Dec 17th - The city of Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is known as the "Venise of the South" It is hailed as the sponge capital of the world, established in the 1800s by Indians and early settlers. Later Greek immigrants came to the area to continue their traditionally  trade of sponge diving which greatly enriched the area. It is said that Tarpon Springs  has the largest Greek community in the United States.  The original downtown area is filled with antique and resale shops. The "Sponge Docks" area is the tourist area along the river. The streets are lined with Greek restaurant, shops and bakeries.  If you want good old American pizza or a burger you are hard pressed to find it along the Sponge Docks. I enjoyed going in and out of the shops and Tom enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and talking with fellow loopers who came from Clearwater by Trolley.
We rode with our friend Kris to pick up our car in Tampa which made exploring the area easy. Another of our friends Smitty came to spend a day exploring the area with us.  There is lots to see and do in Tarpon!

                                                  Baskets of sponges outside one of the shops

                                  One of the sponge boats along the wall at the sponge docks