A crowded and birdy Clearwater Beach
Underneath the pier at Clearwater Beach
One final Clearwater shot before leaving for the day
Shopping in Tarpon Springs
More shopping in Tarpon Springs
A fellow patron of Hellas Bakery and Restaurant in Tarpon Springs reacting to a fiery appetizer
Spanish moss on the trees (love that!)
From atop an airboat on the Kissimmee River
Historic eaterie in Ybor City
A fantastic Cuban sandwich at Columbia Restaurant (I wish I had another one right now)
Stopping for a pint at Cigar City Brewing in Tampa
Spotted on the highway
A bizarre compound we noticed along the way (WTF?)
Young lady at the Tampa airport presumably returning from Spring Break
Our homeward-bound flight boarding around 9 pm on Thursday
View from our front porch on Saturday
Check out the podcast about the meat of the trip, and the one about the bread.
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These are great. Hope you had an adventure and memories to last.
I lived right up the road from Tarpon Springs before I moved to the Orlando area. Fun town!
Her parents must be so proud.
You hit the sponge docks, great choice!
I really like the Spanish moss picture, too. That’s just lovely.
I bet it sucked to go home.
Great pics. Clearwater is the home of Scientology, yes?
Tarpon Springs is one my worst memories. Pre-internet, I read about it and decided to drive from a conference in Clearwater Beach to the Springs, foolishly thinking it was a straight shot up FL 19. No such luck, as we hit traffic light after traffic light and passed umpteen strip malls and all-you-can-eat buffets with early bird specials from 4-5:30 pm. Two hours later, we arrive in what was described in our guide book (remember: no internet) as a “quaint sponge farming village on FL’s west coast with a fascinating history”. Well, at the time (ca. 1990), the only “quaintess” detectable was the welcome sign. The low point was a place called the “Sponge-O-Rama”, essentially a tourist trap extraordinaire with old, stale, falling-apart dioramas of the early days of sponge farming. It was dark and depressing, each display covered in dust with broken figures, but damn they did everything they could to keep you in the eventual, and inevitable gift shop. We drove the 2 hours back, 5 hours closer to the grave and a severe desire to get drunk and forget as much as we could about our horrible drive and Tarpon Springs. I hope it has improved since then but I am reluctant to go back to check.
Glad you took my recommendation on Jai Alai. Great stuff.
Did you go on any glass bottom boat tours? I’ve read bad things about Florida’s ground water since I was a kid visiting..
We loved Cigar City when we last visited Tampa. Hope you enjoyed it! Jai Alai is definitely a top IPA!
Jeff – let everyone know you’re not caught up in this afternoon’s fatal chaos on the devil’s parkway. Dr Oz hasn’t mentioned you yet while he “closely monitors” the situation from New Jersey.