This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

If you or someone you know is planning a staycation this summer, this edition of Florida This Week is definitely for you.

For over 100 years, tourists have been welcomed in Florida by hotels, motels and inns owned by families, entrepreneurs and even big chains are all doing the same balancing act keeping up with the times without losing their charm.

Well, we're taking a closer look at many of these hidden gems with help from local author Kristin Hare and Dalia Colon.

That's next on Florida This Week.

Welcome back.

I'm Lissette Campos.

Florida has been the place to rest, relax and find adventure for more than a century.

Many of these unique places have become hidden, though in today's travel and tourism industry.

It's the focus of Kristen Hare's new book, "Hotels, Motels, and Inns of Florida".

Kristen is a local author.

She's a journalist, and she also serves as the director of craft and local news at the Poynter Institute in St. Pete.

Dalia Colon, a book author herself, is the co-host of WEDU Arts Plus, and she sat down with Kristen for this in-depth interview.

Enjoy!

Florida has been the place to escape, relax, and find adventure for more than 100 years.

Part of the appeal has always been the charming and unusual places to stay that are associated with the Sunshine State.

However, many of these places are unknown to those of us who call Florida home.

Kristen Hare is an author, journalist and the director of craft and local news at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg.

Her latest book, "Hotels, Motels and Inns of Florida" tells us the stories and details of these unique and quirky lodgings that make our state a destination for so many.

Kristen, I'm so happy you're here.

Thanks for having me.

Okay, before we jump into the book, I want to know what traveling was like for you when you were a kid.

So my mom was really good about taking us on adventures.

A lot of them were by car.

I do remember when I was very young getting dressed up for our first plane flight, and this was when people still smoked on planes.

Wow.

If you can imagine what that was like.

But I remember that the places that we stayed were a really special part of the experience.

And, you know, as a kid, if the hotel had a pool, if there were a beach would be amazing.

Forget it.

And so everywhere we went, the place that we stayed became a really special part of the experience and the memory.

Oh, I love that.

So from that childhood to now, what led you to write this book, which is just one of many books you've written about Florida and Florida attractions?

Yeah.

So I have been exploring the state with my books, 100 Things to Do in Tampa Bay Before You Die for ten years, and got to know a lot of these places through that reporting.

But what really got me interested was a series of obituaries that I wrote for the Tampa Bay Times about people behind some special places in Tampa Bay.

And I realized that these places were kind of invisible to us if we're locals.

They exist, they're important and for generations of visitors.

But, you know, like the bank or the church, maybe that you don't go to you pass every day.

You're missing the history that's there.

And there's this history kind of right in front of our eyes that was worth exploring and digging into to help better make sure that we're not letting the tourists have all the fun.

Oh, we never want to let the tourists have all the fun.

But that's such a good point, because you and I are both from up north originally, and I know that I have mentioned things to say.

My next door neighbor who's lived in Florida for, you know, eight decades.

And he'll go, I've never heard of that.

But I'm always looking to see what's around the corner and exploring.

So who is the book for?

Is it for locals?

Is it for tourists?

Is it for both?

Um, all of the above.

If you have had, I think, a transformative or memorable experience at one of our hotels or motels or inns, this book is for you.

If you love Florida and nostalgia and history and want to better understand how we became the state that we became, this book is for you.

If you're just curious and want to see gorgeous old postcards and beautiful photos, this book is for you.

Totally true.

And the book has so many fantastic stories.

So even if you never visited these places, which I hope you do, you would just find it so enriching.

Before we jump into some of the stories that are in the book, I need to know what is the difference?

Is there a difference between a hotel, a motel and an inn?

Sure.

Certainly.

And I think they have to do with the times when they were built.

You know, inns were an older version of an experience, almost like staying in someone's home.

A lot of them are more historic.

Hotels are grander.

So I think the big difference is scale.

And then motels tend to be a place where you could drive up and have a little bit more of an intimate experience.

So I think of it as a difference between scale and the kind of experience that you're going to have once you're there.

It's the kind of thing you may not be able to define it, but you know it when you see it.

You know a motel when you see it.

Exactly.

Okay.

Did you stay in these places?

How did you report the book?

There are dozens of hotels in the book.

And then as a journalist to journalists, I want to know, did any of these places, like close down or change owners as you were reporting?

Because then how do you even know when the book is done?

So a lot of changes took place over the course of reporting, because when I first started out, I was only going to cover the hotels, motels and ends of Tampa Bay, and I dug in really deep and I got very close to my deadline and my publisher said, don't get mad, but I want you to take this statewide and cover the whole state.

And I said, don't get mad, but I'm going to need another year.

So it took me about two years to do, and I stayed at a handful of them, not a lot, because I didn't want this to become like Yelp on paper that exists.

You can find out what kind of experience you're going to have.

I wanted to understand the history which really took going through some research, but it was very fun to stay at places like the Vinoy and, um, you know, to get to even just to tour around, I got to visit hotel floor and go up to the rooftop and see the Hotel Floridan sign that looks down over downtown Tampa.

So getting to be nosy and look around and poke around in places people normally don't get to is a really fun part of the reporting.

Oh I bet.

Yeah.

Okay.

The book is divided into time periods, which I think is so smart.

Is there an era that you consider the heyday of old Florida hotels?

It not really, because each era tells something different.

They're all building blocks, but one of my favorite areas is the 1950s.

And so, so many of the hotels that we think of as kind of epic Florida places like the Don Cesar or the Biltmore, which is on the cover, were built in the early 1900s, 1920s.

And were these grand palaces where people stayed with their families and their staffs for long periods of time when they were escaping the winter?

Their staffs?

Yes.

Yes.

But the 50s coming out of World War two, we had, you know, people who were eager to spend money to get on the road and motels sprung up as a different kind of an experience where you could go directly to the door and right back out to your car there on the beach.

This was the era when we were having color television and the invention of the bikini.

And I think this is really when Florida started becoming a place where regular people from the rest of the country would come year after year, generation after generation, to the same motel on the beach with their family, and it became a part of their family's memories and stories.

So I really like the 50's for what they offer.

Oh, wow.

You mentioned color television.

What role did that play?

People saw the beach on TV and said, oh, I want to go there.

Yeah.

This is when Florida was really becoming known as the Sunshine State.

So historians have pointed out that that is the the time when that became our our logo and our identity.

Before that, people were coming, um, you know, for the weather, not necessarily for the beach.

Oh, man.

Come for the.

Beach.

Right.

Come for.

The weather.

Stay for the.

Beach.

Exactly, exactly.

Okay.

And I imagine that the postcards that you have featured in the book played into sort of selling Florida to people from other parts of the country.

Tell us about the postcards.

They're so beautiful.

They're like vintage collectible postcard images that are sprinkled throughout the book.

There are these tiny works of art, and they I think of them as original FOMO fear of missing out.

And so just imagine being, you know, cold in Buffalo, New York in February and getting a postcard from your sister in St. Petersburg of the beautiful place.

What a brilliant marketing campaign.

These were early influencers, and it was a great way to show people where you are.

And these were usually pictures that someone took and then painted over to make these gorgeous postcards there.

We're really lucky that we have great troves of them in the public domain.

Florida memory is one place where you can have them, and people can send me an email at oldflorida@gmail.com.

and I will send you one of the postcards that I reprinted from the book.

Ooh, I love that.

I'm going to send you an email later.

Okay.

You also mentioned World War II.

Yeah.

The U.S. military actually took over some hotels during World War two.

What was going on with that?

And then what happened to these hotels after the war ended?

So one of the things that was so fascinating in the in reporting this book is you see the same story happening over and over again around the state, whether it's at the dawn or the Vinoy or the Biltmore, where these grand palaces during World War Two were essentially, um, you know, uh, taken over by the U.S. military for VA hospitals, for training facilities, depending on where they were.

And for many years were the place there were barracks, there were places where service members and sometimes their families lived.

So once they went back into private hands, they the world was really different than it had been before World War two.

Um, and so they had like many ups and downs and a lot of them closed.

Um, there are crazy stories about the vinoy and the volleyball games that would happen in the Grand Ballroom because it was empty.

Um, some of them were, um, you know, became homes for old folks, and most of them were about to close before the community in each different city rose up and refused to let that happen, raised money and they got someone new to come and take over.

They've all had many lives and many different private and corporate owners, and they all today, by what I can tell, are really thriving.

Wow.

Oh my gosh.

My daughter would love to play volleyball in one of those ballrooms and I know yours would too.

So would mine.

Amazing volleyball moms here.

Okay.

I was surprised to see Disney hotels in the book because when I think old Florida, I don't think Disney.

So tell me about that decision.

So I went up to the 1970's and, and I wanted to go back as far as at least 50 years.

And so the 70's got me there.

And, you know, Disney is housed so many people around the world think of as Florida.

It's really set the image.

What was fascinating to me in in doing this research was that, yes, Walt Disney created this, this special place and the Contemporary and the Polynesian are two examples of his early hotels.

What he really did, though, was he created a place and a way to escape that was really just riffing off of what hotel, motel and owners around the state of Florida had been doing for generations.

So when you look at the hotels in St. Augustine or in the Florida Keys or really anywhere they're Mediterranean or they're Spanish or Moorish, and each one of them is creating a way for you to go and visit and escape.

Disney just did that bigger and louder and with cartoon characters.

Wow.

Okay.

You hate it or love it?

Yeah.

It's a part of our history.

Part of our history.

Absolutely.

Okay.

You dedicate a chapter to black owned hotels?

Yeah.

We've got Jackson House here in Tampa.

What special role did these black owned hotels play for travelers?

You know, as I was writing this book, I knew that I wanted to include a section on the black owned hotels that I'd gotten to know through my reporting with obituaries, including for the Jackson House and and there are a handful of them there.

The only places in the book that are no longer open, but these were places that were often listed in the Green Book, which was a way for black travelers to find safe places to stay in segregated America during Jim Crow.

What I found was these really powerful stories of joy and resilience and entrepreneurship, individuals who built really successful businesses.

These were spots, including like the Hampton House in Miami, where people would go and they were, you know, kind of a locus of culture and art and music and the civil rights movement.

And they were just really special parts of our history that I think we should see and remember and celebrate.

Oh for sure.

And a lot of iconic entertainers were forced to stay in some of those hotels.

Yeah.

And and this is where, you know, I mentioned the Hampton House.

They tell the story that Martin Luther King rehearsed early versions of his I Have a Dream speech in that hotel.

Georgette's tea room was a favorite of Billie Holiday in Miami.

You know, all of them were places where really black luminaries were staying because they weren't allowed at the white hotels.

And and I think they tell a special story about, um, you know, how where there's a will, there's a way.

Absolutely.

Ooh, I got chills.

All right, switching gears a little bit.

Yeah.

NASCAR was birthed in a hotel.

Yeah.

So the streamline in Daytona Beach is a really fun hotel.

And it is the place where, um, in the, I think late 1940s, there was a meeting of minds that happened over several days.

I'm sure there was no, no partying or anything else involved.

None whatsoever.

Um, and what they wanted to do was create a body to govern, um, the all of the drag racing that was happening on the beach in Daytona Beach.

And when they left, they created NASCAR and it's a fun place to visit.

They celebrate the birth of NASCAR there, and there's some special spots, including a rooftop bar that looks out over the beach.

Oh yeah, and you can still.

Can you drive on Daytona Beach?

I think you can.

I don't think you can drag race.

You can ride bikes, I know that.

Yeah, yeah.

So I guess that's all where it started.

Yeah, I have to fact check that later, but, um, I know you didn't stay in all of the hotels, but of the ones that you did stay or maybe heard about, I got to ask you about ghosts.

Are they haunted?

Did you have any strange encounters?

I did not have any strange encounters.

But remember, I wrote obituaries for five years.

And so, like, the dead and I are cool.

You guys get along well.

I, you know, but I certainly I certainly am interested in ghosts.

I was careful not to make this a book full of ghost stories.

It felt like I could have easily done that, and it would have been a different kind of book.

And not every place wants to talk about their ghosts if they have them or acknowledge that they have them, but there are a couple that celebrate them.

When is the Cordova Inn in St. Petersburg?

They have a very friendly, helpful ghost that they think was basically the the concierge.

And another is the Hacienda in New Port Richey.

There are cold spots, things get moved, lights flicker, and again, they feel like those are pretty friendly, friendly guests that have just decided never to leave.

Oh my gosh.

Okay, you've been warned.

Yes.

Now, I know some of these hotels have been bought out by larger chains.

What are the pros and cons of that?

I went into this expecting to only really enjoy the family owned.

And there are two motels, actually, in St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island that are still owned by the original families that that founded them.

But I expected to really be charmed by the family owned and to kind of be disappointed by the places owned by Marriott and Hilton.

And I actually did not have that second experience.

The Marriott's and the Hilton's have taken really good care of these places.

And so one of the things that I learned through the course of my reporting is every couple of years, these old places need millions of dollars in renovations in order to stay relevant, but also just to keep the old girls, you know, looking their best.

And who better to do that than corporations that have that kind of money?

And so both of those hotel chains in particular, and others that are out there, have discovered that there are people who want to have that kind of experience when they go to a hotel, they want to stay at a historic hotel that has been treasured and well taken care of, and is not dusty and musty and full of, you know, visible ghosts.

And and so there's there's whole collections from these different brands that they make sure that people know that this is where you're going to stay if you love history and they've taken very, very good care of really tending to that history of respecting it, but also making sure that everything feels really kind of swanky and updated too.

To.

Yes.

I'm glad you said that.

Because you think you want to stay in a historic hotel or inn until you're actually in one.

I have stayed in some historic B&Bs, and they were dusty and musty, and there were cats everywhere and the floors creaked.

And what you really want is some Wi-Fi, right?

Right.

And to see and to see the history and to see the little artifacts and to get a sense of the place to write in the elevator and to see how narrow or wide the halls were, because they had to carry their, you know, big steamer trunks to understand that, but still to have a modern experience for sure.

So here in Tampa Bay, is there an experience that you could recommend either for like an overnight visit or maybe someone just wants to go have lunch and a tour?

So I always recommend that you go and just walk in the doors.

Ask if you can poke around.

Most places have restaurants, bars.

Go there.

See what's on the menu.

Wakulla Springs This is not in Tampa Bay, but Wakulla Springs still serves the gin.

Yep, which is a really boozy milkshake that is super good that they've had since the beginning.

I personally really love the history tour and tea.

It's delightful.

The tea is lovely.

They again just have taken really loving care of the stories of that place without making it feel like you're going on a half day museum visit.

It's quick.

They give you a really swanky tea.

Afterward, you get to sit and feel quite fancy, and it's a great way to get inside a really special place.

Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing.

Okay.

How has writing this book changed the way you travel?

We talked about when you were a kid and how special traveling was.

My kids love a hotel.

Yeah, they love they love a motel.

If it has a bed, a TV, a little pool, they're good.

But now you're an adult and you've had these years of experience reporting on different hotels.

So do you travel differently now?

Do you look for different things?

Yes.

I love staying at historic hotels.

I was just last week in Washington, D.C., and got to stay at a historic hotel there.

And I just I think what it's given me is a deeper level of reverence for history.

It's always fascinating to think about, you know, any place you go in Europe, you can think about how many hundreds and thousands of years have passed where people have been passing through these same spaces.

And we have that in a lot of our historic hotels.

They have layers and layers of history that deserve our respect.

And if you are paying attention, you can find the little nooks and crannies that are special to poke around and while you're there.

Oh, that's so fun.

So what else surprised you while you were reporting?

I don't know if there's anything you had to leave out.

I heard so many stories about people who were positive that Al Capone had been to their hotel, and at some point, I was going to make it a joke in the book and try to find an Al Capone historian.

I didn't go in that direction, but so many people were like, oh, Al Capone stayed here.

And he might have.

He was probably pretty busy.

It wasn't a thing the newspapers at the time were reporting on.

And so that was charming and delightful.

And everybody also thought that they had tunnels under their hotel that the rum runners were working with Al Capone.

Only one of them actually had them.

That's the streamline in Daytona.

They went on one of those television shows where they do a refresh of the hotel, and they discovered there was a basement with tunnels that went straight out to the beach.

Wow.

But lots of places have those kinds of stories in their lore.

And I didn't include most of them because I couldn't verify them myself.

But I think they're lovely and add to the charm.

Huh.

Tunnels in Florida?

I wouldn't have thought.

Okay.

Since we have a little bit more time with you, I do want to ask you about some of your previous works.

100 Things to See in Florida Before You Die.

As we said at the top of the show, there are a lot of them that we locals have not experienced.

So what should be on our bucket list?

You should definitely go to Solomon's Castle in Ona, Florida.

Have you been there?

I have, and I met Solomon..

The late Solomon.

Yeah, I was actually got to go there while he was still alive.

This is an actual castle in ona, Florida.

Um, while you're there, after you visit, like, definitely go and eat on the the replica of Noah's Ark that he built, which is on a moat.

I didn't do.

That.

Yeah, they have a restaurant there.

So you're eating in a boat on a moat with a castle?

That's all.

Very charming Dr. Seuss.

Book.

Um, and then Arcadia, which is not far from there, has, like a main street full of beautiful vintage and thrift stores.

And they have a market once a month where they fill the street with gorgeous old things.

So it's fun to go, you know, uh, looking for treasures.

That's that's a favorite thing of mine.

And, and here in Tampa Bay, I also always recommend that people go to Medard Park in Plant City.

I think you've been there.

I have.

They have the most beautiful trees, right?

So this is a reclaimed phosphate mine and they planted oaks on the hills.

And you know what our soil is like.

It's so silty that over time, erosion has left the roots of these trees above ground, and it is just absolutely magical.

Don't climb on the roots.

We want the trees to make it, but go and see them and walk around them.

It's a great place to take kids.

There are restrooms and picnics and, you know, playgrounds, but it's a special place not far.

Yes, I love it.

My kids, we go there for the playground, but they always just want to climb the trees.

And it's also a great place to take family pictures.

Yes, this is awesome because when people have visitors in town.

Great thing to do.

It's one of those things that you just wouldn't have necessarily thought of.

Yeah, Busch Garden is great, but these little hidden gems are great too.

Okay, you know that in addition to hosting Arts Plus, I do host a food podcast.

And I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about some of maybe your favorite foodie adventures.

So I really love the strawberry milkshake at Parksdale Farm Market, and that's like pretty classic.

I think everybody knows about it, but it is Plant City in Plant City.

Um, they are famous for their strawberry shortcake, but the strawberry milkshake is to die for.

It is really, really good.

Um.

And I really like, um, the hamburgers and the tea at the Chataway in St. Petersburg.

Yeah.

So Lady Chataway holds a proper British tea.

Um, but also they just have.

It's like a diner outside and a tea room on the inside with pictures of all the queens.

And it's very strange and charming in a very Florida way.

Their hamburgers are really delightful.

And that's another spot that I really like.

Nice.

Okay, you mentioned the park sale.

I love it, and actually, I have company coming soon and we're going we're going to do the twofer.

We're going to go to Dinosaur World with her little one.

Perfect.

And then go get a milkshake.

You can go strawberry picking out there.

It's everything you want.

Make a day of it.

I love that.

Okay, I'm putting you on the spot.

What's your favorite Florida beach?

Oh, Pass-a-Grille.

Easily.

Oh, I love Pass-a-Grille.

I mean, we love Ana Maria.

Anna Maria is a really special place, and we were just there and happy to see how they're rebuilding.

But Pass-a-Grille feels like a locals beach.

There aren't high rises.

You can park and be fairly close.

There are public restrooms, there's lots of options for restaurants, and the shells are phenomenal there.

So we love to go to Parksdale, go up to the hurricane, get a drink and look out over the water.

And then, you know, I don't know if you've been there at sunset, but they have a sunset bell.

They find a child to ring it every night to tell the birds to come home.

Come back.

That's so.

It's a special.

Place.

Oh my gosh.

Any old hotels in that area?

In fact, um, yes, the I'm blanking on the name, but it's right across the street.

And it was one of the first obituaries that I wrote.

Um, yes.

And so it is a really special spot and was one of the first places that I got to visit.

And it's in the book.

It's in.

The book.

So you just got to get the book.

It's the one that's still run by the same family.

Oh.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

Yep.

It's all in the book.

You got to get the book.

Hotels, Motels, and Inns of Florida.

Kristen, I know you're always working on something.

What are you working on now?

I'm working on, "100 Things To Do In Florida" before you die.

I have about a year, so send me tips.

I would love to hear things around the state that you think are epic enough.

I'm a little worried about having to narrow down all of the things that I've gotten to see and do in the last 12 years that I've been here, but people have ideas.

I'd love to hear them.

Oh my gosh.

Well, I can't wait to get my hands on that book.

We'll have to have you back on the show.

Kristen.

This was a blast.

Thanks so much.

Thank you so much for joining us, and good luck on the new book.

Good luck.

That was Kristen Hare of the Poynter Institute and author of hotels, Motels and Inns of Florida, and Dahlia Colon, co-host of WEDU Arts Plus.

To learn more about these historic places, or to download some of the charming old postcards you just heard about, visit oldfloridahotels.com.

And if you visit any of these Florida gems, we'd love to hear from you.

Drop us a line, send us a picture to ftw@wedu.org.

Whatever your plans this summer, safe travels from all of us at WEDU.

Have a great weekend!