Best Gyros Ever and Spring Break Mecca

 Tarpon Springs

Wednesday Morning November 30th, which by the way is the birthday of our beautiful daughter Anna, we headed into Tarpon Springs. The weather was classic Florida, sunny and warm. It was only 6 miles up the Anclote river. For those of you who have not been to Tarpon, it is a crazy little Greek enclave that has been there for decades and has not changed one bit.

I remember going there as a child and the flash backs were exactly what I recalled. The good news is the Greek food is still top notch home made quality. The Greeks were known for sponge diving which we are told still goes on today. They still use hard hats to harvest them. Hard hats are the big copper diving helmet that you would have seen in the movies prior to the invention of SCUBA gear.

What they use natural sponges for today I really don’t know but there is a lot of them around. Greek restaurants, trinket shops and bakery’s abound. There are numerous places in the back streets where you will find a handful of Greek guys hanging out drinking coffee. At the end of the Main Street there is a great fresh fish market where we scored some Stone Crab claws on the cheap. Wednesday night we were invited to Docktails on Inked Mermaid. Funny enough the wife was completely covered in tattoos. The night had a fun energy that put everybody on a roll. Our group went to a great Greek restaurant. Sue and I ordered the Octopus serverd Greek style. It was delicious. We ended the evening by meeting up with another group of Loopers who had dined at the Rusty Belly. At the end of the evening, which the late hour of 9 pm 9 of us piled into a golf cart and hung on the sides and went back to our respective boats for the night.

Clearwater

Thursday morning we had a leisurely morning dockside. We pulled away from the dock about 11 am and headed 32 miles down the Gulf ICW to Clearwater. The Clearwater Beach Municipal marina did not have any slips available so we dropped the anchor right in front of the marina. It was a great location with a small beach area within a couple hundred feet where we could land the dinghy and walk 5 minutes to the Gulf front where all the action was.

The crew from Odyesse was with us. Many of you probably have been to Clearwater Beach on spring break or at least wish you had. It has really grown up and become much more upscale. High end high rise condos are the norm with more on the way. Clearwater Beach still ranks as one of the top ten beaches in the world. The sand is white and soft. The water clear and emerald colored.

We liked it so much we ended up staying  three nights. Friday I did some horse trading with another Looper that had crossed their wake in Clearwater. He had a nice 9.9 Yahama outboard motor that he was willing to sell pretty cheap. He had not used it since he bought the boat a year and a half earlier. They had an electric motor that was much easier to get on and off the dinghy. He was listing the boat for sale so the motor would not make any difference in the sales price. So after a half hour of tinkering with motor I had it running. So after a hand shake and a check off I went. On Saturday our UK friends, Andy and Miguela drove down to spend the day with us. Sue and I jumped on our bikes and rode the Pinellas Bike Trail 5 miles to Dunedin. The town is a wonderful quaint place right off the ICW. The other two couples met us there by car. We walked around a great Farmers Market and enjoyed lunch from a vendor selling homemade Tamales. We all met back aboard Next Chapter for Happy hour followed by dinner ashore at the Bait Shack. A shack it was but the seafood was fresh as could be!

Brief storm rolled in at Tarpon

                                                            Hard Hat diving Helmet

This was in a historic train station that has been converted to a museum. The striking thing is the ticket windows remain. There was a wall that separated both the windows and the waiting area. One side for Blacks and one for Whites. The windows were clearly different. There was only one bathroom on the Black side two on the White side. Seems so hard to believe today. 

Tarpon Springs with their Christmas jam on. Getting ready for the lighted boat parade. 

Clearwater

                                                The Bait Shack at Clearwater Beach

Dunedin Main Street

                                                                         Dunedin

This was a school of Bonnette Head sharks swimming around the boat at anchor in Clearwater. Also called Shovel Head Sharks. They are related to Hammer Head sharks

                                                     Farmers Market Dunedin