Tarpon Springs

The last thing we did in February was on the last day, Thursday the 28th.  The Sumpter Oaks Motorcycle Gang, which at the time consisted of Brock and Leola, Dick, Duane and me and two new members--Karen and John rode 2 1/2 hrs. to Tarpon Springs.  Paul and Sharon and Dan and Barbara were unable to come.  That's Dick behind us and Karen and John in the suv.  Karen rides a scooter on short trips, but has some physical problems that prevent her from riding the bike  long distances.

 

 

For the long trip Brock put the training wheels on his Goldwing.

 



Tarpon Springs is a working seaport and shopping district with the unmistakable feel of a Grecian fishing village.  Its downtown is a showcase of proud historic buildings and homes from the gracious Victorian era.  It is a showcase of both cultures, from its vintage Victorian-era mansions and historic downtown to its lively Greek traditions and community.  That is a quote from the pamphlet.  The pic below shows the area we toured---the main tourist street on "the pier".

 

This is a side view of the street above.

We enjoyed Greek food at a nice waterside restaurant called Dimitrios.  I'm sitting between Dick and the picture taker (Duane).  Karen and John are across from me.  Brock and Leola are showing the tickets we bought for the boat tour, which got us each 10% off our lunch bills.  The weather was sunny but the wind was chilly all day.  We all wore our jackets except John who is apparently a tough guy!

 



 

 

The tour was 20 min at a slow chug up the Anclote River and back down.  The owner was the narrator and also guided the boat with the rudder between his knees.  Nifty!



 

 

Our boat  The roof is the corner of the restaurant roof.



 

On our tour we learned that the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs is a working waterfront with commercial shrimp and fishing boats in the harbor along with sponge boats.  We also learned thet in 1896 John Cocoris  was the first Greek man to come to Tarpon Springs.  In 1905 he and five other Greek men started a prosperous sponge diving business.  Word of their success quickly spread to Greece.  The migration of skilled sponge divers and processors soon made Tarpon Springs the sponge capital of the world.  We learned that there are hundreds of types of sponges, but the most commonly used are the ones below.  These are used mainly for bathing, cleaning, and decorating. 

 



We watched as a diver in the original sponge harvesting suit demonstrated how it was done.  We enjoyed our cruise and the demo, then went our separate ways to explore.  John and Karen went shopping for sponges for family gifts.  Dick went for a walk along the pier.  Brock and Leola and we walked along the pier randomly examining the boutiques, deciding on all the things we didn't need.  We found a tiny free museum explaining the sponge harvest from search to finished product.  There was also an very old but very interesting brief film.  We cruised a bakery shop full of delicious Greek pastries, and bravely bought nothing.  We stopped at the end of the pier and watched the water birds while Brock walked back to the parking lot for their cooler.  When he returned they shopped for fresh shrimp and fish in their favorite seafood shop. 

 



 

We all met back at the parking lot at 5pm and caravanned home.  The sky had clouded over and the sun disappeared.  I put the camera away when we stopped for fuel and a stretch.  Back on the road, I noticed that all the black clouds had disappeared and the sky was pink.  I managed to get a nice shot of the beautiful sunset--a wonderful end to a wonderful day. 

 

I want to emphasise that we explored only a small part of this town.  There were many other interesting shops, houses and points of interest.  There were many places to eat.  The ones we looked at were all competively priced with only slightly different menus.  We may return some day to explore more of this nice little Greek settlement.

 

 

Enough for now,

 

Louise and Duane