We forced ourselves to stay up until evening and then got a well deserved sleep! Then woke up in the morning to see our dock mates! One pelican on each piling.
Tarpon Springs was settled by the Greeks in the early 1900's and is known as the sponge capital of the world. Its waters supply 70% of the world's natural sponges! The harbor is full of sponge boats, fishing boats, and tourist boats to go out and see the dolphins playing.
Sponge boats still go collecting sponges today.
It is a long process. The early divers wore 175 pounds of equipment.
The sponges grow on rocks and must be a certain size before you can harvest them. The sponge itself is the skeleton. There is a membrane that covers the sponge which is the actual organism. The sponge is "raked" from the rock leaving behind a small piece that will regenerate. The sponge must be rinsed several times to remove the membrane. The boats stink to high heavens with all the sponges' membranes decomposing! The sponges are then washed some more and trimmed up for sale. Most of them are auctioned off to be sent away for resale. There are so many varieties! Vase sponges, Wool sponges, silk sponges, finger sponges, and many more. Each one has specialized uses, such as the silk sponge used for make up application. Surprisingly, the Loofah sponge is NOT a sponge! It is a gourd grown in the garden!
The town has several mosaic pictures depicting sponge diving.
And decorated bicycles.
It is definitely a tourist town with many "traps"...
Hand-rolled Cuban cigars...
Lots of store-front sidewalk merchandise. We walked down the street in the morning when the Greek shop owners were setting everything up, chatting back and forth in Greek!
And while Momma shops - she doesn't have to worry about Dad at daycare!
We had such a great time with Andy and Evonne, getting caught up after years of being apart. It is one of those friendships that never die. Nearly 40 years since we first met in Japan. They took us shopping and sightseeing as well as an awesome Christmas dinner. We spent a lovely evening touring a local botatnical garden decked out in lights for the holiday.
Andy and Evonne
Christmas lights Florida style -
Alligators??
If anyone know what this tree is please let me know. Very interesting!
Flamingos!
Not sure what an owl has to do with Florida but it is adorable!
More touring in Tarpon Springs brought lovely homes, buildings, and cute yard decorations :)
The towns largest rooster (picture in honor of Ron Harp)
A super cute BBQ restaurant - sadly closed for the holiday.
Neat flowers - we have a whole new world of flowers to learn!
Old buildings being restored. This wall must be pretty important to save since the rest of the building is gone!
Safford House - built in the late 1800's by the territorial governor. Now a museum. Gorgeous wide verandas.
Unusual trimmings
A huge, beautiful home.
A lumber baron's home - see next pic for their extra cute lawn ornaments.
Makes you want to do handstands on the lawn!
The peak on this house was interrupted to build a gazebo on the roof!
A small house with a beautifully manicured yard.
Air plants are very popular here, but this specimen is incredible!
This house was built on a curved lot and the owner declared there wouldn't be one square room in the house. It was in the process of being renovated and we were lucky to talk to one of the floor installers. He said the interior was an exquisite work of artistry from a selection of beautiful woods to incredible brick work on the chimney to a gorgeous, hand carved angel on the fireplace mantel.
Despite the beautiful sunshine, there are signs that it really is Christmas!
Beautiful art work on this well kept home.
Originally a hotel and theater - Will Rogers once performed here.
Tarpon Spring's beautiful library - we hoped to use their internet only to find they were taking an extra long holiday.
The Greek Orthodox Church - the hub of this community.
After all the huge homes we've seen, this cute little home was perfect. It is a good example of the walls surrounding so many of the homes here.
We said goodbye to our boat buddies, Tortuga. They will stay in Tarpon Springs for another week or so. Their boat is a little smaller than ours but looks so big here at their marina. Hope they catch up with us soon.
A cute reminder to read the small print!
City Marina - Tarpon Springs, FL - Dec. 18-25 with Tortuga, Dash Away, Bucket List.
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