Tarpon Springs Florida

[flamin lib]

Tarpon springs is a tourist mecca as well as being a working fishing and sponge port.

Gotta love the Greek influence in decor and color.










I really like the textures of the displays in gift shops. Starfish, sponges and all manner of collectibles fill shops the length of Dodecanese (do-deka-na-see) street.



Then there's the fresh seafood. Rusty Bellies has the Best seafood because they have their own fleet of fishing boats. Nothin' like it; the fish were swimming in the gulf a few hours ago!



We met Capt. Anastagio just after he finished washing the harvest of the day.



One thing all sailors share is the love of dry socks at the end of the day.



If you think Italians talk with their hands you've not met a Greek! Anastagio is Captain, cook, diver and crew. Not the safest way to make a living but the shear joy in his face as he talks about his life as a sponge fisherman makes it easy to understand why he can't do anything else.



Then there's the wildlife. These are cormorants. They fly equally well in the air and water but diving for long periods require drying the feathers.



Ever see a Great Blue Heron with attitude? He took it upon himself to chase the cormorants off the pilings, all 50 of them. Attitude only takes you so far and there is strength in numbers so he finally succumbed to the inevitable and peacefully coexisted.




Loved this gull! No fear of people and posed just the way I directed him.




Flying birds are a challenge, even slow flying birds like this juvenile pelican. I've gotta' work on this skill.



http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i46/flaminlib/tarpon%20springs/078_zpsdf8d1ff6.j

All good things come to an end and after a week we watched the west coast of Florida fall behind us as we headed home to our familiar beds and happy puppies.

[Solly Mack]

1. Nice shots!

[Sancho]

2. Don't tell everyone about Tarpon Springs!

My wife has been a teacher there for more than 20 years, and it's one of the best secret places I know. The food is great and it's not too expensive. The Greek traditions are neat and the kids have strong families.

Glad you had a good time.

[liberal N proud]

3. A drinking village with a fishing problem

We will be down there in a week and a half. Get some Greek quinine.

Can't wait to get out of this deep freeze

[ohheckyeah]

4. It sounds like you had a great time

and you certainly took advantage of the photo opportunities. You got some beauties! I like them all but am particularly drawn to the starfish...lots of texture.

[microbus]

5. Great place

To burn up a beautiful Saturday or Sunday....great food options too..

[Enthusiast]

6. Looks like a pleasant place. For some reason I thought we had stopped using natural sponges.

Because synthetic ones were better or cheaper or something. Is there an advantage to natural sponges. I can remember the days before synthetic sponges. My wife doesn't remember natural sponges even though she is my age 61.