Battlefield Gardens Park Trail

Posted on December 18, 2023 by TheJessicaness
Queen’s Tears bromeliad

I had given myself fifteen minutes to get road-ready and set my alarm accordingly. We were only a quarter of an hour behind schedule getting out of the house, but we never stick to a tight itinerary, unless there’s a reservation. I ran back inside to drop off a washcloth I still had in hand and then we were off to Dade Battlefield Historic State Park which opens at 8a. The entrance is on the corner of a neighborhood and we’re the only visitors when we arrive. If I lived nearby, I would be out enjoying the Spanish moss, an epiphytic plant that uses trees for support and only breaks weak branches when the moisture it absorbs increases its weight tenfold.

passion flower

The area is pretty, but the history is not. This is where the Seminoles fought in 1835 in defiance of the Indian Removal Act (all Native people must move west of the Mississippi River) and the Treaty of Paynes Landing (this tribe must move to land in present-day Oklahoma). The soldiers they ambushed would be reinterred almost six years later in St. Augustine. The government is still enforcing where people can live; they are just more discreet than sending an army on foot in broad daylight to ensure compliance. And after seeing how some people live, freely and innocently, I would never want to work in a position again that puts me in those situations of putrescence.

Having key lime pie is a good and tasty way to start a vacation morning but dwelling on the injustices of others is a downward spiral for another time. It’s a good thing our next stop is just dedicated to the present plants at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. The nice woman at the desk is glad to volunteer and talk with people like me (her words, but anyone who knows me knows I love to talk and learn too). She walks us through the park map in detail and then sends us on our way. I’m grateful for people who can afford to have free time, especially in retirement, and choose to spend it so that I may visit parks and gardens that might not otherwise remain open or offer human connection.

aluminum plant

The US has 211 native orchid species of which 118 grow in Florida and 31 grow in Alaska, and there are over 25,000 species found on every continent except Antarctica. The native species are protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. There is a plan to revise it (ES Transparency and Reasonableness Act) introduced to the House in January of 2023 to have the best scientific and commercial data made available and disclose federal expenditures on litigation. I digress from nature’s beauty and instead focus on the fun of walking a labyrinth in a uni-cursive path, the same one leading inward and out again.

self-peeling banana
zebra longwing butterfly

A maze is designed to challenge us, whereas a labyrinth is made to disengage our active mind by the increased focus of staying on a path that can be clearly seen from start to finish. This labyrinth is planted with mondo grass in the classical Cretan design which dates back to a Neolithic tomb in Sardinia from 2000-2500 B.C. I love the way the path plays on my senses. Constantly changing direction changes my view and I’m cautious to stay between the borders of grass that tickle my ankles as I pass. The bromeliad garden can include pineapple and Spanish moss and some carnivorous species that absorb nutrients from the dead insects that are drowned in their leaf center.

zebraplant

These little drowning pools are used by over 300 species of salamanders, frogs, insects, crustaceans, and other plants to create a micro-ecosystem. The vinery consists of twiners, such as honeysuckle, that weave their way upward by looping and twisting. Tendril climbers, like grapes and passion flowers, use spring-like hooks; and poison ivy attaches with aerial roots to get all the photosynthesis advantages of being high in the sun without the metabolic expense of creating support tissue to reach it on their own. The genus Kaempferia found here are the spices ginger, turmeric, and cardamom. We walk through the hardwood hammock and stare at the sinkhole flora.

Spanish moss on oak

In the herb garden, we try a chocolate mint leaf that smells more cocoa and tastes very minty. The bamboo garden teaches us about clumping and running varieties, one leaving an impenetrable stand and the other more widely spaced creating an open thicket. What I was surprised to find out was that for ten months of the year, only the root system grows, and then for two months during shoot season, some bamboo can grow up to two inches an hour; faster than all other vascular plants. Then there’s the aroid, hummingbird, and rock gardens, and Lake Kanapaha which was formed by the collapse of underlying limestone.

bottle brush bromeliad

Kana, meaning palm leaves, and paha, meaning house, refer to the dwellings built by the Tumucua Indians, before their extinction in the 1700s, along the shore of this 250-acre hypereutrophic lake. We get the opportunity to see a cabbage palm, the Florida state tree, with symmetrical stem branching. The rare chance of this occurrence is 1 out of 100,000 and the cause is not yet known. This anomaly was moved from an area near Steinhatchee in 1991 and the resulting double crowns are conveniently blocked from view by other palms in the foreground. We quickly pass through the children’s garden knowing that we’ll have to come back to properly see the rest of this place, and when more plants are in bloom.

We exit off the 10-W for gas and the route seems a bit of a detour, but it puts us close to McAlister’s Deli for lunch. I order a slice of butter pecan cheesecake with my sandwich on a jalapeño roll. McCord Park isn’t far from here and is a planned stop for the seven bronze sculptures by Sandy Proctor; a native Floridian inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in March 2006 after 30 years as a professional artist. I suppose then that it was better that a guy let his dog piss on a park bench than on the art which features kids playing baseball and fishing with their dogs and frogs and a lone komodo dragon. I let the man know he was just as poorly trained as his dog.

We continue around the water feature that is half of the park and past a small garden. The park is nice but it’s a collective hydrant for the local dogs, which makes this roughly 19-acre park seem smaller. We didn’t walk the perimeter, but this is the largest acreage for a neighborhood park, some only being two acres to provide a green respite to residents living within a mile radius of its borders. Back at the car, I try my dessert; it tastes like a slice of pecan pie covered with butter ice cream, a concoction so sweet I can easily go a year without wanting another.

McCord Park

We’ll change into Central time after crossing over the Apalachicola River. We drive to Bellamy Bridge which was built in 1914 to replace the three wooden ones that stood before it between 1851 and 1913. The bridge remained in use until 1963 when a concrete one was put to use so that people could still walk to see the Pratt Through-Truss design; the oldest of its type in Florida. If you were to come here as part of the Spanish Heritage Trail, 11 historic sites over 150 miles, this spot would be referred to as the Natural Bridge of the Chipola River.

Full Team Austin

It’s believed this place is haunted by a wife in search of her husband who couldn’t be buried beside her for taking his own life. Perhaps people’s fear of this heartbroken woman explains why the signs look like a bear attacked them and was then shot at. The paper is wrinkled and sunburnt, also like an old woman. What’s left of the bridge is a memory of the advancements of bringing people ever closer to each other so we could trade language, food, crafts, and violence. The Battle of the Upper Chipola was fought here but is now where two curious lovers stand staring at the reflection of metal and wood on the water, part rippled, part smooth.

The Great Escape

Eighty miles later Caleb is making sure we stop for gas sixty miles from Pensacola since I wasn’t paying attention. Depending on how we felt with the time change, I had planned on making it to Mobile or Biloxi tonight, but Caleb reminded me we weren’t in a hurry. Also, we could stop early tonight because Pensacola has a Mellow Mushroom and a hotel within walking distance that we can use points to stay at. We quickly dropped our bags in the room and sat at a high table with Bob Ross painting, on screen, in the background.

Bellamy Bridge

We ordered a Kosmic Karma and a Merry Prankster in different sizes and Caleb had to run to the car to grab my ID because the waitress who looks 40 but might be half my age doesn’t think I look that old and gratefully I don’t and I’m not yet. We sit under the Big Ass Fan made of used snow skis for sustainable customer comfort that uses less energy to be more efficient. It’s here that I think about the memories I’ve made with both parents in this restaurant chain – one on the other side of Florida and the other in Arizona; very different ways to enjoy pizza with loved ones and I’m happily making more.

We grab what’s left, half a pizza, to go and return to try the beach + sky-blue-water shampoo and the lemon + sugar wash. One is labeled self-confidence boosting and the other joy-inducing, but that is not the case. I’m glad they are refillable and squeezable bottles in bright colors against a clean shower wall but I was expecting to feel like a piece of ice (or a melted reusable cube) in a glass of lemonade. I was washed in water but I didn’t feel like fresh fruit on the beach waiting for a shark with a competitive edge. I think that’s too much to ask for in soap, but I do love citrus.

Our room has twice the space with its minimalist furniture and the curtain doubles as the room’s art piece. I post a picture from the gardens on Instagram and see some funny stickers – a dumpster fire: Ask me about my shift; and a stick figure holding a brain: hey, you dropped this. I would read from Wind, Sand, and Stars, “I stared at your face: it was splotched and swollen, like an overripe fruit that has been repeatedly dropped on the ground.” I suppose the soap should be non-invigorating rather than overly demanding of the senses that would be pulled from that fruity description.

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George, Sonny, Craig, Rusty, Jack

Posted on December 17, 2023 by TheJessicaness

We fold our laundry from last night, fill our water containers (gallons, camelbacks, and bottles), and repack the food bags so we are more prepared to leave tomorrow morning. We’ll have a snack and read while we wait for the girls to get ready. We’re joining them for breakfast but not sure if we’re leaving at 9a or if that’s when we’re getting to the restaurant. I’ll continue to add stops to our return trip while Addison cooks herself some eggs. The route to George’s is a bit flooded, and though most vehicles on the road are between 4-10″, it’s nothing our medium-clearance 7.5″ vehicle can’t handle.

Not surprisingly, Addison is the only one to not finish her meal as I help Fallon eat her pancakes and am too full to help anyone else. We get to The Florida Aquarium at 1030, wait to pay for parking, and learn that the pavement is porous so that the ground and plants can filter out the pollutants before the water runs into the bay. In what appears to be the center of this multi-floored building is a moon jellyfish petting tank. Here you are allowed to gently use two fingers to feel their bell. This species has a harmless venom for those kids with more curious fingers.

The Yellowhead Jawfish uses its mouth to dig its burrow, move things around, spit rocks at aggressors, and males will incubate eggs until they hatch. The Coral Restoration Foundation is helping to plant coral trees, a pipe structure, that keeps the fragments from breaking or getting smothered in the sand and keeps them in the sun and current for better growth. To volunteer as a diver, costs start at $110/day through the dive charter, which changes each time, and a $50/pp donation is required on each trip; not something we could afford to do often, so I’ll keep looking for a more cost-effective opportunity.

The aquarium has a 15-foot-deep habitat that visitors can pay $95 to walk around in for 20 minutes after 55 minutes of training, prepping, and a safety brief. Perhaps these people can also afford to plant coral. The fluorescent flower hat jellyfish are nocturnal and are seen between December and July, as adults only live for a few months, near Japan and South Korea’s part of the Pacific. Then there are the upside-down jellies, up to the width of a frisbee, that spend all their time on the shallow lagoon bottom amongst mangroves feeding in the sun.

We sit in front of the largest tank awaiting feeding time, in which the staff feeds the larger animals, a turtle and the sharks, first so that they’re full and the little fish can get their fill too. I’ll sit on the floor and have a look at the creatures hidden behind the rocks, but soon there are kids with sticky hands and hungry mouths on the glass, so we decide to move on. The painted frogfish (aka coral blob fish), found in the Indo-Pacific area, live solitary lives except for mating and don’t tolerate each other after, which is ironic because hermit crabs are very sociable but their name means loner.

There’s a group from the New England area looking at the lionfish and I inform them that they make good ceviche and shark snacks as an invasive species. One guy says he would try them while a woman says she’ll stick to her lobster, once only a cheap daily for the poor before the 1880s when demand increased. The polka-dot batfish looks like it expanded the wrong way and as a result has to use its pectoral fins to walk along the ocean floor. There’s a hands-on station where you can attempt to see what the four-eyed fish, Anableps, sees – above and below the water surface simultaneously to hunt for prey and monitor for predators.

I learn something new about catfish too. Most of them are electroreceptive to sense their food, and only a few species are electrogenic and can stun their prey, ward off predators, and communicate with other electric catfish. I get to see the cute axolotl, a pedomorphic amphibian that I first read about earlier this year, that doesn’t metamorphose to land but retains its juvenile features as an adult. The paddlefish, an awkward filter feeder, is described as having a shark-like body with an elongated snout that looks like it belongs there, unlike the platypus, a beaver/otter/duck, that got its face stuck in a Crocs shoe.

The male platypus has venom-filled glands in hollow spurs on their hind legs that are used in defense and to kill small animals. When I think of poison-filled animals it’s snakes, frogs, and spiders that come to mind, but there are other venomous mammals such as shrews, vampire bats, and slow lorises. There are more fish tanks outside, with resident birds, and an alligator pond. We’ll walk in a balcony-like area upstairs and around the kids’ splash park, let the girls throw snowballs at a target, and see the saddest penguin exhibit ever; regardless of preference for rocks or ice, of which 14 species prefer the former for their warmer locations.

We watch an otter perform tricks for snacks, a conversation between tortoises, and a duck napping. It’s past our usual lunch hour and our appetite has us ready to leave, but after the girls get a chance to pet the moon jellies again. A late afternoon lunch will be had at Sonny’s BBQ in Palm Harbor. I notice the peach cobbler egg rolls, something new to try, and it reminds me of the southwest eggrolls I got from Chili’s with their two-for-one drinks at happy hour; no longer a go-to meal or restaurant. Fallon orders the cinnamon sugar donut holes with sweet tea glaze and we all get some dessert to feel just the right amount of stuffed.

We drop off Fallon and the girls and drive to Craig Park to set out on a key lime pie hunt adventure, something of a Florida tradition that I started when we visited The Keys on dive trips. Our first stop is Rusty Bellies Waterfront Grill which also sells glasses, shirts, and keychains. We forgot the military discount so the waitress threw in another slice for free. I know that’s in appreciation for Caleb’s service, but it made me feel like it was my birthday, since I knew he wouldn’t be eating any of my dessert. I like to pick up a slice from two places, so I can compare them.

Dock’s WaterFront was next on the list, but they’re closed for cleaning for the day, due to the flooding this morning, so I’ll have to wait to try their sea salt cheesecake. Lucky for us, there’s Captn Jack’s Bar and Grill across the water, and less than half a mile walk, so we order a slice from there. The bag is lopsided because the restaurant only has one size of to-go container that easily holds three pieces. My wants being met, we can finish our walk by exploring more of this lovely town. We see a shop with a dive flag in front, Mac’s Sports, closed on Sundays; and though we’re bummed to not go inside I’m glad that people can take time off.

Just down the street, a bright blue and white boat-shaped bookcase catches my eye and we’ll talk with the guy who has been building other furniture and mailboxes down the street for 23 years. I didn’t think to ask how long he’s had this place, but it was up for leasing in March. He uses recycled plastic in all his products and has a guy who helps him with larger orders (not sure if that means product size or quantity), but given his friendly demeanor and the colorful tables, chairs, and flowers I would definitely decorate a yard or porch, especially in a high termite area, with these bright eco-friendly options.

There’s an event going on at the Saint Nicholas Community Center, and without putting our faces to the windows, from across the street it could be cookie decorating or just a celebratory meal without the attire of a wedding reception or baptism. The house is locked when we get back, one of the girls lets us in, and Fallon tells us she was parked behind us when she returns. We wash a load of laundry so we have clean clothes for the week to drive back to San Diego. We watch Leave the World Behind, over two hours long, about the horrors of an Airbnb rental (I’m not the only one who’s had my reservation canceled last minute or shown up to a gross room) at the end of the world.

The actress who plays 13-year-old Rose is an 18-year-old with 21 roles in her portfolio. I mention this because there have been a lot of generational talks — Millennials bringing about the “30 is the new 20” as far as aging goes and I still get compliments on my looks but I do see adults from Gen Z that look like high schoolers; some of them go to my gym. At the other end of this, is 65-year-old Kevin Bacon who reminds me of my 38-year-old brother, as far as the hat-wearing and gun-toting go. I suppose time will show us how the vape and face cream play out on the skin of the young as cigarettes and stress did for the Boomers.

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How to Spend a Rainy Day

Posted on December 16, 2023 by TheJessicaness

I’ll wake up with the headache I went to sleep with so I lay back down while Caleb gets ready. The forecast is rain all day so we’ve made indoor plans. We’ll start with breakfast at Johnny Grits, a southern-style place with an agreeable menu close to our next stop. I’ll start with a green Popeye smoothie that has half a bottle of Suja mighty dozen juice, fresh spinach, and some unmeasured powders tossed in. I missed the fruit being added while watching the tables beside us – to the left: a guy on his phone with nothing on his table and to the right: three guys complaining about work and their table placement.

I’ll enjoy my Benedict and grits before the party of eleven arrives with their three kids on iPads. The waitress tells us, “If you want to live longer, don’t work at a restaurant.” Her timing couldn’t have matched ours better and we were out the door. Across the street is the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in the St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs Campus Library which opens at 10am, except Sundays, and is closed on Mondays. The museum was opened to the public in 2002. It was accredited in 2013 by the American Alliance of Museums which provides membership-based educational programs for students and professionals (active and retired).

This distinction is held by fewer than 6% of all museums and offers scholarship eligibility, discount development programs, and special access to subscriptions and other resources. The initial works in the museum were gifted by the family of expressionist artists for whom the museum is named. The collection also included notable 20th-century artists and in 2011 grew to include contemporary Florida art since 1990. The guy behind the desk seems to prefer the quiet mornings here so we leave him to it and start with a visual arts exhibition in honor of the faculty’s commitment to arts education.

This show highlights the current work of the Fine Arts and Humanities faculty and is usually held every two years but was last held in 2020 during a time of transition. The Visual Arts courses include drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and digital arts. The next exhibit, Artistic Journeys, shows how personal and world events in the 20th century influenced the artistic careers of the Leepa-Rattner family. The last space of the museum focuses on more local pieces gained from the closure of the Gulf Coast Museum of Art in 2009 after 73 years of operation in Largo.

We seemingly have the place to ourselves but will hear kids at some point. We stop at the only full-scale reproduction of Guernica by Picasso on the way out. It’s still raining, as predicted, so we head to the house to read for a bit. I’m not sure if it was five or fifty minutes before Fallon got the girls to clean the kitchen cabinets so she could clear her counters. Anyone who has ever cleaned by or above their stove (or seen how built-up some people let theirs get) knows how stuck on grease, oil, lard, fat, and pure love can get on wood, ceramic, plastic, glass, and metal of the surrounds and hood vent too. For this reason, Caleb decided to help scrub the prior tenant’s goo off to make a clean space for shiny dishes.

Not being one to sit idly by, I grab the broom and sweep the house before beginning to help unpack boxes and break them down. Following an afternoon of this cleaning effort was a much-needed escape from the house for us all, downpour or not. I’ll grab a piece of sweet drippy baklava to renew my energy before we head out the door, no umbrella or galoshes, to see the manatees. We’re definitely wet by the time we get there and it’s not too cold (if not in shorts and flip-flops) so we stay a while pretending that the tree offers us any protection from the constant onslaught of water droplets.

The nice thing about having a house with multiple bathrooms is the ability for us all to shower at once. I don’t envy the electric bill considering how steaming hot the three showers will be to appease those of us who appreciate getting out with our skin red and our insides warmed thoroughly as a result. Next is to run a load of laundry so our wet clothes don’t mildew overnight (maybe not a thing, but I also worry about this after leaving them in the wash too long). I’m glad we brought tennis shoes and hiking shoes so that we have a dry pair to wear.

I forgot to mention that while we were cleaning, a couch was delivered, hence why we had to be clean ourselves to sit on its fresh light-colored upholstery. Fallon makes white chicken chili for dinner while we converse and it’s nice to sit at a dining table and share a meal, a rare occasion for Caleb and me these days as it’s been years since we owned a piece of furniture for that purpose. The cushions are big enough to spread out and to cuddle on, we do a bit of both while watching Men in Black (MIB and MIIB) to introduce the girls to a piece of our childhood, from 1997 and 2002. Some things are better left as nostalgic memories; though I still like the pug.

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Driving Around Old Tampa Bay

Posted on December 15, 2023 by TheJessicaness

I awake from good dreams in a king-size comfortable bed with a perfect room temperature and natural light outside. We feel less tired, sore, and dried out after getting away from Imperial Beach which is suffering from a Stop the Stink! movement. People are tired of not being allowed in the water, but it’s ok for them to sit on the poo-covered sand and breath in the poo-filled air, especially on foggy nights. When we first moved here in 2012, there were so many signs that everything caused cancer that we ignored them, but poo kills and makes people sick and we can’t wait to move.

Not only that, our skin is softer. I’m not sure if that’s from more filtered water and the humidity but I’ll take it. It’s crazy the amount of rent and taxes people are willing to pay to live in a city with such a low standard of living (from my poor by California standards perspective), though the city is trying to clean up the trash on the sidewalks downtown now and push the homeless to other states. We are here because the military told us to be, but we begged to be anywhere else, and by this time next year, we will have a lot more freedom in the choice of where to call home.

Anyway, Caleb sets up the tent so it can dry out from the three nights ago when we last slept in it. We’ll take Addison with us to REI to get some food for our return trip. Across the street is Whole Foods, so we wander in and try samples of lobster bisque, gummy vitamins, and sparkling apple cider. Caleb finds a cheese trio with crackers and honey in a Whole Foods insulated bag so it must come with us. Addison falls asleep on the way to Keystone Farmers Market and Caleb scares her awake by screaming as I park. It startled me and I was awake.

Caleb will wait in line for boiled peanuts while Addison and I go pet the dirty cows and then we return to the house to wait for Fallon to get off work. When she’s done, we go to Sunset Beach, the western terminus of Gulf Road, so the girls can put their feet in the water. This causeway and the special events building were completed in 1926 for $65,000. The Armistice Day festivities brought 2,500 people to this “Pleasure Pier” with dances, receptions, and weddings held until the building burnt down in 1963. Off in the distance is the cast-iron Anclote Key Lighthouse.

It started operation in 1887 and was manned until 1942 when the Coast Guard took over for WWII. The light was automated in ’52 and decommissioned in ’84. It was restored in 2003 and now has a park ranger residing on the island, three miles offshore, to keep an eye on picnickers who arrive by private boat or charter. The birds are fun to watch and chase, and we notice raccoon tracks in the sand. Once we circle the island we get a drive-through tour of Fred Howard Park and the beach at the end of a one-mile causeway with a $5 parking fee.

It’s definitely the off-season as we are one of a few cars taking a look at the empty beach that attracts nearly two million visitors to this 155-acre state park, most of that being trails with gopher tortoises and fox squirrels, and the two playgrounds back on the mainland. This park is named after a former mayor, first elected in 1945, who also served on the Pinellas County Park Board for over 30 years. We’ll spend at least an hour in the car driving to MacDill AFB to buy discount (save $7.63 per adult) Florida Aquarium tickets for Sunday.

The neat thing about their base exchange is that it contains a tattoo parlor. I knew the Air Force had different physical testing standards and this shows there’s more to this branch than I realized. There’s no time for tattoos or further exploration as we looked up dinner plans on the way here and Whiskey Joe’s is about half an hour from here. We’re parked behind a line of cars waiting to turn left into the parking lot, but a truck absolutely refuses to move until we drive down the street and u-turn after others showed us this faster route given the obstacle.

Fallon parks and is approached by an attendant who tells us this lot is valet only, so not sure if he was going to repark her car or just take her keys and return the car after our meal. I’ll tell Addison, “Let’s get inside and hope the food isn’t valet too” while Fallon parks the car in the paid lot next to this one. Fallon was craving chargrilled oysters so Caleb bought some for the table too and since the girls braved a taste, I grabbed one. I usually have more table etiquette but I thought it was gross and tried to choke it down with chips and just ended up putting that mixed wad into a napkin.

The girls thought it was funny to see me act like that and I’m glad they’re up for trying new things and won’t take my behavior as a way to act in the future, unless they’re trying to get laughs. I prefer to play with my food and dangle it deliciously or slurp it loudly into my mouth for consumption. The vegetarian options are a signature salad and a bowl of Mac-n-cheese. I would’ve gotten the salmon but it was topped with a crab cake, which might have been better than so many shrimp options, which are a hit-or-miss seafood item and the other fish options came with shrimp sauce.

I chose the blackened chicken sandwich with key lime aioli as a way to have dinner and dessert as we had plans for sweets later. There’s a sugar scrub in the bathroom, which usually has me buying a tub of it on the way out the door, but I still have some at home. Addison acts like it’s the last jar of scrub and so she washes her hands a few times before we leave. She also has the smallest wallet here. I do enjoy the way the scrub leaves my hands feeling super soft and clean and wonder if I should exfoliate more. Fallon takes us along on some post-dinner furniture shopping: sitting on outdoor couches and looking at pet chaises.

We get a half dozen glazed donuts and a hot cocoa each to keep our hands busy while we get driven around to look at the neighborhood’s holiday decorations – strung lights, seasonal inflatables, and yard ornaments to name a few. We get out of the car and pretend to look at manatees that we know are sleeping, but want to stretch our legs before getting home. This won’t be enough after over four hours and some 150+ miles in the car, so I change from dirty jeans into clean sweats, and Caleb and I take a left. We find more sparkly-lit yards and some frogs hopping about on a darker sidewalk.

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A Tour of Tarpon Springs

Posted on December 14, 2023 by TheJessicaness

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.

over a century old sidewalk

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.

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