Soaking Up the Sun ... Like a Sponge (or Lizard)

Days 202 |  Tarpon Springs  

A good night's sleep was all we needed to recover from our Gulf crossing. We slept a bit later than normal, but were still ready to head into town by 10:00. It was a warm sunny day and we were thankful for the opportunity to be wearing short sleeves, shorts, and sunglasses. As we left the marina I saw a little lizard sunning on the rock. I understood how he felt. Our first stop when we turned onto Dodecanese Boulevard was the Visitor's Center. A decorated dolphin stood as a sentry by the door. Inside we met Sophia who graciously answered the many questions we asked, and gave us a great history of the town and Greek influence. She told us all about the various species of sponges harvested just offshore and had samples that we could touch. Loaded with all this knowledge, we continued on to the Sponge Dock. Buildings along the way were painted with scenes depicting the sponge harvest.

Tarpon Springs is known as the "Sponge Capital of the World" with a commercial industry dating back to the late 1880s. In the early 1900s, experienced divers from Greece came to town and there is a very large and active Greek community here today with restaurants, markets, and bakeries. Many of the sponge boats and streets have Greek names. (Dodecanese is a group of 12 Greek islands in the Aegean.) We briefly chatted with a gentleman who was on a boat trimming his catch of sponges to make them auction-ready. A sponge is an animal that clings to a rock or coral and eats plankton. It grows in diameter at about a quarter inch a month. The natural sponges are actually skeletons. The Sponge Diver Memorial Statue stands at dock.

We walked to the end of the road where Barry met a strange little fellow. On the way back, we stopped at a courtyard that had a cool turtle statue and a 42-foot sponge boat that was decommissioned back in 1982. The sign on the side of the Aegean Isles revealed its story, but all I'll remember is finding the typo. Ugghh. One thing that did surprise us was the presence of "hawkers" on the street. Much like what we've seen in Las Vegas and Tijuana, folks aggressively marketed their boat tour company (dolphin or sponge harvesting) or Greek restaurant. We agreed that we wouldn't eat at a place that had to corral clientele in that manner.

Along the Boulevard was a large Christmas tree and dozens of stores selling sponges, T-shirts, and other typical souvenirs. Another sponge diver statue was spotted in front of a hotel -- this one looking more "Hollywood" than the first. I don't know what these flowers are but they were a pleasant surprise along the road. We made it back to Crossroads around 2:00 and I chatted with Aunt B about the impending blizzard in Winston-Salem, NC that will drop about a foot of snow tomorrow. I then took a cue from the lizard and moved out to Fiberglass Beach for some reading and ray catching. At 5:00 we walked back into town and made it down to the end of the road just in time for sunset. I thought I had a great shot composed, but the pelican wouldn't stop preening itself long enough to sit in a classic pelican pose. Oh well. Close.

Back up Dodecanese Boulevard we went, passing several Greek restaurants along the way. The Christmas tree had its lights on so we stopped for our selfie of the day. While enjoying dinner at ShrimpWrecked, we made our plan for putting a string of Christmas lights on Crossroads. Starting at the bow with the middle of a 66-foot long, 200 bulb string, I wrapped the port rail and Barry did starboard. We shared some typical Christmas decorating cheer and held our breath for the Clark Griswald (Christmas Vacation) moment as we plugged the end of the string into the extension cord. Everything glowed festively and I climbed out on the pilothouse roof to capture this photo. I admit that from this angle it looks more like a disco floor and I joked that we needed a little Bee Gees to complete our version of Saturday Night Fever.

Tomorrow will start out cloudy, warm and breezy. A front will roll through mid-morning, bringing rain and gusty winds. It should stop raining in the afternoon, but the winds will whip up the waves in the Gulf and keep us here for another day. We'll work on a few more boat projects, some paperwork, and do some laundry. It will be our version of "snow day."