Visiting Tarpon Springs is like a breath of fresh air. It is the largest sponge port in the United States (click).
Walking down Dodecanese Blvd is amazing. The shops, the locals & Santorini's restaurant make you feel so welcomed.
I highly recommend dinning at Santorini's restaurant. The seafood, dessert, salads & coffee are out of this world !
If you love old ships & boats, this is the place to visit. I loved the ambience & enjoyed educating the public on the
Newfoundland breed. We couldn't take more then two steps at a time, but it was so worth educating others.
Yes, the baby through herself backwards to reach Kongo.
above: Ryleigh asking Courtney questions about Kongo
Kongo with a new friend (Ryleigh) above
Kongo with another Newf lover
A very lazy Kongo & Dreama (our friends daughter in Hudson, FL)
It was Dreama's first time meeting a Newfoundland.
Dreama got to walk, run and play with Kongo the entire weekend.
Dreama called Kongo, Bear.
Kongo posing for photo's
While posing, a herd of kayak's passing from behind, attracted Kongo's attention.
Kongo is such a great dog with a big heart. He is ready to call it a night, but just poses to please me.
A tile mural on Dodecanese Blvd
Lighthouse Shoppe's (night & day)
An eagles nest at Anclote Park. We saw Stalk's nest, Ospreys & Owls.
This home is an amazing (rustic & wooden) home on the Cotee River.
I took this photo from a small sand bar east of it. It was a very clear blue sky (as the photo below)
But taking the photo against the sun, gave me this beautiful end result. I love it!
Courtney (hubby) & I, yes I'm wearing a fleece sweater. It was a bit chilly for me on this sand bar.
Tarpon Springs was incorporated as a city in 1887. The community first settled there in 1882. The city is named for the tarpon, a fish that is found in abundance off the coast. Many Greek immigrants came here after 1905 to continue their traditional trade of sponge diving.
Tarpon Springs is known as "the sponge capital
of the world". In the 1930s, the sponge industry of Tarpon Springs was very
prosperous, bringing in millions of dollars of sponges yearly. But in the 1940s,
the sea sponge beds were contaminated and destroyed by bacteria, which led to a
decline in the natural sponge industry. The industry was revived in the 1980s
when healthy sea sponges were found. Now Tarpon Springs is back to being a
leader in the world's natural sponge market.
All aspects of the sponge industry take place in Tarpon Springs, from the
harvesting of the sponge, all the way to the auctions that are held weekly at
the Sponge Docks for the wholesalers