Monday (12/13) in Tarpon Springs was a cold 37 degrees with 30+ MPH northeast winds and partly cloudy skies. Still it was not Chicago with snow and temperatures in single digits with a wicked wind chill.
Despite the local chill, we spent the day on foot with Kodi exploring Spring and Whitcomb Bayous, Tarpon Spring "high rent" district. In the process, we walked about 5 miles and saw the beautiful homes that surround these bayous.
Spring Bayou in Safford's time was the center of marine activity and the location of the town dock. Today, the bayou is home to a war memorial and a lovely park. You can see the high winds in the photo below.
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| I suspect this was once the site of the town dock. Note the high winds |
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| War Memorial |
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| Historically appropriate Christmas decoration |
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| A marker commemorates the blessing of the water by the Archbishop of Constantinople in 2006 |
The beautiful old victoriam homes are found around Spring Bayou, which is also the location of the Safford House.
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| Annecy on the Bayou - built in 1885, restored in 1976 |
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| For Sale |
The victorian home in the above photo is for sale and according to the docent (Bruce) we met last night a Safford House is being offered for $900,000, which is reduced from the original asking price of $1.5 million.
The modest home in the photo below is also significant, but not for its architectual beauty. Located on Whitcomb Bayou it is the home of a male Rhodesian Ridgeback who happened to be walking through the door with its owner as we walked by. The owner lost control of the dog who came up to us in a friendly way. This prompted Diana to let Kodi off leash thinking she would have fun being chased by her new friend. Instead, she did a 360 degree romp and then went straight into the home open door. We called her out but then in the melee she disappeared into the house. This time, with the owner's permission, we went into the house to retreiver our retreiver.
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| Kodi explored the homes interior and so did we (trying to catch her) |
The newer homes are found around Whitcomb Bayou. Here's a sample.
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| We named this one "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" |
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| Zoom in to view interesting and expensive stone work |
After the walk we toured the area in our rental car and tried to find the lighthouse on Anclote Key. This required a visit to Fred Howard Park, which is located at the entrace to the Anclote River. We did not find the lighthouse, which is offshore. We did, however, find beach.
Dinner was at The Riverside Inn, immediately adjacent to the municipal marina, where he had another lovely dinner. Beside good food and great carrot cake, we also had a view of the marina and our boat. A nice touch to a lovely cold day.
Tuesday we visited the Tampa Bay History Center, which is located in downtown Tampa, a 45 minute drive south from Tarpon Springs. Our decision to visit this museum was based on a recommendation by one of the docents at Safford House and the weather report which called for contined cold weather and moderate winds. It turned out to be a fun and educational indoor activity.
The first step in this journey was parking Kodi at a doggie day car facility. We found a perfect place on US 19 that was right on our way.
The second step was getting there, which was easy with our Tomtom Ease GPS. Side Story: In April I purchased a new set of summer tires (235/40 ZR18) for the S4. This purchase was motivated by the fact that the several of the tires were in rough shape and the anticipated sale of the car in September. TireRack threw in the portable Tomtom GPS as a bonus and what a bonus it was. This instrument is amazingly intuitive. Right out of the box, without reading the instructions, I was able to put it to use. I can't believe this was free.
The recently completed
Tampa Bay History Center lived up to our expectations and we spent 4 hours at the museum learning about Tampa's rich history. Tampa's history also provides insight into understanding Florida's history.
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| View of the atrium |
The museum starts with prehistoric Gulf Coast Florida to the present. Exhibits include the Spanish Conquistadors, the Seminole Wars, the cigar industry, Tampa's role in war, the port and the railroads, all of which played significant roles in Tampa's/Florida's development. Here are a few photos of what we say.
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| The cigar exhibit is entered through a store front |
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| Voting booth with paper ballots and the notoriuos chads from the 2000 election |
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| Part of the movie set of the Seminols War story |
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| World War I trench art |
The museum was also highly interactive. One of the exhibits dealt with the marking of Florida produce. Here you were encourage to design your own product label, which upon completion you can email to yourself.
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| Our custom designed label |
Lunch was at the Columbia Cafe, a top quality restaurant in the museum.
Upon leaving the museum we walked the across the bridge into the adjoining neighborhood. As we walked across the bridge I took of photo of the cruise ship Carnival Inspiration. Later in the evening while watching CNN we learned that the ship had been delayed from returning to Tampa by the high (30 knot) northeast winds that have plagued the Gulf for the past four days. Some passengers did not enjoy the rocking and rolling in the seas they encounters, some of which could have been as high a 20 feet.
Now that the winds have died down we plan to leave Tarpon Springs and journey 35 miles south to St. Petersburgh. Stay tuned.
Written by Les.
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