakfast feels like a fiesta.

POLANCO

Anybody familiar with Miami will feel at home in Polanco, full of wide boulevards with parks running down the middle and apartments you’ll want to look up on realtor.com. Mezcal lounges mix with finer-dining spots like Pujol, Enrique Olvera’s two-Michelin-starred temple of Mexican fine dining, where he serves a mole aged over a thousand days. Reservations are rare to come by. Book far in advance.

Pro tip: To experience a sliver of the famed chef’s work, grab a counter seat at Molino “El Pujol,” meaning Pujol mill, a tiny outpost in La Condesa where the staff presses fresh tortillas, and the menu features other simpleyet-spectacular dishes like masa, tamales, elote, corn on the cob, avocado tacos and more deliciousness.

JUÁREZ

This neighborhood mixes glamorous new highrises with simple looking apartments where taco stands fill almost every block. At night there are cocktail bars like Hanky Panky and Handshake Speakeasy, which serves classic cocktails with a tequila twist, and restaurants that specialize in international cuisine, such as Ph King.

SAN MIGUEL CHAPULTEPEC

This quieter enclave is where the cool kids go for spots like Masala y Maíz, where chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval combine Mexican flavors with Indian and East African spices. The neighborhood is named for nearby Chapultepec Park, where local food vendors line the main walking path and sell kebabs, paletas and salted mangoes.

Soaked in sauce and piled on top of each other in the basket, they’re tender and soft, deeply flavored and seriously kicked up with red and green salsas you can add yourself from bowls next to the men. The next stop, Taquería Los Cocuyos, looks far more like a traditional restaurant, although we stood outside and ordered tacos al pastor from an open window. Similar to a gyro, the pork is shaved from a rotating spit while being blasted with a flame thrower so bits of the meat turn crispy as they fall onto the corn tortillas. It is then finished with shaved pineapple, an option that adds a little sweet to the savoriness of it all.

I’m not going to use words like transcendent to describe the experience of eating those tacos, because it would sound cliche and hard to believe, I’m sure. But I had one of those feelings where you know this is a food moment you want to remember, which I suppose is, well, transcendent.

My favorite stop from the tour, though, came toward the end, at Los Tacos Nocturnos, a spot that opens late, at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and doesn’t close until dawn, feeding workers of all-night print shops in an industrial area. I remember watching cheese from a chicken-and-peppers taco drip down Mike’s hand and my wife’s eyes roll back while nodding her head yes. “We could not possibly have one more taco,” we’d said when we got to that stop. But there we were asking for another.

eat a taco like Kahlo

Perhaps Mexico City’s most famous personality, Frida Kahlo, was at the center of an artistic movement of her time, and the food she ate represented her leftist, artistic ways. Kahlo never ordered a modern stove for her home, cooking instead with a traditional woodburning stove. Her recipes have long been documented in cookbooks that feature her traditional dishes, like turkey in mole. If she had a favorite restaurant, I couldn’t find mention of it. I’d wager her labor-friendly views would mean she’d lean toward places like Tacos Tony, a modern spot that is situated a short drive from her childhood home. It serves simple tacos to taxi drivers and repair shop workers, where they eat from paper plates piled high with chopped steak on tortillas topped with cilantro and onions and dripping with hot sauce.

La Casa Azul

Frida Kahlo’s birthplace and lifelong residence is also a museum showcasing her art and artifacts. Londres 247, Del Carmen, Coyoacán, 04100, Mexico City, Mexico museofridakahlo.org.mx

This spread, clockwise: Vendors sell food from their trajineras; Xochimilco is a neighborhood in CDMX; a mural of Frida Kahlo; the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo HouseStudio Museum; tacos de guisado, chicharrón

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo House-Studio Museum

This dual studio residence designed by architect Juan O’Gorman features separate spaces for Kahlo and Rivera which are connected by a bridge.Diego Rivera s/n, San Ángel Inn, Álvaro Obregón, 01060, Mexico City, Mexico instagram.com/museoestudiodiegorivera

Somehow, we still had one more stop—a churro stand near Palacio de Bellas Artes, where the buildings all look transported from the quartier de l’Opéra in Paris. If you go, this stand is on the southwest corner across from the park, and, in a city where churro stands are ubiquitous, this one is a standout for one good reason: They stuff their churros with chocolate and caramel. I’d suggest an order of each.

By the end of the tour, things were tasting good in Mexico City. Perhaps this city was all that was promised. But we still had more to devour.

Mexico City Test No. 2:

White Tablecloth Restaurants

The next morning, we ate breakfast at El Cardenal, a stark contrast to the previous night’s street taco stands with its white tablecloths and grand building. It’s just a block from Zócalo, so I’d assumed when we booked this breakfast that it would be touristy. But the crowd waiting in the lobby of the restaurant looked mostly like locals celebrating birthdays, which built up anticipation for what was to come.

Our table was on the second floor, next to a window that overlooked the wonderfully chaotic people-watching-paradise of Calle de la Palma. Breakfast began with a basket of fluffy, buttery breads, some sweet and some cheesy. Then my huevos arrived, dotted with crumbled sausage and sitting atop a verde sauce that was herby and earthy.

If breakfast was a spectacle of activity and bold flavors, dinner brought a sense of tradition and intimacy. Later that night, we found ourselves dining at Restaurante Nicos on the north side of the city, a cherished spot where locals celebrate anniversaries and quinceaneras. There’s a mezcal cart and duck served in a mole that tastes like it was made with a hundred ingredients—chocolatey and nutty.

But perhaps the most memorable of meals we had during that trip came by happenstance as the driver we’d hired to take us to Xochimilco stopped along the way at a street corner chilaquiles cart. It’s a bit of a famous one, and the line went down the block and around the corner. We joined in and marveled, applauding at how

Left, clockwise: A latte from La Valise Café; live music outside Molino "El Pujol"; mole from Molino "El Pujol"; homemade tortillas from Molino "El Pujol"; street tacos on blue tortillas; the Roma Norte neighborhood is CDMX's culinary and artistic hub.

Right: A variety of nuts and spices from the Coyoacán Market

Where to Stay

Tucked in the heart of Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighborhood, La Valise is a masterclass in boutique hospitality. This artful retreat blends Parisian elegance with Mexican craftsmanship, and a 2023 expansion added five rooms to the townhouse’s original three. The space feels quintessentially Mexico City, with its teal and stone facade and lush backyard. Inside, the three 1,000-square-foot suites feel more like something at a private home than a hotel. Guests sway between worlds—unwinding in thoughtfully curated interiors adorned with local textiles, antique decorative fireplaces and vintage finds, then step out into the vibrant Roma neighborhood, once home to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, bustling with galleries, cafes and leafy plazas. La Valise’s crown jewel? The Polaris suite, where a retractable bed lets you sleep under the stars. Talk about sweet dreams!

La Valise Mexico City

Tonalá 53, Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc, 06700, Mexico City, Mexico lavalisecdmx.com

From City to Shore

If all that urban exploration has you craving some Mexican sun and sand, Club Med Cancún offers the perfect set up. This year, the all-inclusive resort debuts its Wellness Island, featuring lagoon-view yoga, family-friendly play zones (including a splash park) and a serene infinity pool. Upgraded rooms and a beach bar round out the enhancements, all designed with inspiration from Mayan culture. With three private beaches, this Mexican paradise is poised to shine brighter than ever. Scan the QR code to read our story on the fare and fun clubmed.us

This page: An aerial view of Club Med Cancún; an acai bowl from La Valise Café; enjoy breakfast on a private patio at La Valise

Opposite: La Valise Café

fast the long line moved until we were up front, ordering sandwiches stuffed with tortillas.

That’s essentially the only thing they serve at La Esquina del Chilaquil, which was one of the first stands to sell the chilaquiles sandwich. I ordered mine with eggs, chicken, chips and green sauce. It was all things—crunchy, gooey, salty and punchy from the cilantro-heavy drizzle. Each wrapped in tinfoil, they were as long as my forearm, and we devoured them while standing there on the street corner.

On the way to the airport as the six of us sat in the van, stomachs full and spirits high, I couldn’t help but laugh at how far we’d come from that first mud-splattered moment on the canals. In between jokes about the white velour twopiece, we debated where Mexico City ranked among our alltime favorite food moments. For me, it was better than udon in Tokyo and gambas al ajillo in Madrid. Better than wild boar regu pasta in Florence and pepian stew in Guatemala. If I ate my way across the entire globe, I don’t believe I’d find a better food destination than Mexico City, where the best taco of your life is probably just down the block, wherever you are in the city.

Mexico City.

JOSE MANUEL,

TO PARADISE Keys Keys

A quintessential guide to the Florida Keys for adventurists, Old-Florida nostalgists and solo wanderers

By MELISSA PUPPO

Above:

Take a seaplane from Little Palm Island Resort & Spa to Dry Tortugas National Park.

The Florida Keys have long promised a blend of fiery sunsets, legendary lore and mysterious habitats. When I arrived at Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, a secluded retreat off Little Torch Key, I was searching for something I couldn’t quite define. With only 30 thatched-roof bungalow suites, the resort felt worlds away from my Miami base, offering a rare calm.

As my fiance and I wandered the lush, palm-shaded grounds, the island’s quiet luxury revealed itself with every step. Later, when he returned to our bungalow to freshen up, I lingered alone, eventually settling into a hanging daybed overlooking the still, cerulean oceanfront. Seagulls skimmed the water in search of dinner, the air heavy with salt and serenity. Golden hour had cast its spell— an invitation to switch off and absorb the beauty of the moment.

Despite other guests being on the island, the scene felt suspended in time, a reminder of the simple pleasures the Florida Keys offer in abundance: tranquility, natural beauty and space to breathe. That’s the magic of this iconic chain of islands—it molds itself to every traveler’s dream. Whether you’re drawn to the charm of Old Florida, the thrill of outdoor adventure or the freedom of traveling solo, the Keys hold something special for everyone.

The following is a road map to plan your next Florida Keys adventure with everything from reimagined resorts and angling adventures to private beaches and lively Key West nights—you may find your own slice of paradise, just as I did on that swing at Little Palm Island.

For the Old-Florida Enthusiast

For those who cherish the timeless charm of the Keys—natural beauty and laid-back adventures steeped in tradition

Little Palm Island Resort & Spa

LITTLE TORCH KEY

Begin your journey to the golden age at the Shore Station on Little Torch Key, where guests sip the signature Gumby Slumber cocktail before boarding a private boat, The Truman, to a four-acre tropical paradise. Thatched-roof bungalows, swaying palms and Key deer set the stage for this exclusive escape. As a Michelin Three Key Hotel for 2024, every last detail reflects the boutique resort’s commitment to excellence. The resort’s 30 intimate suites, inspired by British West Indies design, blend vintage glamour with modern indulgences.

Think: outdoor showers, four-poster canopy beds, hammered-copper tubs and private firepits lit nightly by the concierge. Panoramic ocean views and antique touches, like rattan chairs and aged brass accents, evoke Florida’s bygone era.

Unplug completely—there are no TVs, only vintage rotary phones that connect you to personalized concierge services. Whether dining with toes in the sand or cooling off by the pool, Little Palm Island invites you to “get lost,” as the resort’s motto goes.

What To DO: Take off on a seaplane trip to Dry Tortugas National Park, located about 70 miles west of Key West, with 100 square miles of open water and a tiny outcropping of islands where history and nature collide. Wander the corridors of Fort Jefferson, snorkel through coral reefs or bask on pristine beaches. Little Palm Island’s concierge can handle the details, leaving you free to soak in the adventure.

For anglers, the Florida Keys backcountry is a world-class fishing destination. Charter a trip to chase the legendary big three—tarpon, permit and bonefish—or reel in seasonal catches with the help of an expert guide. Opt for fly-fishing or spinning rods, and set out for a four-, six- or eight-hour adventure on the flats.

Closer to the resort, Looe Key feels like a postcard from Old Florida’s underwater heyday.

Playful fish dart through coral, curious sea turtles glide by and the occasional eel weaves through the scenery. Book a private excursion or explore at your own pace by taking out one of the 13-foot Boston Whalers in the resort’s fleet available to guests. Discover hidden sandbars or drop anchor at a secluded beach. Let the concierge elevate your experience with a custom dinner on a nearby stretch of sand or a romantic sunset cruise with your favorite wine in hand.

For those who prefer unwinding on land and in luxury, the resort’s serene pool offers the perfect setting to dive into a good

This page from top: Dine on the beach at Little Palm Island Resort & Spa; Looe Key is a signature scuba diving spot for guests staying at Little Palm Island Resort & Spa.

Opposite: Casa Marina in Key West

book or recharge with poolside pampering by the attentive staff. Just steps away, SpaTerre provides a sanctuary of relaxation, blending the natural healing power of the sea with luxurious treatments like the Madrugada in-ocean sunrise massage or the organic nourishing seaweed leaf wrap.

Where to Dine: At Little Palm Island, the culinary approach is no less indulgent than the rest of the resort. The acclaimed Dining Room offers exceptional seafood, Caribbean flavors and French techniques, with panoramic water views for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For a more intimate experience, tables set on the sand invite guests to savor lobster-studded pasta and rum-spiked desserts beneath the stars, beachside.

Casa Marina KEY WEST

For a stay steeped in history, Casa Marina offers a timeless escape in Old Key West. Built in the 1920s as part of Henry Flagler’s legacy, this iconic property blends historic charm with modern luxury after a $79 million renovation. Guests enjoy easy access to Duval Street and Old Town while indulging in vibrant island-inspired rooms and suites.

Casa Marina features myriad unique dining options,

including breakfast in Flagler’s Ballroom and Papa’s Pilar rum flights at The Canary Room. The hotel’s crowning jewel is Key West’s largest private beach—1,100 feet of pristine coastline. Spend days snorkeling, jet skiing or taking dolphin tours, and try your hand at sand sculpting with award-winning resident sculptor Marianne van den Broek. Guests also enjoy access to The Reach Key West, Casa Marina’s nearby sister property.

What to Do: If you’re a foodie at heart, grab a spot with Key West Food Tours. The group offers options like The Hemingway Experience, where you’ll explore the island Papastyle, and the Historic Seaport Food & Cultural Walking Tour, featuring fresh catch straight from local waters.

Where to Dine: Book a reservation at the resort’s recently opened restaurant, Dorada, with gorgeous oceanfront views and an eclectic island-style menu underscored by BajaMediterranean fare. Or opt for a romantic dinner on the beach with your toes in the sand.

Nearby Blue Heaven, a culinary staple, is most known for its signature meringue-style Key lime pie and loitering feral chickens, and is an excellent spot to enjoy brunch, where the star is the lobster Benedict topped with a Key lime hollandaise sauce.

Marquesa Hotel KEY WEST

Amid the hustle and bustle of Key West lies Old-Florida charm at the Marquesa Hotel. You can’t miss the property, with its iconic beachy blue facade and prime corner spot in the historic district, just two blocks from Duval Street. Formerly a clothing store, corner grocery store and boarding house, it’s now the perfect perch to soak in the city’s charm, savor the flavors of the hotel’s iconic Café Marquesa and start dreaming about your return trip to the Keys.

Spend your afternoons cozying up with a book on a gingerbread-trim porch or catching some rays by one of the three

MARQUESA HOTEL, CASA MARINA, CIRCLE EYES, SHERSOR

This page from top:

The colorful Conch houses of Key West; a margarita royale cocktail from Casa Marina; Marquesa Hotel

I KEY LIME

THE FLORIDA KEYS takes its Key lime pie as seriously as its sunsets. From tangy to sweet, whipped cream to meringue and traditional to downright wild, here are 10 must-try spins on the Sunshine State’s signature dessert. pools. Café Marquesa is ideal for quaint morning breakfasts or a romantic dinner for two. The best part? You’re just steps away from the area’s best activities and nightlife if you decide to venture out and about.

What to Do: No visit to Key West is complete without a stop at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum. Wind your way through the storied residence where the Nobel Prize-winning author penned classics like “To Have and Have Not,” and don’t be afraid to pet the famous polydactyl cats who live there. For a deeper dive into Hemingway’s life and literary legacy, opt for a guided tour.

Rum enthusiasts shouldn’t miss Key West First Legal Rum Distillery, where free tours reveal the craft behind their award-winning spirits. Sample their signature blends—like the smooth Bad Bitch Rum Spanish Marie—and grab a bottle to savor or purchase one of the many gift selections.

For a one-of-a-kind experience, book the “Flamingle” encounter at the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. Meet resident flamingos Rhett and Scarlett up close, then wander the lush conservatory filled with vibrant butterflies in a tropical haven.

Where to Dine: Secure your reservation well in advance to ensure a table at Latitudes, which is an essential destination for beachfront dining. A private ferry whisks you to the restaurant, tucked away at Sunset Key Cottages. Here, you can enjoy some of Key West’s best seafood and sunset views.

For the ADVENTURIST

Designed for thrill-seekers and explorers who crave the untamed side of the Keys— dive deeper, paddle further and embrace every wild adventure

Baker’s Cay Resort

KEY LARGO

Baker’s Cay Resort is truly a haven for outdoor enthusiasts, thanks to its expansive shorelines and unmatched access to open-water adventures. Situated on 15 waterfront acres in Key Largo, Baker’s Cay Resort offers 200 rooms and suites and a seamless blend of adventure and relaxation. Its proximity to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, home to the iconic Christ of the Abyss statue, makes it a prime spot for exploring Key Largo’s underwater treasures. Guests can dive, snorkel, paddleboard, kayak, parasail, go deep-sea fishing and more.

Upper keys: High Tide KEY LARGO

From Key lime cheesecake muffins to Key lime chicken and traditional Key lime pie, this place has it covered for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Krust

TAVERNIER

This husband-and-wife team makes pizza and pies, including the Key lime kind, as well as Oreo, banana cream and more.

Green Turtle Inn ISLAMORADA

Their pie swaps the usual crust for a crunchy mix of macadamia nuts and Rice Krispies.

Middle keys: Sweet

Savannah’s MARATHON

This small-batch ice-cream shop and bakery knows how to satisfy a sweet tooth, serving Key lime scoops sandwiched between two cookies.

Burdines Waterfront

MARATHON

After Joe Mama’s Big Biker sausage sandwich, their fried Key lime pie brings an extra level of indulgence to the table.

Lower keys: Blue Heaven KEY WEST

Known for its towering “mile-high meringue,” their legendary Key lime pie has become a Sunday breakfast staple for early risers.

Moondog Café

KEY WEST

Even vegans can get in on the citrus dessert action with creamy, plant-based ingredients that will have you guessing.

Azur

KEY WEST

The brunch menu includes dangerously decadent Key lime French toast layered with slices of actual pie.

Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe

KEY

WEST

Famous for its classic Key lime pie, which can be shipped anywhere in the nation, Kermit’s also has frozen chocolate-dipped pie on a stick and an assortment of citrusy creations.

Café Marquesa

KEY WEST

Is a standout with its traditional pie and a cocktail version, the KLT (Key lime tini) is for those with a sophisticated palate.

This spread from left: Situated on 15 waterfront acres in Key Largo, Baker’s Cay Resort offers 200 rooms and suites and a seamless blend of adventure and relaxation; seaplanes make it easy to travel between islands; locals and visitors flock to the Florida Keys for its turquoise waters.

On land, ride a beach cruiser along scenic trails or unwind in beach chairs by the bay. Dining options include Calusa, with panoramic views of Florida Bay that pair perfectly with tropical-inspired American cuisine. For a low-key affair, tuck into the hideaway cove bar Dry Rocks for Mexican cuisine and live music on the weekends. Here, savor signature Baker’s Cay Patrón reposado and anejo under the guidance of the hotel’s certified tequila connoisseurs. By day’s end, your final adventure can always culminate with a ritual sunset Champagne toast.

What to Do: Wade into the heart of real Florida with a trip to Everglades National Park, just an hour away. Drive the nearly 40-mile Main Park Road to Flamingo, the southernmost district of the park, for private backcountry fishing excursions (Deep South Fishing Charters is a favorite), kayaking, biking, bay tours and more. Find sustenance, a marina and a place to stay the night in the heart of the Glades at the Flamingo Lodge.

For a more chill adventure, with adult beverages involved, take a two-hour sunset water tiki cruise through Florida Bay’s uninhabited mangrove islands. With a captain at the helm, sip a cocktail, soak in breezy tunes and enjoy the scenic journey back to Baker’s Cay.

Where to Dine: Key Largo Fisheries, near mile marker 100, has been a local institution since 1972, famed for its fresh seafood and stone crabs. Watch as fishing boats unload their catch—lobster, shrimp and mahi-mahi—straight into ice-filled market displays. Then, savor your meal al fresco, overlooking the marina.

For a taste of local charm, head to the family-owned Key Largo Conch House, a bungalow-style eatery renowned for its golden, crispy conch fritters. Pair them with a No Wake Zone Coconut Keylime Ale for the ultimate Keys combo.

Cheeca Lodge & Spa ISLAMORADA

This 27-acre luxury resort is a paradise for anglers, steeped in a rich fishing tradition that has drawn adventurers for generations. At its heart is a 525-foot fishing pier—one of the longest in the Florida Keys—so it’s no surprise that Cheeca Lodge & Spa hosts thrilling fishing charters and yearly tournaments, like the All American Backcountry Fishing Tournament held in November. With world-class amenities, it’s a premier destination for anglers chasing their next big catch.

Score a few fish on your charter? Back in Key Largo, the Baker’s Cay culinary team is happy to prepare your fresh catch for dinner as part of their Dock to Dish program.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park offers opportunities to snorkel or dive in the country’s first underwater park. Prefer to stay dry? Glide over vibrant marine life on a glass-bottom boat tour.

Wander miles of private white sand beaches, soak in the sunshine at one of three pools and enjoy award-winning on-site dining options, like Atlantic’s Edge, Cheeca’s flagship restaurant known for its tropically inspired menu.

Unwind after a day of adventures at the signature Spa at Cheeca Lodge, hidden among the lush foliage and bougainvilleas. Treatments like the indulgent caviar facial or 100-minute therapeutic deep-tissue massage beckon. For extra pampering, add on a CBD scalp massage, gemstone collagen mask or dry brushing exfoliation.

What to Do: During regular lobster season (August–March), grab your mask, snorkel, gloves and a trusty tickle stick, and swim along sandy bottoms and rocky crevices in search of spiny lobsters—the region’s tastiest treasures. For those new to the crustacean hunt, local outfitters like Forever Young Charter Company offer expert guides to share tips on luring these rock lobsters into your net.

Dive into the thrill of Islamorada Dive Center’s shark encounters, where you’ll get up close to local, friendly sharks. As you descend into their underwater world, you’ll witness these proficient predators glide effortlessly through coral reefs. For an extra adventure, enroll in a PADI Aware shark conservation specialty course and help protect these incredible creatures.

The Keys are a kiteboarding paradise, where shallow waters and steady winds cater to all skill levels. Curious first-timers to the sport can find lessons at Otherside Boardsports.

Where to Dine: Start your day at Mangrove Mike’s, a local favorite now run by Mike’s niece. Dig into hearty classics like the seafood Benedict and cinnamon roll French toast served in a cozy, laid-back setting.

While casual eats reign supreme in the Keys, the fine-dining outpost Chef Michael’s serves up fresh catches, like petite lionfish “Creole” and snowy grouper, along with signature dishes such as roast duck and grilled prime New York strip steak.

Three Waters Resort & Marina ISLAMORADA

Adventure seekers heading to the sportfishing capital of the world will find the perfect match at the reimagined Three Waters Resort & Marina. This expansive property merges the former Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina with Pelican Cove Resort & Marina, offering a vibrant mix of activities. The full-service marina runs daily offshore and backcountry charters, while nine dining spots cater to every craving.

Novice anglers can try their hand at fly casting or lobstering with expert guidance. Explore hidden coves on a guided Jet Ski tour. Even the resort’s complimentary Rum Runner water taxi feels like part of the adventure, connecting you to its sister properties—Amara Cay Resort and La Siesta Resort & Villas. After a busy day of surf and sand, reprieve in your island-inspired room with some suites opening directly onto the sandy beach.

What to Do: Robbie’s of Islamorada is a quintessential Keys experience. Watch the world-famous tarpon feeding from the docks or grab a bucket of fish to feed them yourself. Beyond the docks, hop aboard the Captain Michael party fishing boat for a group trip to reel in snapper, grouper or mackerel. Afterward, browse the open-air market or dine at the Hungry Tarpon restaurant, where the kitchen staff will cook the fish caught aboard the Captain Michael.

Head to Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park to explore 8-foot quarry walls of fossilized coral and Key Largo limestone. Hike five short trails and soak in the island’s natural beauty.

Where to Dine: Islamorada Pizza Co. at the resort offers seven hearty pies, including the Carnivore and mushroom-topped Nonna. In spring 2025, Wood-Fired Fare is expected to debut with a crackling hearth for searing, grilling and charring, featuring shellfish towers and fresh fish, with the option to cook your own catch.

Off-property, the tiki-inspired Islamorada Fish Company serves its classic fish dip alongside sweeping views of Florida Bay or visit Islamorada Brewery & Distillery, the Keys’s only brewery-distillery, for craft beers and small-batch spirits.

For the

SOLO TRAVELER

Whether you’re seeking solitude or eager to connect with fellow adventurers, the Florida Keys offers the perfect escape for the independent explorer.

Isla Bella Beach Resort MARATHON

Looking for a getaway where the only distractions are the sound of the ocean lapping up on the beach or the attentive

staff catering to your every need? Isla Bella Beach Resort offers just that. Wander a private, mile-long coastline, discover quiet spots to read or unwind by one of five oceanfront pools.

Wake up to stunning sunrises from your balcony, then retreat to a bright, airy room with thoughtful touches like rainfall showers. Start your day at The Marketplace, where you can grab freshly brewed coffee, shop curated gifts or sign up for daily adventures.

Whether you’re relaxing on the pier in Adirondack chairs, sipping drinks at the beach bar or dining at Sushi Cabana, Isla Bella offers the perfect balance of peace and indulgence. Be sure to book a coconut milk and honey body treatment at The Spa for the ultimate unwind.

What to Do: Join other Isla Bella guests and the Conch Republic Marine Army for a complimentary outing to restore mangrove habitats, and have fun spotting manatees from aboard the cleanup boat while you’re at it.

Take the Pigeon Key Express train to the “tiny island under the Old 7 Mile Bridge,” where you can explore the original bridge’s construction and feed sharks in the saltwater pool.

For a closer look at wildlife, head to the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. Early mornings or late afternoons offer the best chance to spot the elusive Key deer. Don’t miss the Blue Hole trail, where you might see a resident alligator—one of the most reliable places in the Keys to spot them.

Where to Dine: Guests rave about booking a sunset dinner at Mahina, the Polynesian-inspired restaurant at Isla Bella. Savor mahi-mahi and ahi poke, then head to the sand for a stunning photo with a gorgeous backdrop.

Off-property, Keys Fisheries, known for its lobster Reubens, offers fresh seafood in a no-frills atmosphere along the water. Order by naming your favorite superhero or answering other fun prompts from the staff—part of the quirky charm.

Ocean Key Resort & Spa

KEY WEST

Solo travel doesn’t have to mean time alone. Ocean Key Resort places you at the center of Key West’s action with its prime location at 0 Duval Street. Nestled between Key West Harbor and Mallory Square, the property is perfectly positioned for spectacular sunsets—best enjoyed from your balcony or the Liquid Pool Bar & Lounge.

The resort’s colorful, hand-painted furnishings and tropical details embody the vibrant spirit of the Keys. Every room and suite feature stunning views of the Gulf, harbor or Old Town Key West, with some outfitted with oversized Jacuzzis for an added element of fun.

Need to unwind? Head to SpaTerre for the tropical essence massage, which includes a brown sugar and Tahitian shell body polish and organic coconut melt.

What to Do: Snap a photo at the Southernmost Point Buoy, one of Key West’s most recognizable spots, marking the

island’s southern tip just 90 miles from Cuba.

Bike your way through historic downtown with stops at the Key West Garden Club, Smathers Beach or the Historic Key West City Cemetery.

In the mood for a classic rum runner or Hemingway daiquiri? Belly up to the hotel bar for a chat with friendly staff and locals who know where to find the best pours in town. Aside from the obvious mainstays like Sloppy Joe’s and Hog’s Breath Saloon, favorite watering holes include Tipsy Rooster Liquor Store and Bar, The Rum Bar and Hemingway Rum Company.

Where to Dine: Ocean Key’s iconic Sunset Pier, with its colorful umbrellas and stools, is a must-visit. Enjoy classic Keys fare like peel-and-eat Key West pink shrimp and seafood tacos, all while soaking in daily live music.

For some of the city’s best sunset views and prime people-watching, head to Hot Tin Roof, the hotel’s signature restaurant led by Chef Scott Maurer, who celebrates 10 years at the restaurant this year. Named after Tennessee Williams’s play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” its menu is inspired by the flavors of the Keys, Cuba and the Caribbean.

The beauty of the Florida Keys lies in its ability to offer something unique for every traveler. For me, it was the unforgettable moment on that hanging daybed at Little Palm Island Resort, watching golden hour transform the sky. For you, it might be the solitude of solo travel, reeling in a big catch on a charter or uncovering a hidden piece of Old-Florida history. Now, close your eyes and picture the possibilities—then start planning your Florida Keys escape.

This spread from left: Spend the morning lounging in a pool cabana at Ocean Key Resort & spa; the boardwalk at Ocean Key offers a lively spot to dine; the Keys is a sportsman’s playground with some of the best fishing in the world.

Land

In a State full of theme parks and manufactured magic, an authentic Florida treasure remains. lost

By CRAIG PITTMAN

/// Illustration by JULES OZAETA & MARCIA MOORE

This spread: An illustration of Mound A at Crystal River Archaeological State Park.

When I reached Crystal River Archaeological State Park, I threw my car into a space and immediately set off striding toward the highest spot for miles around. The day was cool and clear—perfect for pretending to be on a trip into the distant past. I passed lots of families strolling around the park, the children chattering with excitement, while I made a beeline for my objective.

Minutes later, I stood by the first of the steps leading to the top of what’s known as Temple Mound A. I took a deep breath and started to climb.

A 51-step staircase allows visitors to scale the top of the temple mound, if they haven’t neglected leg day at the gym. It’s Florida’s version of the Egyptian Pyramids—almost as ancient, only not quite as tall.

When I made it to the top, huffing and puffing a little from the climb, I found two others who’d gone ahead of me. One was sitting down to catch his breath after such an ordeal. The other man was on his feet and eagerly snapping photos, astounded at how far he could see. I imagine the view hasn’t changed all that much from when this earthen mound at Crystal River Archaeological State Park was first erected thousands of years ago. But like many of Florida’s authentic treasures, the hallowed perch was almost lost to modern man’s shortsightedness.

STORIED LANDS

As U.S. 19 rolls through the landscape north of Tampa, it passes by some quintessential Florida attractions you won’t find anywhere else.

You’ll see some impressive fakery. There’s Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, which has made its name paying performers to put on phony tails and swim around acting like mermaids. You’ll see the historic gas station that’s made to look like a fake dinosaur in Spring Hill. Then there’s a ginormous manatee statue at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. The park is also the home of Lu the hippo, an official citizen of Florida despite his kind being from somewhere far away.

But if you want to feast your eyes on something truly authentic, turn in at the sign for Crystal River Archaeological State Park, one of the most interesting places to visit in Florida.

This 61-acre riverfront site just off U.S. 19 contains six pre-Columbian burial and temple mounds. It was one of the longest continuously occupied locations in Florida. Is it any wonder that it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1990?

In 2023, Crystal River Archaeological State Park drew 40,961 visitors, but there should be a lot more. Elissa Hofelt of the Citrus County Visitors Bureau called it “a hidden gem, because not a lot of people know about it. It’s absolutely gorgeous … The top of the mound is one of my favorite spots in Citrus County. The panoramic views are so relaxing and fabulous.”

She said her organization recently played host to the leader of a German travel agent group who was touring the region. She

Above: Temple Mound

enjoyed seeing Crystal River’s best-known attraction—manatees—but what really wowed her was Crystal River Archaeological State Park.

“I showed her around the park, and she was enthralled,” Hofelt said.

Scientists feel the same way.

“It’s a really unusual site,” said Thomas Pluckhahn, a University of South Florida anthropologist who’s done extensive research on Crystal River’s mounds. “There aren’t many such sites in as good a shape.”

No one knows for sure why the occupants chose that location for habitation, he said. But there are theories. No one had built roads back then, so the site’s proximity to Crystal River probably made travel by canoe up and down the coast easier. Boat access to the Gulf of Mexico was easy from there, too.

Plus, the river and its adjacent coastal marsh provided access to the seafood the inhabitants primarily dined on. “Also,” he said, “it’s kind of a junction between trading routes.”

WITHOUT A TRACE

Not only was this site occupied for more than 1,000 years, but the evidence shows people traveled thousands of miles to visit Crystal River every year.

They did not stop in for souvenir T-shirts, roller-coaster rides and funny postcards, the way we moderns do with our theme parks. Back then, visitors came to conduct trade, celebrate events and bury their dead.

“People traveled to the complex from great distances,” the state park’s website says. “It is estimated that as many as 7,500 Native Americans may have visited the complex every year.” Meanwhile, roughly 100 lived there year-round.

We don’t know a lot about those visitors. Nor do we know much about the villagers who received them, except that they “were kind of like cultural brokers—middlemen in the trade between regions,” Pluckhahn said.

They had no written language to record their hopes, their dreams and the details of their trade. They left us no books or tablets that described what life was like here before the current 23 million residents showed up, although it’s obvious that the traffic was better and housing more affordable.

Those early inhabitants and their unusual home on Crystal River did inspire bestselling Florida science fiction and fantasy author Piers Anthony’s novel “Tatham Mound.” The book is about a young warrior on a mission to unite the tribes of Florida and Central America against explorer Hernando de Soto and the invading conquistadors. But Anthony’s timing is off, because this site pre-dates the Spanish arrival.

Radiocarbon dates from the lowermost levels in recent excavations suggest that people began to live at Crystal River sometime around 500 B.C. Other on-site evidence suggests that groups had congregated at the site to participate in ceremonies for hundreds of years before that and then began staying there for longer intervals until they made it a permanent settlement.

Then, between A.D. 200 and 300, the village expanded greatly in size and permanence. But eventually, hundreds of years after it first began, perhaps around A.D. 970., the settlement faded from existence for no obvious reason.

The villagers were gone by the time de Soto and the other tin-hatted Spanish explorers arrived in Florida. Their buildings, likely made of some sort of wood, rotted away from exposure to the elements.

What they left behind for future generations was buried in the earth.

Above: Wildlife native to the Crystal River area include bald eagles, deer, black bears and manatees.

PAVED PARADISE

You don’t have to be an Indiana Jones fan to enjoy the park. You can do things that have nothing to do with archaeology.

Just ask Sandra Friend, who, along with her husband, operates the “Florida Hikes!” website. She said the park and its walking paths—one of which is 7 miles long—are “one of the places we consider ‘don’t-miss.’” Anglers can catch either saltwater or freshwater fish, because the park sits on the edge of an expansive coastal marsh, as well as the Crystal River. The park is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail, so it offers birdwatchers the chance to observe a variety of species. It’s popular with people who are into geocaching, too. For avid walkers, there are lots of hiking trails. It’s even a nice place to dine outdoors.

“There are picnic tables right on the river,” Hofelt said. But by far the biggest reason to visit is to see—and to scale— the most impressive mound, the one known as Temple Mound A. Its summit is the highest point in Citrus County, Hofelt said. Its great height made it “a symbol of grandeur that would impress visitors,” notes a display at the park. The mound was

made of more than 300,000 cubic feet of shells, which should give you some idea of how much seafood the inhabitants consumed. Scientists estimate that it took them nearly 20 years to build the mound.

Originally, the high mound was 30 feet tall, 182 feet long and 100 feet wide at the base, with an 80-foot-long ramp to the top. Unfortunately, after the mound stood proudly intact for 10 centuries, one of the clueless 20th-century owners of the site excavated two-thirds of Mound A.

Pluckhahn said some of the shells were used for road building, but by the early 1960s, the owner had used some of the mound’s contents as fill. They put it in the marshy area to the east to build a dry base for development of a mobile home park. Feel free to roll your eyes at the thought of putting in a mobile home park on such a prestigious site with such a rich history. Park officials and scientists protested the damage, but the owner told the Ocala newspaper he had “every right in the world to act as he did.”

But wait, it gets worse.

“A tall fence obstructed part of the mound,” Pluckhahn

Above: Archaeologists suspect the mounds were a place of regional trade, drawing 7,500 visitors annually.

Opposite: A map of the Crystal River Archaeological State Park sites

said. “The family that owned it had plans to build an even bigger mobile home park, one with a marina.” They wanted to dredge the river for a deeper swimming area and even turn the top of the mound into a shaded patio-like resting place for residents.

But when the “Storm of the Century” hit in 1993, it virtually demolished the mobile home park, he said. There was little left but the concrete pads the mobile homes sat on. The state bought the 7-acre parcel in 1997 to add to the park and finally tore down the fence.

River. The eminent Florida archaeologist Jerald T. Milanich called the view from here one of his favorites.

For the original inhabitants, the mound provided a lookout point from which they could keep watch for intruders. But Temple Mound A probably had a more ritualistic purpose.

“Picture a ceremony held atop this mound, with the people on the ground below watching, in awe of the story being told,” the park’s website said. “Think about the possibility of a large structure on this mound serving as a meeting hall for the local leaders. Envision how this imposing structure would have filled the inhabitants with pride at the power and wealth of their society.”

Today, of course, there’s no structure up top, other than a large wooden platform and a couple of benches for the folks who become worn out from climbing all those steps. But there’s no obstruction to viewing everything below, with 360 degrees of visibility.

The mound still has some ceremonial uses. The park advertises that couples can rent out the top of Temple Mound A for weddings. “The temple mound platform has seating for 10,” the website notes, “but has enough standing room for 20.”

CURIOUS GOPHER

Several of the other mounds in the park were used for burials. Those were the ones that most interested the first 20th-century visitor, Clarence B. Moore, to explore the site.

Moore was a wealthy amateur archaeologist from Philadelphia. He had his own steamboat, which he used for venturing along the rivers of the South looking for undiscovered archaeological treasures.

There aren’t many such sites in as good a shape.

Thomas Pluckhahn

“It was named The Gopher because he used it to go dig stuff up,” explained Nancy White, a USF anthropologist who has written extensively on both Moore and Florida’s mounds and middens. “He wanted beautiful artifacts, as well as information about past ways of life, so he went to Sopchoppy and hired a crew of Black men. They would … do the digging for him.”

Despite the loss of some of its height, the amount of Temple Mound A that remains will wow anyone used to perpetually flat Florida. From such an elevated vantage point, visitors can see for miles. You can also gaze down on the same tidal creek that provided the original inhabitants with all those shells and watch the boat traffic on Crystal

Moore first showed up in Crystal River in 1903 to dig for clues to Florida’s past, then returned twice more because he found it such a rich location for his work. He mapped the entire site. It was his idea to designate each mound with a letter, the system still in use today.

“Moore mapped the relative distances and orientations of

Temple MOUND H

Temple MOUND A

Midden MOUND K

Visitor’s Center Museum

Burial MOUND G

Midden MOUND J

Burial MOUND C

Burial MOUND F

Stele II

Stele I

these mounds with astonishing accuracy, given the simple map ping technology of the day, as well as the dense vegetation that covered the site at the time of his visit,” a scientific paper co-written by Pluckhahn notes.

Because Temple Mound A contained nothing but shells, he didn’t spend much time on it. Instead, he focused on the places more likely to hold unusual items from the bygone civilization. His crew’s excavations of the burial mounds produced the artifacts for which the Crystal River site would become wellknown among archaeologists.

“Textbooks frequently mentioned this site when they were published in the ’50s,’” Pluckhahn said. Moore, on the other hand, does not enjoy such a stellar modern reputation.

“Some people think he was just a looter because his methods were different from the ones we use today,” White said.

That is a common complaint about early archaeologists, she said, but Moore deserves to be held in higher esteem. She explained: “The difference between him and the other amateur archaeologists of the day is that Moore published his results.”

He took careful notes on where his crew went and what they found there, White said. His notebooks are a treasure trove for modern scholars.

Moore excavated a copper panpipe and shell ornaments, one in the shape of a flower with petals. The copper and meteoric iron ornaments he found were strikingly similar to ones

This page from top: Arrowheads, pottery and oyster shells can be found at the site; the Crytsal River Archaeological State Park is located on the Crystal River.

found in the Ohio River Valley, showing the extent of the trade among these ancient civilizations.

He also found a panther jaw and the modified teeth of bears and other carnivores. Those may be parts of masks used in religious ceremonies.

SET IN STONE

Three Citrus County families donated the Crystal River mounds to the state in 1962. During the work preparing it to become a park, archaeologists discovered two limestone monuments just 75 yards east of the main burial complex.

These stones were believed by archaeologist Ripley P. Bullen to be “stelae,” which are carved or inscribed stone slabs or pillars used by ancient peoples for commemorative purposes. Bullen believed the first stele was a ceremonial stone, one purposely erected for ceremonial and celestial purposes.

One of them carries an image of a human carved into it. Bullen believed that the human form was of great significance. He contended it was like other carved stones found at pre-Columbian sites in Mexico, Central America and South America. But modern archaeologists are quick to point out that there’s no evidence of a connection between the two far-flung cultures. Further explorations of the first stone uncovered stone chips and food remains near it, which suggest that offerings were left

there for the dead. The other stone seems more mysterious in purpose. It was clearly shaped by human tools and set upright, but its purpose remains obscure.

“We can only guess at its uses and significance to the people who formed it,” the park’s website says. “These pieces of rock offer us a rare and exciting insight into some of Florida’s first peoples.”

Since then, a third possible stele has turned up as well.

Calculations by modern archaeologists have found that these stone markers may have been used to record the position of the rising sun at the winter solstice.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

Most of Moore’s discoveries went to a museum in Philadelphia for display. Eventually, the museum decided to sell off Moore’s artifacts, White said. They wound up in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, but they’re no longer on display to the public, she said.

After the state took control of the Crystal River property, someone in charge came up with the bright idea of creating a way to walk through one of the burial mounds.

While passing through, you could look through a clear window at the remaining skeletons Moore had left untouched, White said. The interest in the education of the public overrode any concern about good taste or cultural sensitivity. Native Americans complained about how offensive that was, so the state eliminated that feature of the park, she said.

A much better educational feature constructed at the park is the Crystal River Archaeological Museum, opened to the public in 1965. Designed by architects David Reaves and Dan Branch of Gainesville, the museum is considered a historically significant example of midcentury modern architecture. The state park website says the design’s “attention to detail in the look and layout combined practicality with visions of majesty … Look closely and you may be able to imagine how the design mimics the flat-topped temple mound features at the site.” Plus, it notes, “the design incorporated floor-to-ceiling windows, optimizing the use of natural light inside of the structure while allowing guests to experience unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape.”

the museum from river flooding events during major storms. Allow yourself plenty of time to tour the museum, because in addition to the exhibits, there’s a room where visitors can see a film about the park and its significance. The museum offers visitors a comprehensive education in what’s been found at the park and who found it. However, some of the items it held when it first opened are no longer there for visitors to enjoy.

His methods were different from the ones we use today. Nancy

White

In 2005, someone stole more than a dozen arrowheads and a ceremonial knife from the museum. The thief or thieves broke in through a side door and didn’t touch any other items in the nine exhibit areas.

“They knew what they were after,” the park manager at the time told reporters.

It was built before air conditioning was a standard feature of Florida construction, so it was positioned to capture the breezes that track the contour of Crystal River. The building sits on a base of sand, with the additional elevation preserving

The break-in led to a decision to use as many replicas as possible in the displays, instead of the real artifacts unearthed by Moore and others.

It’s the one phony element of this authentic treasure.

Above: Crytsal River Archaeological Museum opened in 1965 and is an exmple of midcentury modern architecture designed by David Reaves and Dan Branch.

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sunny dispatches from NW FLA

Panhandling

By Prissy Elrod • Illustration by Stephen Lomazzo

Doggone it, Poochie!

Prissy Elrod pulls together a city-wide hunt for the family’s Havanese.

The July heat in Tallahassee was relentless, like the sun was waging war. Around 7:30 p.m., my daughter Garrett was in the yard, battling weeds in her flower bed, sweat dripping. Nearby, her frail 15-year-old Havanese, Poochie—deaf, half-blind and barely 4 pounds—sniffed the grass. Moments later, Garrett noticed Poochie pawing at the front

door and thought, “One of the kids will let her in.” An hour later and her pup’s scratching forgotten, she gave up on the weeds and went inside for a shower. At 9:00 p.m., when Garrett went to feed Poochie, she discovered she wasn’t snuggled in her bed or underfoot of anyone. She wasn’t anywhere inside the house. Panic set in.

“Who let her in?” she demanded, her voice sharp as she glared at her husband and children.

They all looked up in unison, their faces blank with confusion. Three pairs of wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights stares met hers, along with a half-hearted mumble from one of the kids: “We didn’t hear her.”

And just like that, the fragile calm of the evening shattered. The family leaped into action. Garrett and her husband, Mike, grabbed flashlights and scoured the

neighborhood, calling out for Poochie into the humid night. The kids split up, their voices breaking as they yelled. Then, a storm rolled in. A dog who had never been alone was now caught in rain and lightning. As hours passed with no sign of her, they turned to social media, posting pleas and contacting everyone—except me, just a mile away. They didn’t want to worry me. Or they weren’t ready to deal with a mother who would recount a tale of saving her own poodle, Puddles. Years earlier, I was told she would die after contracting parvo. Never one to accept a grim diagnosis, I was determined she would live. So, on a cold New Year’s Eve, she and I were airlifted from Tallahassee to Gainesville, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit at the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital. Four days later, she was discharged, as good as new. I became a believer in miracles, not just for her life but my own after my husband got that medical bill and let me live. I’m sure my girls were fearful of how I would manage the news of a disappearing Poochie.

Panhandling

sunny dispatches from NW FLA

Neighbors left food and water at the curb, and one even set up a trail camera. The entire community rallied like this was the Academy Awards of missing dogs.

Then came Lynda, a true Hallmark hero. She appeared out of nowhere with a walking stick, bug spray, water and boundless determination. Every day, Lynda combed the woods, braving heat, ticks and exhaustion, never giving up. She lifted our spirits with drinks from Tropical Smoothie Cafe and cheered us on as if Poochie were her own.

Our hope spiked when trackers arrived with dogs. One dog picked up Poochie’s scent but lost it within a mile. A second tracker with two

overwhelming, heartwarming and exhausting. Then Poochie went viral. The posts were shared far beyond Tallahassee, reaching into Georgia and Alabama. A cross-country team ran through the wooded trails calling her name. It was a testament to the goodness of people— as well as a show of collective desperation. “Good” was the only theme … until it wasn’t.

POOCHIE PRANKS

I knew Florida’s wildlife could fall into the horror genre.

—PRISSY ELROD

The next morning, my phone rang. Garrett’s hoarse, panicked voice broke the news, “Mom, Poochie’s gone!” And just like that, I was swept into what we later called Poochie’s Saga—the good, the bad and the ugly.

On the Hunt

Garrett’s childhood friend, Courtney, and my younger daughter, Sara, swooped in like heroes. Through Facebook, Courtney found a retired FBI agent turned volunteer dog tracker—yes, an actual canine Sherlock Holmes. The instructed suggestions: Grill something smoky to lure Poochie. Leave her bed outside as a beacon, and scatter Garrett-scented clothes around the yard. Absurd? Sure. Did we question it? Not a chance. Within hours, Garrett launched a full-scale rescue operation. Two hundred glossy posters of Poochie’s face plastered mailboxes across a 4-mile radius, joined by six large yard signs. Local businesses broke policies to display flyers.

dogs had no better luck. Desperate, Garrett and Mike turned to a thermal drone operator, but it found only raccoons, no little white Havanese dogs. Undeterred, Garrett and her sister Sara scoured the streets with night vision goggles and searched ponds and woods late into the night.

Meanwhile, I visited three different shelters and begged them to let me see their captured animals. It was like I was trying to break into a bank vault. “I’m sorry, we don’t have your dog, you can’t go back there,” she said curtly. “Please just let me peek, you can’t be sure,” I begged. “We are. I have a flyer with her photo—we’re sure, ma’am.” And with that I had a meltdown in the animal shelter parking lot.

The saga continued as Mike, a seasoned hunter, set traps inside the sprawling 1,176 acres of Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, though we doubted Poochie’s tiny legs would carry her that far. He checked them two times a day, and every night. Strangers, united by a love for dogs, poured out time, resources and outreach. It was

Along came the “bad” in the name of scammers. They descended like mosquitoes, each one crueler than the last. “We have your dog, call her name,” said a voice from an unknown caller. Garrett, desperate, would shout, “Poochie!” into the phone. Laughter and a hang-up followed. One scammer, posing as a vet tech, claimed Poochie had been hit by a car and needed emergency surgery. They demanded $1,200 via Venmo. The cruelty was staggering, the family heartbroken. They stopped answering calls.

I tried to comfort everyone with my ongoing gibberish. “Maybe Poochie knew it was her time,” I said gently. “She didn’t want to burden you with another goodbye.” Garrett nodded as she listened, but her face said, ‘Yeah, OK, Mom.’ Later, she called me in a whisper. “Do you think something … ate her?”

“GOD, NO!” I practically shouted. But I knew Florida’s wildlife could fall into the horror genre. But no, I still do not, Garrett!

REWARDS AND REUNIONS

Weeks turned into months. Summer faded into fall, and still there was no Poochie. Leads turned into dead-ends, hope into resignation. Five months after her disappearance, the story took another strange turn. While Garrett and Mike were in New York City, a stranger called claiming to have found Poochie. Skeptical, Garrett asked for proof. The video showed a dirty, matted dog that looked like Poochie.

Mike even spoke with the man and thought it might be true. Garrett called Sara, asking her to meet the man in a Steak ’n Shake parking lot. Sara’s husband was furious. “Are you trying to land her in a Dateline episode?” he fumed. Fearless as ever, Sara went anyway. In broad daylight, of course.When she arrived, it was clear—the dog wasn’t Poochie. The stranger didn’t want her, so Sara called Garrett again. “It’s not Poochie, but you’re getting her anyway,” she said.

Sara spent hours driving the dog to multiple closed vets until, finally, one across town was open. It was the same vet that had microchipped the dog four years earlier. The clinic called the owner repeatedly with no answer. “If they don’t respond by 4:30, she’s yours,” the vet told Garrett in a phone call. Garrett left her card on file to cover the dog’s vaccinations and grooming and even sent the stranger a Venmo reward. “It’s not Poochie, but rescuing another dog is worth it,” I told her. But just as Sara arrived to pick up the cleaned-up pup, the rightful owners showed up.

Then, a week before Christmas, a call came. It wasn’t about Poochie, but a new beginning. A 12-week-old Havanese, a Poochie look-alike in Ocala, needed a home. Garrett hesitated for barely a second before saying “yes.” Two days later, a little bundle of fur joined their family. The sixth pet in my life to start with the letter P—after Phillipe, Prudence, Puddles, Pooh and Poochie—they named her “Poppy.” Forgive me if I can’t remember that for a while.

Poochie’s story is a tapestry of the good, the bad and the ugly. The good? An outpouring of love from strangers and friends. The bad? The heartbreak and cruelty of those who exploit others’ pain. The ugly? Life doesn’t always tie up with a neat bow. Poochie is gone.

Poppy didn’t replace Poochie, but she reminded us of a simple truth: When one door closes, another opens— sometimes after five months and countless tears.

And Garrett? Well, she learned a lasting lesson: Never assume someone else let the dog inside the house.

Florida-native Prissy Elrod is an author, professional speaker, artist and humorist. She was born and raised in Lake City and now spends her time in the Panhandle in Tallahassee with her husband, Dale. She has authored two nonfiction books: “Far Outside the Ordinary” and “Chasing Ordinary,” the sequel.

— favorites, flings & Finer things —

ON THE FLY

— DESIGN DISTRICT —

For Brillhart Architecture, design is in their nature.

grove stand

Chef Pushkar Marathe’s culinary kingdom

— BIRD’S-EYE VIEW —

Casual, cool and cosmo in Ft. Lauderdale

— FLORIDA WILD —

This Everglades resident is hiding in plain sight.

— FLORIDIANA —

Tradition in the front, party in the back

— THE TIDE —

Weiner winners and barbecue dinners, plus 20 other events

This page:

The view from Melissa and Jacob Brillhart’s Bahamian home, Brillhut. Read about the Miami-based architects on page 100.

ON THE FLY: GROVE STAND

SEASON’S EATINGS

By Nila Do Simon

Chef Pushkar Marathe of Stage Came from INdia dreaming of starting his own restaurant. now he’ll have four.

Pushkar’s Palate

This page: Chef Pushkar Marathe serves food inspired by his global training and Indian roots.

INPushkar Marathe’s latest dream, he is living on a farm with his wife and son. There, with a backdrop of wide-open acres and unspoiled weather, the James Beard Award semifinalist is growing fresh fruits and vegetables, and raising chickens whose eggs help feed the family and their friends. Cossetted by thickets of bamboo trees in this dream, Marathe imagines hosting dinners by invitation three times a week during the five months out of the year that the farm would be open.

Today, walking through the lettuce-lined rows on Kai-Kai Farm in rural Indiantown, just west of Jupiter, his fingers outstretched to touch the leaves, Marathe is as close as he has ever been to realizing that dream. At the vegetable and fruit farm Kai-Kai, he is happy, looking over the vegetation that will eventually make its way into his three restaurants.

“This is where it all starts,” he says.

On this quiet Monday morning, Marathe leans over to touch the broccolini, sweet and earthy, some of the best that the chef has ever tasted. He’s joined on this walk by Kai-Kai co-owner Diane Cordeau, who he considers as much a friend as an associate.

“Are you going to send me more broccolini

this time?” the chef teases.

“I’ll see what I can do,” replies Cordeau, who runs the 40-acre farm and entertainment venue with her husband, Carl.

Marathe, 40, has long come into his own as a chef. Born in India, where he cooked with his parents and grandmother, he has become one of South Florida’s premier ambassadors to a different category of cuisine that is both avantgarde and familial, complex yet unpretentious. Take his first restaurant Stage (pronounced: staahj) in Palm Beach Gardens, opened in 2020. Informed by his his years living in countries like Switzerland, Qatar, the Cayman Islands and the United States, and befriending expats from places like Albania and Portugal, Stage features an international menu. Here, the classic French dish chicken liver pate is on the same menu as the Middle East-born hummus, Southern shrimp and grits, Italian cavatelli and Spanish patatas bravas with Indian naan.

The U.S. audience has taken note, too. In 2023, he was a James Beard Award Best Chef: South semifinalist. Along with partner Andy Dugard, Marathe has also opened the nearby Ela Curry & Cocktails and Mango Mercado. And the two plan to open a second Stage in Boca Raton in early 2025. For those who are counting, that makes four restaurants in five years.

If Marathe’s past dreams are indicative of reality, then his farm dream might very well come true. After all, it was Marathe, a boy from India, who wished nearly 20 years ago to open a restaurant in the United States.

As a child, Marathe and his family moved

This page, Clockwise: An assortment of dishes from Ela Curry & Cocktails; Chef Pushkar Marathe; lamb samosas from Ela Curry & Cocktails

ON THE FLY: GROVE STAND

SEASON’S EATINGS

around India because his father was a mechanic in the Indian Air Force. Living throughout the subcontinent exposed Marathe to all types of regional cuisine, each one more different from the other. Then, at 20 years old, after studying hospitality, Marathe decided he wanted to be a chef. He dove right in, booking a oneway flight to Zurich, Switzerland, to study the culinary craft.

Why Switzerland? “Because it was landlocked,” Marathe explains. After two decades

platter of smoked salmon waiting for him in his room. He had never had it before, so the hopeful chef tried it—and hated it.

“But I saw that people like it, so it must be good, and I vowed that I will learn to like it, and I actually do,” Marathe says. “Now, I can make amazing smoked salmon.”

After training in Switzerland, Marathe came to Fort Lauderdale in 2008 to cook under the renowned Chef Dean Max at his seafood-centric restaurant 3030 Ocean. While working

I love it when they tell me that it reminds them of their grandma’s food. —PUSHKAR MARATHE

of living in India, he was attracted to the idea of being surrounded by multiple cultures on all sides of the European country. It was Marathe’s chance to go outside his comfort zone and into others’, like with food. On the day he arrived in Zurich, Marathe found a

under Max, Maranthe worked with a lineup of soon-to-be all-star chefs, including eventual “Top Chef” winner Jeremy Ford, James Beard Foundation-recognized Paula DaSilva and Michelin-awarded chef Niven Patel, each one pushing each other in their respective careers.

It was his first time working in the United States, where Marathe found that “everybody was welcoming, and I thought it would be great to build a business here.” In fact, in the back of the 3030 Ocean kitchen, Marathe confided in Ford about his plans to own his own place one day.

In 2020, Marathe had his chance. After working once again alongside Patel at the latter’s acclaimed Ghee Indian Kitchen in Miami and then Meat Market Palm Beach, he opened Stage on Feb. 14, 2020. The name refers to a culinary stage, an internship in which a cook works briefly in another chef’s kitchen to learn new techniques and skills, and Marathe’s restaurant was a culmination of his journey as a chef and his dream.

The only problem? Opening night was the same night as his dear friend’s wedding, a 300-person affair that Marathe promised he would cater. So there he was on Valentine’s Day, trying to figure out how to be in two of the most important places in his life at once.

Looking back today, nearly five years

From left: Stage’s tandoori Niman Ranch churrasco; the dining room at Ela Curry & Cocktails in Palm Beach Gardens

Pachadi Salad

by Chef Pushkar Marathe

Serves 4 to 6

SALAD

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup grated cauliflower

1/4 cup quartered cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts

1/2 cup grated calabaza (winter squash)

1/2 cup shaved red cabbage

1 cup arugula

1/3 cup mustard seed vinaigrette

2 thinly sliced watermelon radishes Salt to taste

PREPARATION: Combine carrots, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, roasted peanuts, calabaza and red cabbage in a mixing bowl and season with salt. Add vinaigrette and mix well. Lightly toss in arugula. Garnish with sliced radishes and serve.

MUSTARD SEED VINAIGRETTE

3/4 cup lime juice

3/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup agave syrup

1 cup neutral oil (grapeseed or sunflower oil)

1/4 cup black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon asafoetida Salt to taste

PREPARATION: Mix lemon and lime juice in a bowl. Add agave syrup and season with salt. Heat oil in a saute pan. Once hot, turn the heat to low and add mustard seeds. When seeds crackle, add asafoetida. Add oil to citrus juice and mix vigorously with a whisk. Taste and add salt if necessary.

ON THE FLY: GROVE STAND

SEASON’S EATINGS

Shrimp Moilee (Coconut Curry) with Basmati Grits

by Chef Pushkar Marathe

Serves 4 to 6

MOILEE

SAUCE

1/2 cup neutral oil or coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon black mustard seeds

1/8 cup dried ivory lentils

3 curry leaf sprigs

1/2 tablespoon turmeric

1 cup diced onions

2 tablespoons chopped ginger

1 teaspoon chopped serrano pepper

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup fish stock or water

1/4 cup cilantro

1 tablespoon coconut oil

20 pieces of Key West pink shrimp

1 juiced lemon

Salt to taste

PREPARATION: Heat the oil in a saute pan. Once oil is hot, turn heat to low and add mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to crackle, add ivory lentils to lightly brown. Add curry leaves and turmeric and stir until fragrant. Add onions and saute for three to four minutes, then add ginger and the serrano pepper. Saute for two minutes, then add cumin and coriander. Stir to mix, then add diced tomatoes and cook until tomatoes start to break down. Add coconut milk and fish stock or water. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt. Add cilantro and remove from heat. In a second pan, heat coconut oil and saute shrimp until no longer translucent, around two to three minutes. Add moilee sauce and simmer for two minutes. Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt. Assemble over basmati rice grits and serve.

BASMATI RICE GRITS

2 cups basmati rice

11 1/2 cups water

1 stick butter

Salt to taste

PREPARATION: Soak basmati rice in two quarts water for three to four hours. Drain the rice and dry on a sheet tray for 12 to 24 hours until completely dry or dry in a warmed oven with the heat turned off. Crumble the dry rice grits by hand to separate into grains. Mix one cup of basmati rice grits with three and a half cups of water and butter in a large pot. Cook slowly over low heat for approximately 20 minutes until grits are cooked, adding more water if necessary. Season with salt.

ON THE FLY: GROVE STAND

SEASON’S EATINGS

removed from that evening, while sitting under Kai-Kai’s 3,100-square-foot covered pole barn, Marathe has only good memories. In true chef fashion, he says that despite the round-the-clock preparations, that night “was so much fun” because “we made all the food.” The wedding featured a five-course sitdown dinner with passed hors d’oeuvres while Stage’s opening showed off his intercontinental chops at the same time.

Where Stage spotlights a global menu with hints of Marathe’s heritage, his second restaurant, Ela Curry & Cocktails, is full-on Indian cuisine. Within this indoor-outdoor restaurant, Marathe shows that Indian food is not a monolith—like with his pork belly dohkhleh, an onion and meat salad typically found in eastern India, and his Niman Ranch lamb shank nihari, a popular stew with origins in the northern part of the country.

Sanskrit for “cardamom,” one of Marathe’s favorite spices, Ela is an ode to his homeland.

Naan is slow-proofed for 48-72 hours. Chapati (or roti) is cooked on an open fire. In short, “this is just like home,” Marathe says.

The chef recognizes that in a region like Palm Beach County, where the census doesn’t even discern between Eastern Asian people and members of the South Asian community,

food to a family of five whose grandmother is from India. That is the best part for me.”

This spring, a second Stage will open about 40 miles south in Boca Raton. Marathe and partner Dugard say the time is right for them to open a Marathe-helmed restaurant outside of Palm Beach Gardens, noting that in an area

I knew that we’d never fail because of how many blessings we have.

—PUSHKAR MARATHE

he’s offering something unique to the mostly Western audience. While he says it’s fun to introduce flavors to this demographic, when asked how it feels to serve Indian food to Indian people, Marathe smiles. “It’s lovely,” he says. “I love it when they tell me that it reminds them of their grandma’s food. I love to serve

lined with steakhouses and Italian restaurants, Stage will stand out.

If the opening of Stage’s second location is anything like Ela’s opening in 2022, Marathe will be surrounded by his most trusted team: his parents. They flew in from India to celebrate their son and his opening in 2022, assisting him whenever they could, like when his mother stayed up to make dough for the chapati. During Ela’s first few months, Marathe even cooked beside his mom in Ela’s kitchen. Her effervescence filled the room. Regular diners would even request to sit in front of Mama Marathe’s station in the open-concept kitchen.

When a dishwasher failed to show up for work one day, Papa Marathe volunteered to do the washing himself. Then, his father gave his son a piece of crucial advice after seeing the excess amount of rice left on plates. “He told me we were serving too much rice,” Marathe says. “People weren’t eating all of it, so why not reduce the amount? That was actually a really good observation that we listened to.”

Speaking about this rare time with his parents, Marathe tears up. Wiping his eyes, he says, “I knew that we’d never fail because of how many blessings we have.”

If you ask Marathe if this was the best time of his career, he might agree. Or, he’ll say it was a dream come true.

Below: Stage’s bang bang cauliflower with mushrooms, paneer, mint and cilantro is a fan favorite.

ON THE FLY: DESIGN DISTRICT

By Gregory Wakeman

Natural Instincts

Jacob and Melissa Brillhart blend nature, sustainability and style in their South Florida studio.

Jacob Brillhart’s path to architecture seems almost preordained. Raised in New Hampshire, he grew up in a household that fused creativity and craftsmanship— his father was a structural engineer, and his mother an illustrator. “I was making things and building things my whole life,” Jacob said. But his journey wasn’t without detours. At Tulane University in New Orleans, he initially pursued a business degree. That all changed the moment he peeked into the architecture studios. “I saw what they were doing for homework, and I said, ‘Oh my God! I can do that!’”

After earning a master’s degree from Columbia University, Jacob found his way to Miami, where he launched Brillhart Architecture in 2007. Florida also introduced him to Melissa, his wife and fellow architect whose journey mirrored his own. A graduate of the University of Miami’s School of Architecture, Melissa, 48, joined the firm in 2013. Her love of

buildings took root early, thanks to her father’s passion for renovation projects. “I always loved being around buildings and improving them,” she shared.

BRILLHART ARCHITECTURE

Together, the Brillharts have transformed their shared vision into an award-winning architectural practice known for its sophisticated, simple and organic designs that use fewer materials and consider the native landscape. Their portfolio spans from Florida to the Bahamas, Colorado, Georgia and even Belgium. At the heart of their success

—LOCATION— 1278 NW 29TH ST. MIAMI

—INSTAGRAM—

@BRILLHART ARCHITECTURE brillhartarchitecture.com brillhartlab.com

is Brillhart House—the Miami home they designed for themselves. Elevated 5 feet off the ground, the front and back of the house are made entirely of sliding glass doors, albeit with flexible wooden shutters in front for privacy and protection against the elements. Their ambition was to create a seamless blend of the home’s open-space interior and its wooden exterior to give the feeling of a tropical refuge. It’s no surprise, then, that both Melissa and Jacob call the American vernacular-style home the most important

This page, from top: Ocean Room at the Alma residence in Harbour Island, Bahamas; covered Ipe walkways connect Alma's six pavilions. Opposite page: Stewart Avenue residence, built in Miami's most extreme flood zone, was designed in response to hurricanes, flooding and sea-level rise.

ON THE FLY: DESIGN DISTRICT

project of their career.

“We really got to flex our muscles,” Jacob, 50, said of the 1,500-square-foot home, which earned accolades from both The Architects’ Newspaper and Wood Design & Building magazine, and appeared on Netflix’s “The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes.” The house, he said, marked a turning point for their firm. “It had such a ripple effect, being shared across the internet and picked up on a TV show, that it launched our practice. The projects that followed were significantly more interesting, larger (and) more compelling.”

climate Creation

Though they now live in Savannah, Ga., having relocated during the pandemic, the Brillharts continue to work out of their Miami office, drawing inspiration from Florida’s architectural heritage. They’re particularly influenced by the Sarasota School of Architecture, a midcentury movement that blended modern design with Southwest Florida’s unique ecosystems. “I wanted to unearth older but innovative ideas that have been done in Florida and revitalize them with new technologies of today,” Jacob said.

Their creative process begins by walking a site, considering ways to harmonize their designs with the native surroundings. “We allow nature to influence the project. We let the landscape dominate,” Jacob said. “Instead of mowing the lot down and clearing it and putting a house in, we look to nurture all the plants, and then we nestle the house inside the jungle.”

This sensitivity to the environment is matched by their attention to Florida’s challenging climate. After constructing a small cabin in the Bahamas, the Brillharts gained hands-on experience with extreme weather, an insight that has shaped their work ever since. “Being exposed to more

Beyond the blueprint

Jacob’s talents don’t end with architecture. A prolific creative, he channels his eye for design into art, drawing and painting watercolors inspired by coastal and Caribbean structures. In 2016, he published “Voyage Le Corbusier: Drawing on the Road,” a collection of 175 of his own reproductions of sketches by famed architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier. Jacob’s evocative works have found a home beyond the drawing board, displayed at Princess Street Gallery on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.

There are always new materials to play with , new climates to think about and new problems to solve.

—JACOB BRILLHART

environments and actually living in them gave us the opportunity to experience them firsthand,” Melissa noted.

One standout project, the Stewart Avenue residence, reflects their commitment to blending resilience with beauty. Built in one of Miami’s most extreme flood zones in south Coconut Grove, the home’s first floor and all mechanical equipment had to be elevated 12 feet above sea level. The result? A three-story structure that appears to emerge organically from the surrounding trees while resting on flood-resistant concrete columns and storage spaces. The design earned the firm an AIA Miami Design Award in 2021.

For the Brillharts, architecture is as much about exploration as it is creation. “We want to keep on expanding our horizons and learning,” Jacob said. “There are always new materials to play with, new climates to think about and new problems to solve.” With their innovative spirit and relentless curiosity, Brillhart Architecture is only just beginning to leave its mark.

This page: Architects Jacob and Melissa Brillhart Opposite page, clockwise: Brillhart House in Miami is built of steel, glass and wood and features a central glass corridor—a modern interpretation of the dog trot—and a nod to Florida Cracker architecture; Brillhart House's kitchen; Brillhart House features shutters across the front, creating an outdoor room with dramatic natural light.

ON THE FLY :BIRD’S-EYE VIEW A

GUIDE TO OUR FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOODS

By Emilee Perdue • Illustration by Leslie Chalfont

Luaus and coconuts

1. THE WHARF

Overlooking Las Olas riverfront, this open-air venue hosts a fleet of cocktail bars, musical performances, country line dancing and restaurant pop-ups like The Piefather, Carlos & Pepe’s and more. 20 W. Las Olas Blvd.

2. DANIEL’S

Sourcing fish from the Florida Keys, meat from North and Central Florida ranches and produce from Homestead farms, supporting local purveyors is a priority for this steakhouse. Enjoy dishes like panseared hogfish, zucchini tataki and Key lime pie. 620 S. Federal Hwy.

3. BONNET HOUSE

MUSEUM & GARDENS

The 1920s Mediterranean-style villa is a protected historic landmark open to visitors. Enjoy five gardens, wave to the resident squirrel monkeys and attend the International Orchid & Garden Festival in April. 900 N. Birch Road

4. ANN’S FLORIST & COFFEE BAR

This cafe-cum-floral-shop serves lattes, scones and empanadas with a side of peonies by day and blossoms into a chic cocktail and wine bar by night with live music and potent espresso martinis. 1001 E. Las Olas Blvd.

5. REGINA’S FARM

Regina Rodrigues serves a taste of her Brazilian home state, Minas Gerais, on Saturday afternoons at her backyard restaurant, where chickens roam freely and guests commune over her homemade stews, cheese bread, chicken pie, yucca and more. 1101 Middle St.

6. NSU ART MUSEUM

Founded in 1958 and known for its collection of work by Latin American artists like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the museum now counts the outdoor exhibit of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “Surrounded Islands” in its permanent collection. 1 E. Las Olas Blvd.

7. FLAMINGO GARDENS

Home of the largest grouping of Florida Champion trees, the 60-acre garden and wildlife sanctuary was founded in 1927 and has heliconias, thousands of orchids, a butterfly sanctuary and, of course, flamingos. 3750 S. Flamingo Road

8. COCONUTS

Tie up the boat at the dock, and come in for some crab cakes at one of the most beloved eateries in the area. Be sure to try the Be Nice punch, a coconut rumbased cocktail and a playful nod to the waterfront restaurant’s motto.

429 Seabreeze Blvd.

9. RIVERSIDE HOTEL

The grande dame of Las Olas combines retro glamour with modern-day majesty. The 231-room hotel is outfitted with tech luxuries like smart-room controls and heated pools, while maintaining its 1930s charm with original coral fireplaces.

620 E. Las Olas Blvd.

in fort lauderdale

Farms, feasts and fetes in the venice of america

10. ELBO ROOM

Opened in 1938, this iconic beach bar was once the watering hole for WWII sailors and now welcomes vacationers and locals in search of cocktails, dancing and a raucous crowd.

241 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.

11. HUGH TAYLOR BIRCH STATE PARK

Hike or bike one of the very few coastal hammock ecosystems left in South Florida. This state park is home to more than 250 species of birds, landing it on the Great Florida Birding Trail Guide.

3109 E. Sunrise Blvd.

12. LARB THAI-ISAN

Named after a meat salad from northeastern Thailand, this hidden-gem Thai eatery, located in a strip mall, offers khao soi, mango sticky rice, pad si ew and other authentic dishes, most of which are made with old family recipes. 6234 N. Federal Hwy.

13. THE KATHERINE RESTAURANT

Lead by James Beard nominee Timon Balloo and his wife, Marissa, the eclectic eatery is a love letter to their combined heritages, with dishes like Thai red curry branzino, Hokkaido scallop crudo and Mom’s trini oxtail. 723 E. Broward Blvd.

14. BROWARD CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Presenting more than 700 performances annually, the arts center presents worldclass ballets, concerts, plays and more. The venue has hosted stars like Paul Anka, Josh Gad and Nikki Glaser.

201 S.W. Fifth Ave.

15. FORT LAUDERDALE BEACH

Soak up the laid-back energy on this 3-mile swath of sand that’s more Jeep Wrangler than Lambo. As Miami Beach’s more casual cousin, this spot is perfect for sunbathing, beach volleyball or roller blading the promenade.

1100 S. Seabreeze Blvd.

16. WELLS COFFEE COMPANY

What started as a project by husbandand-wife team Brandon and Nicole Wells led to a city-wide movement to bring better beans to the area and eventually grew to include a second location in Tarpon River. 737 N.E. Second Ave.

17. LOUIE BOSSI’S RISTORANTE, BAR & PIZZERIA

Italian American chef, Louie Bossi, made a name for himself in South Florida with classic plates like pazzesco, linguine con vongole and custom pizzas made with artisanal ingredients.

1032 E. Las Olas Blvd.

18. MAI-KAI

After a $20 million renovation, this iconic tiki restaurant made its grand reopening in 2024. Catch performances of traditional South Pacific dances involving fire, drums and hula skirts while eating poke bowls, crackling tempura calamari and more. 3599 N. Federal Hwy.

This spread from left: Mai-Kai, Riverside Hotel, Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, Coconuts, NSU Art Museum

ON THE FLY: FLORIDA WILD

PHOTOGRAPHS & FIELD NOTES

By Carlton Ward Jr.

Prying Eyes

For my Path of the Panther project for Wildpath and National Geographic, I relied heavily on camera traps—professional cameras and flashes hidden along game trails and triggered by motion detectors. The scene in this photo, in the upper reaches of the Fakahatchee Strand, is one of my favorite camera trap sites. The strand is filled with rainwater nearly half the year. When it dries, a labyrinth of pathways is revealed. Swamps like this one gave the Florida panther refuge from persecution by people that caused regional extinction everywhere else in the eastern United States, except for southern Florida. Panthers may prefer uplands, but their ability to survive in swamps is a large part of why they exist today.

NOTES

When I first walked this trail in 2015, I envisioned a photograph: a panther stepping over a log, looking straight into the camera as it glided between cypress knees, the subtropical forest rising like a cathedral in the background. That picture ultimately became a reality (scan the QR code to see it). But, it took six years of trying, a timeline extended by the annual rainy season.

— SEASON — SUMMER

— TIME OF DAY — 12:39 P.M.

— SUBJECT — AMERICAN ALLIGATOR

The first summer, the water didn’t rise until August and didn’t subside for another 18 months. Once while scouting the area, I came across a large gator skeleton just beneath the water’s surface, not realizing it was an omen.

I came back in the spring of 2017, when the trail was finally dry, eager to capture a panther photo before the water rose again. One panther did come through, but my camera position and lighting were less than ideal. I kept visiting this site every two weeks for four months. When the rains started that June, more than 20 inches fell in the first 10 days and didn’t stop, accumulating more than 100 inches by the end of the year. I kept the camera going once the rains started, still desperate for a panther to walk through. That didn’t happen for another four years.

When I returned to the camera two weeks later, the water was already a foot deep. I scrolled through the photos, seeing no panthers, but then noticed a hidden predator staring back at me. While feeling defeated in my original quest, this bycatch, a large alligator moving through the primordial swamp, has become one of my favorite photographs.

Three years later, at the peak of another wet season, I went back to this site for the last time. As I waded waist-deep through the water, cavalier from making the journey dozens of times and not carrying a walking stick long enough to poke the ground beyond my own toes, I ended up with a hand inside a large alligator’s mouth. That’s a story for another article. It only took two bites and didn’t hold on. It may have been this same gator. Thankfully, it seems that I, too, was bycatch.

UNWINED

PANAMA CITY

MaRCH 28-29

Swirl and savor wines, craft beers and spirits paired with dishes from renowned chefs and eateries from Northwest Florida at the newly opened Aaron Bessant Park. visitpanamacitybeach.com

FORGOTTEN COAST

EN PLEIN AIR

APALACHICOLA

March 14–23

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of this Old-Florida paint-out as 19 artists bring iconic Florida scenes to life, including coastal dunes, sunbathing egrets, shrimp boats and more. forgottencoastenpleinair.com

WORD OF SOUTH

TALLAHASSEE

April 4–6

The ingredients for a good time? Singers, authors and chefs all in the same place. Hear from ’80s rock stars the Violent Femmes, meet local novelists and sample good Southern eats. wordofsouthfestival.com

SANDESTIN WINE FESTIVAL

SANDESTIN

April 10–13

Savor the flavors of the Gulf Coast, and enjoy hundreds of featured wines, gourmet bites and informative wine seminars for a weekend that’s truly grape for the soul. sandestinwinefestival.com

ON THE FLY :THE TIDE

ROAD TRIP–WORTHY EVENTS

(NORTH)

NATURAL LIFE MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL

JACKSONVILLE BEACH

March 8

Bohemian lifestyle brand Natural Life is all about being your authentic self and living in color. It’s only

fitting that, after a nine-year hiatus, its signature music festival is back at full volume. This joy-filled jamboree hits all the right notes with artists such as headliner Moon Taxi as well as Red Shahan and local favorite Madison Hughes. Munch on tacos and barbecue, and treat yourself to Mayday ice cream and the Hyppo gourmet ice pops. Shop from local makers selling wares such as clothing, beach gear and more, and stop by the Natural Life pop-up for exclusive merch. Proceeds from the event go to Feeding Northeast Florida, a Jacksonville food bank serving over 85,000 meals per day. naturallifemusicfestival.com

FERNANDINA BEACH

SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL

AMELIA ISLAND

April 10–12

Follow 12 singer-songwriters as they perform across various venues in historic Fernandina Beach. Meet and greet local artists, listen to their intimate acoustic sets and learn the stories behind their songs. fernandinasongwriters festival.com

10TH ANNUAL

TALLAHASSEE EXTREME RODEO

TALLAHASSEE

April 11–12

Break out the boots and spurs for the 10th anniversary of this Panhandle cowboy showdown. Catch bronc riding, barrel racing and bull riders fighting to hang on to bucking brutes for eight seconds of glory. visittallahasseesports.com

FISH TO FORK

AMELIA ISLAND

May 15–18

Get hooked on Omni Amelia Island Resort during this weekend of competitive cuisine, where chefs go deep-sea fishing at sunrise and compete in a culinary face-off, cooking their fresh catches at sunset. Dine on dock-to-dish creations, and vote for your favorite. omnihotels.com

Above: Sample wines, spirits and beers at Panama City’s Unwined.

Above: Moon Taxi will headline the 2025 Natural Life Music & Arts Festival, which previously hosted acts like Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, pictured here.

ON THE FLY :THE TIDE

ROAD TRIP–WORTHY EVENTS

(CENTRAL)

FLORIDA WIENER

DOG DERBY

TAMPA

MAY 3

Relish in some friendly competition among fleetfooted Fidos during the 15th annual dachshund derby, part of Tampa’s Riverfest in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Cheer on more than 500 four-legged wiener dogs and other small breeds as they dash 50 feet to the finish line. Divisions include puppies, ween teens, adults, middle-aged, super seniors and a special division for blind, deaf and wheelie dogs. Top racers will compete for the

Florida Circuit Champion title, a giant trophy and the coveted green ween winner’s jacket. Have a mixed breed or non-dachshund under 35 pounds? Enter them in the Wannabe race, or join contests such as the Best Kisser and Best Tail Wag. Proceeds from this puppacked day will benefit Skyway Dachshund Rescue and Dachshund Adoption Rescue and Education (DARE). The free festival on Tampa’s Riverwalk also includes a Taco Fest, hot air balloons and yoga. floridawienerdogderby.com

Above: Dashing dachshunds take off at the Florida Wiener Dog Derby.

BEER, BOURBON & BBQ FESTIVAL

TAMPA

MARCH 7–8

The pours are endless, and the plates are piled high at this pitmaster party. Sip your way through more than 60 beer and 40 bourbon samples, then sink your teeth into a feast of pulled pork, brisket and sausages. tampa.beerandbourbon.com

DELAND CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

DELAND

APRIL 5

Locally crafted brews are in endless supply at the 16th-

ON THE FLY :THE TIDE ROAD

TRIP–WORTHY EVENTS

(CENTRAL)

annual beer fest in downtown DeLand, featuring live music, food truck favorites and samples of more than 200 beers— including exclusive pours at the Rare & Vintage tasting tent. delandcraftbeer.com

TAMPA BAY BLUES

FESTIVAL

ST. PETERSBURG

APRIL 11–13

Don your best festival fit for three days of music, featuring artists such as JJ Grey & Mofro and kick-off party performances by Ronnie Baker Brooks and North Mississippi Allstars. tampabaybluesfest.com

PIER 60 SUGAR SAND FESTIVAL

CLEARWATER BEACH

APRIL 11–27

Explore larger-than-life sand sculptures created by a troupe of global artists, or get your hands dirty with a free sculpting class to hone your sandcastlebuilding skills and create your own masterpiece. sugarsandfestival.com

JEEP BEACH

DAYTONA BEACH

APRIL 18–27

Take off the top and top-off the tank for the largest Jeepexclusive gathering in the world.

Join for an off-road beach cruise, tackle the obstacle course at Daytona International Speedway and don’t forget to bring those rubber duckies. jeepbeach.com

BROOKSVILLE BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL

BROOKSVILLE

APRIL 26

This beloved festival marks the start of blueberry season, featuring live music and all things blueberries. Attendees can enjoy fresh berries and shop for fruit-infused treats and scented gifts. facebook.com/ brooksvilleblueberryfestival

MARATHON SEAFOOD FESTIVAL

MARATHON

March 8–9

Grab a bib and get to cracking fresh lobster tails, stone crabs and more at this 49th annual seafood fest in the Keys. Work off the consumables by facing a rock-climbing wall, hurdling through obstacle courses and dancing to live music. marathonseafoodfestival.com

PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW

WEST PALM BEACH

March 19–23

Obsess over glittering brightwork, rich teak and flawless fiberglass at this nautical showcase with more than 800 boats on display, from Rybovich to Revis. It’s all set against the tony Palm Beach backdrop. pbboatshow.com

DELRAY AFFAIR

DELRAY BEACH

April 4–6

Dubbed the “Greatest Show Under the Sun,” this expansive arts and crafts festival spans seven palm-lined blocks of downtown Delray Beach, brimming with a wide range of art including paintings, sculpture, fine-art photography and eclectic crafts. delrayaffair.com

ON THE FLY :THE TIDE ROAD

TRIP–WORTHY EVENTS

(SOUTH)

THE TGL PLAYOFFS

PALM BEACH GARDENS

March 17–18, 24–25

Golf’s future has arrived with Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL), a groundbreaking venture co-founded by legends Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Inside the state-of-the-art SoFi Center, traditional golf collides with cutting-edge technology and team play to create a new sports spectacle. Players hit drives into a massive 64-by-53-foot high-definition simulator that projects both tee shots and approach shots. Meanwhile, the short game takes place on a real-life green that shifts and turns, replicating the contours of famous courses. Not sure who to root for during the playoffs? Florida’s team, Jupiter Links Golf Club, includes Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner. TGL—LFG! tglgolf.com

MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL

MIAMI

April 3–13

Red carpets roll out with starstudded premieres, legendary filmmaker talks and 100plus films from 40 different countries. Plus, as part of the inaugural Louie awards, see the movies of six local filmmakers telling some of Miami’s most compelling stories. miamifilmfestival.com

INTERNATIONAL ORCHID & GARDEN FESTIVAL

FORT LAUDERDALE

April 5–6

Orchids of all varieties bloom at this lively two-day biophilic event full of fragrant tropical plants. Live music, gardening tips and a tropical luau lunch round out this annual fundraiser for the Bonnet House Museum & Gardens. bonnethouse.org

FLORIDA OUTDOOR EXPO

WEST PALM BEACH

May 2–4

Only at Florida’s largest sportsman show, held at the South Florida Fairgrounds, can you shoot a bow, buy an RV, outfit your boat and savor the flavors of barbecue champions. Animals get in on the action too, with swine racing and a DockDogs jumping competition. floridaoutdoorexpo.com

Above: Sheryl Lee Ralph accepts an award at the 2024 Miami Film Fest.

Above: Enjoy elevated views thanks to stadium-style seating at the TGL Playoffs.

FLORIDIANA ALL

THINGS VINTAGE

By Steve Dollar

Mullet Mayhem

The legendary Flora-Bama Lounge holds a fish throwing contest every spring.

St. Louis has the Gateway Arch. Seattle has its Space Needle. Los Angeles has the Hollywood sign. Yet, can any of these symbolic civic wonders really compare to the salt-crusted, mullet-tossed, beersodden glory that is the Flora-Bama Lounge?

The Panhandle’s weathered monument to honky-tonkin’ good times is surely as alluring a roadside attraction as those other historic sites and speaks to an idiosyncratic sense of place with its very name. This oyster shack on steroids they call “the last American roadhouse” famously straddles the state line that separates Florida and Alabama—hence the name—but represents a state of mind that is wholly its own. Neither the wayward tides of time nor the howling winds of multiple hurricanes have altered that. Although the establishment that sprawls across the beachfront at Perdido Key has been rebuilt on an occasion or two, it abides—as surely as Jeff Bridges’s fabled the Dude from “The Big Lebowski,” who is exactly the kind of fella who would be right at home here, with his louche wardrobe.

Open since 1964, the Flora-Bama wasn’t born into legend. It started out as a liquor store and lounge, opened by the Tampary family after the construction of the Perdido Pass Bridge. The geography was significant: Baldwin County, Ala., was considered a dry county, so it was shrewd business to plop a watering hole in the spot. It wasn’t until 1978, however, that the site began to flourish. A new owner named Joeseph Gilchrist began expanding the operation, inviting musicians to perform and putting the bar on the international radar. The management estimates some 3,500 performers gig under its roof (or on the adjacent beach) each year.

One of the Flora-Bama’s more notorious habitues, country singer Kenny Chesney, captured the vibe in his 2014 song called, what else, “Flora-Bama.”

There’s ball caps, photographs, dollar bills and bras / License plates from every state nailed up to the wall / Spring breakers, heartbreakers, already getting loud / Talledega’s on the big screen, don’t it make you proud?

Gilchrist died in 2022 at the age of 80, but his legacy continues in the capable hands of his partners who oversee what has become one of Florida’s biggest tourist draws (with two million guests each year) and a name that is now synonymous with the phrase “Redneck Riviera.”

The Flora-Bama achieves peak redneckery each April with a three-day celebration known as the Interstate Mullet Toss, at once a cherished folk

ritual to honor the dawning of a new season and a test of skills that are absolutely useless in any other context—and therefore greatly enhanced by a cold beer (or three). This year marks the 40th anniversary of the toss—or the 41st, depending on who you ask. The details of the first toss are hazy.

The late April event requires participants to stand inside a 10-foot circle on the Florida side and hurl a dead mullet across the state line into Alabama.

Some may laugh, but competitors take it very seriously. Record-setting tosses have been reported in excess of 180 feet. The signature event is ideally suited to the FloraBama, whose late proprietor had a heartfelt greeting for each customer: “We thank you for lowering your expectations.”