{"id":68,"date":"2026-01-28T03:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T03:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2026-01-28T06:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T06:21:17","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/?page_id=68","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>My name is John Palmer Payne, a strange history nerd raised on my Granny\u2019s stories and a curiosity for the parts of South Florida we don\u2019t put on postcards. I love Fort Lauderdale. For me, this community has given me many things in the short time that I have been here. I found a community of people who care for one another, a safe space where I can be who I want to be without the fear of persecution, and a love for the diverse people who make up this place I now call home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why this exists:<\/strong><br>Properly South Florida was born out of the love that I have found here and my natural curiosity for history and interesting people, places, and events that have shaped South Florida to what it is today. The real story is always better, stranger, and honestly more useful. Properly South Florida documents the culture, the characters, and the hidden history that shaped the place we all know and love. I am happy to share my research along the way to my discovery of the past and present, exploring our history, myths, legends, and culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What to expect:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Longform stories with personality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clear sourcing when facts are available<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rumors labeled as rumors (no sneaking folklore into \u201cfacts\u201d)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A love letter to this place, with a raised eyebrow<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get in touch today if you have questions, inquiries, or would just like to say hello!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-contact-form-7-contact-form-selector\">\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f36-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"36\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpages%2F68#wpcf7-f36-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"36\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.1.4\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"en_US\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f36-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" value=\"0\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_posted_data_hash\" value=\"\" \/>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p><label> Your name<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-name\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" autocomplete=\"name\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"your-name\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n<\/p>\n<p><label> Your email<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-email\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-email wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-email\" autocomplete=\"email\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"email\" name=\"your-email\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n<\/p>\n<p><label> Subject<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-subject\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"your-subject\" \/><\/span> <\/label>\n<\/p>\n<p><label> Your message (optional)<br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-message\"><textarea cols=\"40\" rows=\"10\" maxlength=\"2000\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-textarea\" aria-invalid=\"false\" name=\"your-message\"><\/textarea><\/span> <\/label>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"file-962\"><input size=\"40\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-file\" accept=\"audio\/*,video\/*,image\/*\" aria-invalid=\"false\" type=\"file\" name=\"file-962\" \/><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n<\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My name is John Palmer Payne, a strange history nerd raised on my Granny\u2019s stories and a curiosity for the parts of South Florida we don\u2019t put on postcards. I love Fort Lauderdale. For me, this community has given me many things in the short time that I have been<span class=\"more-link theme-more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/?page_id=68\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["entry","author-loakalkombucha","post-68","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About - Properly South Florida<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/?page_id=68\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About - Properly South Florida\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My name is John Palmer Payne, a strange history nerd raised on my Granny\u2019s stories and a curiosity for the parts of South Florida we don\u2019t put on postcards. 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Myths. Legends. Culture. The sunshine is real. The stories are\u2026 complicated.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Properly South Florida\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-cropped-Properly-South-Florida-Logo-v2-e1775147297713.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-cropped-Properly-South-Florida-Logo-v2-e1775147297713.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":307,\"caption\":\"Properly South Florida\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/properlysouthflorida\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/properlysouthflorida\",\"https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@properlysouthflorida\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"About - Properly South Florida","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/properlysouthflorida.com\/?page_id=68","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"About - Properly South Florida","og_description":"My name is John Palmer Payne, a strange history nerd raised on my Granny\u2019s stories and a curiosity for the parts of South Florida we don\u2019t put on postcards. 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