Waldo's Secret Garden - Part 1: Charlotte's Story & Waldo's Legacy

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Step into the shade of a wrought-iron chandelier and a Spanish outdoor kitchen as we sit down with Charlotte, the owner of Waldo’s Secret Garden in Vero Beach. What started as a family space grew into a community landmark hosting art festivals, celebrations of life, and gatherings under twenty-foot “sister tables” that nod to the Hall of Giants. The garden’s magic isn’t just its look; it’s a feeling—part Driftwood Inn, part McKee Botanical, all Florida soul.

Charlotte traces her path from digital media and web design to stewarding a living piece of local history. She talks candidly about learning by doing, partnering with the Sheriff’s Explorers for smart parking during 3,000-person events, and choosing wild beauty over manicured sameness. The unpolished edges are the point: original wrought iron, a little rust, a little mystery, and plants that climb where they please. Guests don’t mind—if anything, they come for the patina and stay for the story.

At the heart of it all is Waldo Sexton’s legacy. Charlotte’s great-grandfather helped shape Vero Beach—paving stretches of A1A with oxen, building enduring landmarks, and trading his way through booms and busts with relentless vision. We explore what it means to turn a private home into a public good, the balance between preservation and access, and the joy of letting a place breathe as it welcomes neighbors and newcomers alike. By the end, you’ll understand why Charlotte says Waldo would be proud—and why some places are better left a little wild.

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Episode Transcript

Brian (00:00):
All right.
Well, welcome back to the VeroBeach podcast.
I'm Brian.

Shawna (00:03):
And I'm Shauna.

Brian (00:03):
And today we are sitting right here at this now.
We're outside sitting.
It's a little warm.
But hey, we are at Waldo'sSecret Garden with the owner,
Charlotte.
Charlotte, thank you forjoining us on the podcast.

Charlotte (00:15):
Oh my God.
Thank you guys so much forbeing here.
I hope you enjoy it.
I figured I'd just immerse youin the heat.
Exactly.
But it feels good.

Shawna (00:22):
It's Waldo's Secret Sauna.

Brian (00:25):
Waldo's Secret Sauna.
I like that.

Shawna (00:27):
Let's start a whole new business model here.

Brian (00:29):
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
Well, Charlotte, can you takeabout 30 seconds to tell us a
little bit about yourself?

Charlotte (00:33):
Okay, so I grew up in Vero Beach.
I left for a little bit, wentto Gainesville, came home, and
then I ended up graduating fromUCF in digital media.
And at that point, uh, we werealready in the event venue
business here at Waldo's SecretGarden, my mom and I.
So everything that I learned atcollege was really helpful
because that was like whensocial media started blowing up

(00:55):
and worked out very well.
And then I don't know, I justlike blanked and now I'm here.

Shawna (01:03):
That's perfect.
That's how I want to tell mylife story.
Here I am.
Let's move on.

Brian (01:09):
So you said you were in digital, like digital marketing,
like what like uh digital mediaand web design.
Okay, nice.
That's my background.
That's what I'm saying.
Oh, okay, awesome.

Charlotte (01:18):
But we um we had a friend's wedding here in 2012, I
think, or 2009, something likethat.
And then we just started doingit.
I mean, for like dirt cheaptoo.
Like thinking back on theprices, we had full weddings for
twelve hundred dollars.
What?
And we we thought it was great.
I mean, because yeah, you'relike, what else are we gonna do?
Yeah, we're like wonderful.

Shawna (01:39):
Well, you gotta start somewhere, you know.

Charlotte (01:41):
Yeah, and we didn't know really what we were doing,
which is most like usually howthese kind of farms start out,
pretty much.
But yeah, it's grown into sucha success.
And actually, my mom passedfour years ago, so I've gotten
more control of everything andowner now.
My father's like gotten alittle older, so my brother and
I just helped keep the propertyup.
Gotcha.

Shawna (02:00):
Yeah, also it's really a family business, yeah.

Brian (02:03):
Absolutely.
Right now, where are we sittingright now?
Because I mean, this is such acool area that looks like an
like an old like kitchen kind ofarea, and we're outside in this
shelter area.

Charlotte (02:12):
Yeah, so this is actually I'm trying to um
describe it for the listenerswho've been to McKee.
So Waldo Sexton built thisentire property and he built the
driftwood, ocean grill, McKee.
This is um slightly a replica.
This is all an outdoor Spanishkitchen, and these tables are
twins to that giant hall ofgiants table.

(02:32):
Came from somewhere else, butwe like to call them like sister
tables.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so they're both about 20feet long, and that's why it's
perfect family dining style,like just really lovely.

Brian (02:44):
And there's like this old chandelier that's hanging above
us that isn't.

Charlotte (02:48):
Yes, we have raw iron everywhere, everything's
original, like we haven'tupdated anything.

Brian (02:54):
For anybody that's listening that's never been to
Waldo Secret Garden.
How would you describe the vibehere?

Charlotte (03:01):
I would describe the vibe as just like a tropical
oasis.
I like to think that theDriftwood and McKee had a baby.

Brian (03:11):
I like that.

Charlotte (03:12):
I love that, right?
Because there's like a replicaof the driftwood here, and we've
got all of these starter plantsthat they had with McKee and
still have there.
Of course, they're like farmore manicured.
Yeah, I would say that.

Shawna (03:24):
I love that.
I love that whole idea.
And by the way, I like how wildthe plants are here because
thank you.
I really do weird insecurityfor me because we yeah.
Well, I know you mentionedLinda from Coconut Casita.
We love her tropical coconutcasita, rinse your Airbnb.
Yeah, get there.

(03:44):
Even if you live in Vero, youshould go there, I think.
That's how her, you know, wecall it a tropical jungle.
I think she calls it that too.
But it's like plants aren'tsupposed to be manicured,
they're supposed to be.
Yeah, you're right.
This is Florida.
Yeah, you know, absolutely.
And it it's like you walk inand you're just like, I don't
know, the possibilities and thebeauty and the oh, I just love
it.
It feels so awesome back here.

(04:05):
Thank you.
I love it.
Don't be insecure.

Charlotte (04:08):
Okay, thank you.
Yeah, but this is where wehave, this is where the weddings
and all the events take place.
So we have like bridal showers,weddings, celebrations of life.
We've gotten into artfestivals.
We have a huge art festival inFebruary.
Yeah, about 3,000 people thathave come.

Shawna (04:24):
I mean, this is sort of like a boring question,
probably, but how do you park3,000 people?

Charlotte (04:29):
Very carefully.

Shawna (04:30):
Yeah.

Charlotte (04:30):
Um we hire the Sheriff's Explorers team, which
they are amazing.
So we work with the county andthey come in and they're they
take care of all the parkingfrom the road and genius.
Yes.

Shawna (04:43):
It seems like you were really made to do something like
this, though, because you're solike go with the flow and like,
okay, we'll just work it out.

Charlotte (04:49):
Like, yeah, like I know it can be fixed.
And you know, my boyfriend'slike a lawyer, so I'm always
like, is this allowed?
So it's really I've got goodpeople around me that I can talk
to that makes me chill.

Shawna (05:01):
That's yeah, that makes sense, though.
That's good to have someonelike that on your side walking
yourself into a lot of trouble.

Brian (05:08):
Can you tell us a little bit about Walden Sexton?
Like what kind of mando Sexton?
Waldo, what I said, Walden.
Waldo, yeah.
Waldo Sexton.
Is he?
I'm new, I'm new.
But yeah, tell us a little bitabout him.
Like, what's his story?

Charlotte (05:20):
Yeah, I mean, he was truly a visionary.
So he was my great-grandfather.
He came from Indiana.
I think he was sellingagriculture supplies.
I really can't remember so, butI he just saw a huge
opportunity here.
There was nothing here, and hecame in full force and you know,
took oxen and paved A1A andcreated the first real estate

(05:41):
companies and developed thebeach and built very good
lasting structures.

Shawna (05:47):
So was he already wealthy when he started these
projects or did he just startlittle?

Charlotte (05:51):
Oh, I think he just started little and he bought
into citrus and cow cows, likehe owned all of 48th and from
here to uh he owned a lot ofland, but often traded for you
know wrought iron or somethingduring that time.
Wow, that is so interesting.
Yeah, wow.
So I think from what Iunderstand, he would get rich
and like possibly lose a getrich, you know, little by
little.
As visionaries do, right?

(06:13):
Yeah.

Shawna (06:14):
When did you all realize that this could be more than a
home?

Charlotte (06:18):
I think the amount of compliments and just like
everyone was like, wow, what isthis place that we were
receiving from smaller events,like the wedding, and um we had
a garden fest.
So it was just kind of trialand error, it was just having
people over, certainly notknowing what we were doing
whatsoever.
Yeah.
And and we know it's amazing,we know it's super cool.

(06:40):
I mean, I don't think anybodywill ever find anything like
this again.

Brian (06:44):
No, this is your very unique.

Shawna (06:46):
And I appreciate you guys doing what you've done
because you know, sometimes youfind a place and it's so special
and so amazing, but peopledon't want to share it.
And I get that impulse.
Like, if you have somethinglike, have you been to Bok
Tower?
Yes, I love Bok Tower.
Isn't it amazing?
So, you know, one guy put allthat together, built all of
that, and he wanted the peopleof the world to be able to

(07:08):
experience it.
So he opened it up and it's anonprofit now.
But like he could have keptthat all for himself, and same
with you.
You could have kept this alljust for your family.

Charlotte (07:16):
Absolutely.
I know.
All that like I have to kind oftone it down with my ideas,
like trying not to pimp out myfamily, you know, and not be
like, but I just want people tosee it, and it makes me so
happy.
And a lot of the property isnot because it was abandoned in
the back, it's doesn't it's notin great shape.
People do not mind, they likeseeing history.
That's so true.

(07:36):
That's so true.
Yeah, so where you might think,like, oh, this like yeah, I had
to put that away and just belike, people don't mind that
stuff, they want to see historyin progress.

Brian (07:46):
I mean, I love stepping into a place like this because
it is very unique, and that'spart of the character, is that
it's not all perfect.
Like that, you kind of we'vekind of lost this, you know.
As we get ready to wrap up thisepisode, I think this is the
perfect question, not to brag onmyself.
I shouldn't have said that, butand now it's in there.
I would love to know if Waldocould see what the garden has

(08:08):
become today.
What do you think he'd say?

Charlotte (08:11):
Oh my god, he would be so happy.
I feel like I might bereincarnated him because I'm
just like plowing forward,trying to recreate what he did
in the 20s.
So I think he'd be very happy.

Brian (08:22):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, that's exciting.
Well, I'm excited to get intopart two where we're gonna talk
about behind the scenes and whatit's like to run the Waldo
Secret Garden and your antiquebarn as well, right?
So we're gonna get into that inpart two.

Shawna (08:36):
So with that, catch you next time, neighbor.