BetweenTheBeachesPodcast Brad Phares

On this week's episode we delve into some origin stories of some major Florida landmarks and also cover a couple of odd tidbits that are part off our state's intriguing history. From the Seminole story of how Lake Okeechobee came to exist to how the U.S. Army resorted to using Cuban bloodhounds in the Second Seminole War, you're in for an entertaining trip into Florida's past.

Travel in the early days of Florida was tough at best. Much of the state was underwater for a majority of the year which meant travel by waterways or horseback was most efficient. Roadways and transportation infrastructure blew the state wide open leading it to be the mega-state powerhouse that it is today. This week we take a look at some of those historic roads from territorial Florida on up to the modern systems inlace today.

Ardis Hammock is an integral part of Frierson Family Farm and the Florida agricultural community. Located immediately adjacent to the southern boundary of Lake Okeechobee for well over 100 years, her family shares a deep legacy in South Florida and has a history of service to not only agriculture, but to their surrounding communities as well. Join us for a conversation that elaborates on that rich heritage including how they survived the devastation of the 1926 and 1928 hurricanes, rebuilt, and continue thriving today. Additionally, we discuss how Lake Okeechobee and the surrounding agricultural operations are constantly and wrongfully targeted for water quality problems when they're truly part of the solutions, and then we close out by looking at the importance of food production as a matter of national security.

It may come as quite a surprise to many while being common knowledge to others, Tallahassee owns a very interesting and rather sordid past. It has flirted with famed Americans and infamous Floridians throughout the years and this week's episode highlights two such examples filled with overlapping themes and commonly shared circumstances. Tune in and learn something you may not have known or rekindle a long forgotten nugget of knowledge that has long slipped your mind.

Dusty Holley is a man with many talents and a diverse knowledge base that allows him to be equally at home in a board room or sitting on a board in a set of cow pens. Aside from being the Director of Field Services for the Florida Cattlemen's Association, he's a great storyteller with extensive family roots in our state's cow culture. Dusty set aside some time from his busy schedule to share that family history, part of which relates directly to the infamous Barber-Mizell Feud, and a good deal of general Florida history gleaned through various family accounts. Trust me when I say you don't want to miss the historical accounts captured in this conversation.

Join us for a rebroadcast of this episode that takes a deeper historical look into the origins and development of the Florida rancher's favorite working partner, the cur dog or Florida cow dog. Suffice to say that when our ancestors sailed across the Atlantic to settle in North America, they brought not only livestock, but also a very essential tool for handling those animals.