“Once a week, go Greek.”
Look for this motto on shirts worn by the wait staff at Mr. Souvlaki’s restaurant on Pinellas Avenue in Tarpon Springs. Be quick to take a peek because the waiters are moving pretty fast, threading their way among tables packed with people primed for a Greek lunch or dinner served seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Greek chow mein, an original dish at Mr. Souvlaki’s restaurant, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
And many locals are speaking Greek, a good sign that the food here is the real deal. Mr. Souvlaki’s is the home of the Greek Chow Mein (you read that right), an original dish that looks like chow mein but tastes Greek. I haven’t a clue how they make that happen.
On a recent visit to the restaurant Patricia Pochurek, a writer friend and my Tarpon Springs cultural guide for the day, had the Greek chow mein. I chose the calamari platter.
Both were excellent. Be advised that a half order is big enough for a meal plus a takeout box. A full order, just guessing, would probably feed a family for days.
Go Greek in Tarpon Springs
Back to the motto – once a week, go Greek.
If I had to pick a day of the week it would be either Wednesday or Friday. Why? These are the two days that the Heritage Museum is open to visitors from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $3 per adult, children get in free if accompanied by an adult.
Yoga students (and dog) at Craig Park overlooking Spring Bayou, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
Located in Craig Park, a tranquil green space overlooking Spring Bayou, the Heritage Museum is shaded by venerable trees. Step inside. What you find will knock your socks off.
A former library turned museum, the building has high ceilings, light-filled rooms, a refurbished art gallery with excellent track lighting and a large, acoustically tuned room used for chamber music concerts, classes and lectures. To see what is coming up, visit this Web site: http://www.Tarponarts.org
There is a small but packed historical museum on the right wing of the building with photography of the city’s history and samples of life from Indian times to sponge divers.
A mural by Christopher Still in the Heritage Museum, Tarpon Springs. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
Turning left into the art gallery wing, take a deep breath, because this is where the light-filled architecture and renovations really pay off.
On the walls are Giclee reproductions of murals done by Christopher Still, the artist in residence for the Florida Legislature.
Still resides in Tarpon Springs and has an art studio downtown. He was commissioned to do ten murals for the Florida State House chambers. The murals trace Florida’s history from the 16th century to modern times. In 2010 Still was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
A Tampa bay native Still has a special love for being in the water. He built a clear plastic box where he can insert his hands into gloved openings and paint underwater. That ingenious box is on display in the art gallery.
Get a hold of the legends – they are numbered keys to his murals, with explainers. For example, in the mural “To Have and Have Not” a young girl holds a Florida orange. Behind her a train crosses a bridge in the Key. The foreground has a sponge divers bell helmet and much more. The legend tells the stories of why each object was chosen.
Tarpon sculpture at Tarpon Springs Public Library. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
Pick up a copy of the free brochure called City of Tarpon Springs Cultural Treasures. The list includes five places – the Performing Arts Center, the Cultural Center, Safford House Museum, Heritage Museum and Historic Depot Museum.
And that (drum roll please) is just for starters.
Use this Tarpon Springs brochure as a day guide to creativity and culture served up in community that both remembers its past and extends a gracious welcome to the here and now.
Everywhere you turn there are portraits of the past – murals on walls, old photographs, exhibits, events and people remembered.
Like the annual Epiphany celebration, a well-known religious event that always attracts thousands to Tarpon Springs every January.
Two exhibits at the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center on Pinellas Avenue remain up through April 30, 2016. They are: Epiphany Exhibitions: “Leap of Faith” and “Epiphany in Tarpon Springs”
The photographs, both color and black and white, are from a variety of sources, including newspaper coverage. Moments and memories remembered. A bishop or archbishop throws a cross into the water. Young men jump into the bayou. Only one emerges victorious, holding the cross.
In one photo a white dove, set free at the annual event, lands on the archbishop’s hat and stays there. A close up color photo of three alter boys in full robes shows them sitting – no faces, just their robes and their hands clasped as they wait for the church service to begin – a powerful moment.
If the building looks like a City Hall that is because it is the first City Hall of Tarpon Springs built in 1915. Expansions happened but not always in the building’s favor. In 1962 the front porch steps were removed to widen Pinellas Avenue. A shame.
The city kept to a tradition of recycling by moving City Hall in 1987 into the former Tarpon Springs high school.
The old City Hall is now both the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center, admission is free, and also home to the Center for Gulf Coast Folklife Gallery. That is why you see the long name: Center for Gulf Coast Folklife Gallery/Cultural Center.
Hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A 1926 Jitney restored by the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. Photo by Patricia Pochurek
From there it is an easy walk to the Historic Depot Museum on Tarpon Avenue kept open as a public history museum by the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. Hours are Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A recently restored 1926 Jitney will soon sit on the museum grounds and be used for parades and taking people around town on weekends.
The train depot is right next to the Pinellas Trail, a Rails to Trails project (old railroad right of ways converted to alternative transportation) and well used by bicycle riders, walkers and skaters.
By now you are hungry – and when the Greeks are cooking, just show up. They are justly famous for their cuisine.
In addition to restaurants dotted around downtown, the Sponge Docks area is close by with a variety of choices including favorites like Yianni’s Greek Restaurant and Mykonos Greek Restaurant.
No matter what day of the week, a visit is not complete without Greek pastries.
Just saying . . .
Pastry at Hellas Restaurant and Bakery on the Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
Visit the Hellas Restaurant and Bakery located on Dodecanese Boulevard. Your sweet tooth thanks you before you walk in the door. It is close to impossible to leave without a sweet or two. The hardest part is making a decision. That is why you see people lined up with their arms folded, staring intently at the display cases.
Sponge boat on the way out to gather a sponge or two. Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
A few steps away on Dodecanese Boulevard the Sponge Docks have the real thing – sponges brought up from the Gulf of Mexico. You are here. Stock up. In fact, take a tour on a sponge diving boat and see the traditional diver in action.
Sponges from the Gulf of Mexico, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
Like dancing? The Sponge Docks has that covered too with Salsa on the Sponge Docks coming up on two Saturdays, May 28 and also October 1, 2016 from 6 to 11 p.m. There is a free dance lesson from 6-7 p.m. before the band begins.
Night in the Islands on May 7, June 4, July 9, August 6, September 10, 2016, again at the Sponge Docks has free dance lessons 6-7p.m.offered by Levendia Dancers plus outdoor dining is available on the sponge docks, Night in the Islands is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ah, so much to do, so little time.
Have you figured it out yet?
Go Greek more than one day a week
Tarpon Springs need more than day – so go Greek for two days or more – check out the 1910 Inn, a Bed and Breakfast on Tarpon Avenue, just steps away from Spring Bayou and downtown.
the 1910 Inn, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photo by Lucy Beebe Tobias
Consider parking your car and using the Jolley Trolley to get around. Five dollars buys an unlimited day pass.
Oh, and for the list of places to go and things to do, did I mention visiting the Cathedral along with the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art and then sign up for Odyssey Cruises where you can go on a narrated nature tour and go shelling on Anclote Key?
Too much?
Then it is time for some honey and walnuts and pastry.
Open the box from Hellas Restaurant and Bakery.
Pass me the baklava please.
More to Explore
Discover Downtown St. Petersburg
Step inside Florida’s historical homes