We’re still up early but Caleb says we can slow down today and enjoy vacation at a more relaxed pace; meaning we can wash the car and eat while we wait for the girls to wake and join us before we leave the house again. We drove to Big Dan’s Carwash, because it was close, to get some road trip out, and an hour later our car looked almost fresh from the factory. There’s a prewash scrubber, which Caleb took an overzealous advantage of, and the employee and I had a giggle at. After the thorough wash, there’s a vacuum, compressed air (for all the vents and cupholders), a mat machine, a glass cleaner, and an interior polish. It looked like a sticky kid had exploded in the backseat, but all the evidence was gone and all our gear was in our room, so we had space for passengers.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a gas station on the lot, which said gas was discounted, but we didn’t mind as it was already half what we were paying in California. We take a different route back to the house and pour ourselves a bowl of food while we get a chance to read our books (the ones I thought we’d have time to flip a few pages each night). Once on our way, we get to walk by large historical homes and their private docks, to the Sponge Docks, a tourist attraction with restaurants, souvenirs, and murals along the waterfront that offers kayaking and cruises.

The best thing to go with sponges is soap, so there are plenty of homemade bars on offer, and some of them merged together in different shops. We wander into the Spongeorama and while I learn about sponge diving – done by hooking them from the surface or collecting them from the bottom, from a range of ten to 130 feet and as far out to sea as 50 miles – the girls try on hats and then go outside to walk around with Caleb to look at boats. After the sponges are brought in, they are sold through the exchange, and then taken to packing houses to be cleaned, clipped, and crated for shipment.

Another shop claims to have the only alligator head-shaped sponge, so we have to go inside to see that and the snowman sponges, the live seahorses, and art on the shelves among the racks of apparel. It’s real, but after watching the man behind the counter trim what he was holding, I’m not sure how much of the alligator was shaped above and below the water. There is a bit of a market in shaped sponges, such as a 3-pk of whales and 6-pk of ravioli. Outside is a bike that seems to have been ridden undersea from Amsterdam and still has the sea detritus camouflage. If it wasn’t for the two low-air tires I might assume one of the two men sitting next to it had ridden it recently.

Greektown was listed as a Historic District and Traditional Cultural Property in 2014 for its unique ethnic heritage and maritime character. The Greek immigrants were able to bring black and white Americans along with Bahamians and Conchs (Bahamians of European descent) to work together in the expanding sponge industry in the early 1900s. The Greeks built community centers, coffee houses, and St Michael’s Shrine: the home of miracles on Hope St. Of the 200 boats built in Dodecanese island style in Tarpon Springs, only three remain.

I started to think about Greek foods, like loukoumades and gyros, and saw a sign for yogurt. I had to check it out as I do love some good Greek yogurt but wasn’t prepared for the one-pound tub sold for people to take home, not ready to eat on the street like a Go-Gurt. I’ve only been to one oil-tasting shop, Coronado’s Taste of Oils, and thought they had a good selection but also a variety of other products. The Tarpon Springs Olive Oil Company has twice as many oils and vinegars to sample and choose from and seals them in, from fun-size to wine-size, bottle of choice.

We get two flavors of olive oil, garlic and lemon, for our lovely hostess, and a bottle of Cara-Cara Orange vanilla white balsamic vinegar to practically drink for ourselves because it is so delicious. We stop at Hella’s Bakery to get a snack now, some macaroons for the three of us who enjoy coconut, and some baklava to-go. Caleb was going to get the big fresh slices, but the guy behind the counter suggested the container with smaller pieces floating in honey as a more budget-friendly, but very sweet, option that makes the little parallelograms last longer as we eat them in sticky pieces.

We return to the Train Depot Museum with more time to spare today and while Caleb and I look around, the girls will participate in a 20-question history hunt and get a gift for completion – one a hacky-sack-like ball and the other a Santa hat. There are a lot of artifacts from the 1900s and a list with historical uses of sponges: bathing, anti-friction, tampons, teething, food, and football stuffing. They are still used today to apply makeup, wash cars, and decorate homes. John “The Greek” Maillis was the youngest sponge diver in 1932 at just 14 years old and the oldest in 1999 when he ended his career at 81.

Fallon joins us at the museum and we walk to a closed, only on Wednesdays, Narcosis Scuba Center, with reduced weekend hours and open 11a-7p during the week. In an effort to explore all the local desserts, we stopped at Sweetwood Bakery which specializes in three-layered cakes. With thirteen flavors to choose from I am easily overwhelmed and will settle for tasting the cookies & cream and lemon blueberry slices later. We return to the house to have leftovers for a late lunch after watching the manatees frolic (at sea cow speeds) and meeting an Alapaha Frenchie in the park.

We get to the wrong soccer field before the coach updates us, but don’t leave until picking up our coffees. I ordered a matcha latte to keep me warm while watching the girls’ scrimmage on a brightly lit green field under a pitch-black sky. We drop the girls off, have a snack, and then go to Sprouts and Walmart for groceries. The girls start their show so I head to my room to plan our Monday morning departure. I want to update Instagram and realize I don’t have the photos for it, so I use Caleb’s.