SO MANY THINGS TO DO AND SEE

It was nice to have some cooler weather this year, but now it’s time to warm things up again.

Florida Country is always excited when we can get back outside and start exploring our state and showcasing some great events going on. We won’t stop there; we’ll even take you to another country!

Before I move on, I would like to give an update on my beloved Fort Myers, and its continued recovery effort since Hurricane Ian. More and more businesses are steadily opening, but many people are still looking for temporary housing and still homeless. To this day power is still being restored.

We have a great community, a strong one; as we say, “Florida Strong.” So many came to help, even some of our famous neighbors like South Fort Myers resident and guitar legend Rickey Medlocke (Lynyrd Skynyrd/Blackfoot).

Read more about Boots on the Sand (page 10).

Get ready for Carl Bledsoe’s Gaited Horse/Natural Horsemanship Clinic on March 10-12 at Spotted Dance Ranch in Brooksville (page 14).

Head over to Pasco County’s very own Starkey Market, an “agriculture-focused market featuring quality first and local as we can” (page 20).

Looking for love? Then look no further than Michelle Lee Matchmaking (page 24) or have a little romance in St. Augustine, Florida, with writer Dave Kelly (page 28).

Jet off to Belize, located just south of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on the sparkling Caribbean Sea. This English- speaking Central American country is home to the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System that runs over six hundred miles along its eastern shoreline, making it the largest in the Western Hemisphere (page 32).

A big shoutout to our very own NFR Flag Girl, Addison Roberts of Southwest Ranches, Florida, (page 44) and Miss Rodeo Florida, Makenzie Conner of Groveland, Florida, (page 48). Thank you for making the Sunshine State proud.

Another awesome adventure with a lot of history representing our state is the Great Florida Cattle Drive (page 52). Riders pushed 500 Corriente cattle — longhorn influenced with horns to match from Deseret Ranch in east Florida to Bluehead Ranch in Lake Placid— what a journey.

Want some more history—tasty history? Look no further than the 53rd Everglades Seafood Festival organized by the Florida Stone Crabbers Association (page 58).

We’ll take you to Anna Marie Island, sandwiched between St. Petersburg/Tampa and Sarasota on the Gulf of Mexico (page 62) and Florida Caverns State Park, northwest of Tallahassee (page 66).

There is nothing like getting away and visiting new places. We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to our next. Happy travels and see you later, alligator!

SCARLETT REDENIUS, Publisher