Tarpon Springs, Florida

Yesterday we went to Tarpon Springs with Joe & Ruth, Leon & Millie and John & Sheila. We had no idea that Tarpon Springs had so much to see & do. We only scratched the surface of the things to do. We have definitely added another visit to our itinerary when we return to Florida. I would like to go on one of the boat cruises to the lighthouse. They also (supposedly) see dolphins, but we know how that goes when I'm on the boat. Tarpon Springs used to be the sponge capitol of the world, but in the 1930's a red tide came in and the bacteria all but wiped out the sponges. They are finally coming back, but obviously not as quickly as they had hoped. Today, 5 of the boats are museums, as well as some of the docks. Most of the sponges in Tarpon Springs today are imported. The weather was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed our day there. Tomorrow we leave for St. Augustine for 3 days with Morrie & Dixie and then continue on our journey to Michigan. We plan to be back in Michigan on May 4th. It's hard to believe that we've been in Brooksville for FOUR months! This is the longest we have sat in one place since we started full-timing. We are sooooo going to miss our friends here, new and old. They are all trying to convince us to come back to Florida next winter, instead of heading west.

A bird on a ship's pole.


Statue of a sponge diver


Sponge industry plaque

Sponge diving boat that is now

a museum.

Sponge diver taking a break

This guy said he has been trimming

sponges for 60 years. He uses sheep

shears to trim the sponges.