About 20 minutes from where Steven and I were staying at a friends' vacation house in Hudson in central Florida was the town of Tarpon Springs which became an important center for sponge diving when Greek divers emigrated to the area in early 1900s.
It felt like we were right back in Greece seeing the Greek-language street signs!
A sign indicated that John Cocoris from Leonidion, Greece, had founded the sponge diving industry in 1905 in Tarpon Springs. Virtually every shop in town sold sponges. I don't remember checking how many of them actually were locally sourced versus imported from Asia.
The mural made us want to escape right away to a Greek isle!
More than 100 gift shops and Greek restaurants dominated the Sponge District area!
Since we named our eldest child Nina, I sure made a point of entering this shop.
After walking through the historic Sponge Dock area, we walked toward the downtown area located about fifteen minutes away. We had hoped to enter St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral that was based on St. Sophia's in Constantinople but it was closed because of the pandemic. The cathedral was the center of colorful pageantry during Greek festivals.
We then strolled back to the wharf a different way and came across the idyllic Spring Bayou, the site where men dive for the cross during January's Epiphany celebration. Did you spot the Greek flag on the right?
The bayou was surrounded by some exquisite Victorian homes.
The brightly-hued mural on the building on the other side of the bayou caught our attention but we had to wait until we walked all the way around to see what it was.
The Archbishop of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew, blessed the waters of Spring Bayou on the 100th anniversary of the cathedral in 2006.
Unfortunately, only in the winter could we have seen manatees and dolphins in the bayou.
I thought it was interesting, if not rather odd, that there was a Greek flag next to the town's WW II memorial.
The park was like a little piece of heaven and just minutes from town. I loved the drooping branches of the cypress (?) trees that looked like they would soon dance on the water if a strong wind came along!
A close-up of what turned out to be the Craig Park Recreation Center that we'd first seen on the other side of the bayou:
We passed more evidence of the sponge industry on our way back to the docks.
The Tarpon Springs Sponge Exchange was incorporated in 1908 as a shareholding organization to provide for the storage and sale of sponges. The 1930s was the peak of the town's sponge industry. The area's sponge beds suffered from a disease in 1939 which drastically reduced the availability of healthy sponges for several years. The exchange, however, has still continued to be a focal point for Tarpon Springs' Greek community.
The 2002 statue was in memory of the Tarpon Springs spongers.
I didn't know whether it was because of the pandemic or the miserable weather that there were no cruises leaving the dock that September day for the Gulf of Mexico. It would have been enjoyable to learn more about the area's history, local sponging and fishing industries, and possibly spotting dolphins, ospreys, herons, and more in a protected nesting area.
The town of Tarpon Springs was really as pretty as the 'postcard' on this building! And, even in the nonstop drizzle, exploring the town was a delightful change from what we had previously seen in our many trips to Florida.
Posted on April 16th, 2021, from Chicago, Illinois, where we came yesterday to visit our second daughter, Natalie, her husband, Adam, and their adorable eight-month-old daughter, Clara, whom we hadn't been able to see since she was a month old because of Covid-19. I hope you also are lucky enough now to spend more time with family and other loved ones.
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