We ate our way through Tarpon Springs from one end of the Sponge Docks to the other. Seriously, how could we resist? After all when the Greeks are cooking, you know the drill – just show up and enjoy.
A view of the Anclote River was a lunch requirement and we certainly met that by sitting outside on the back deck at Dimitri’s on the Water, 698 Dodecanese Blvd., phone (727) 938-6890.
Pleasure craft glided by. Had we arrived by boat we could tie right up at Demitri’s dock.
Greek cooking in Tarpon Springs – just show up
Our waiter confessed he had the best job in the world, serving food with the river life happening right alongside.
We felt special sitting on the water with blue sky, puffy white clouds and a bit of a breeze. I ordered the special that day, a fish gyro to die for. Others ordered octopus, chick peas cooked in rosemary, sautéd chicory. The list goes on.
Tarpon Springs – Greek cooking
When food arrived, out came the cell phone cameras to photograph the dishes. Welcome to the 21st century where a well-presented meal will end up on Facebook, Twitter and FoodSpotting within minutes of arrival.
Lunch was long and leisurely. Afterwards, we felt compelled to walk around the Sponge Docks, checking out the shops, stopping inside the Sponge Exchange to buy sponges gathered from the nearby Gulf of Mexico.
Tarpon Springs sponges
Tarpon Springs has sponge boat tours
Sponges come in all sizes and uses, from cosmetic to art to bath and really big ones as containers for plants.
St. Nicholas Boat Tours, (727) 942-6425, right next to Dimitris, give half hour boat tours ($8) on the river with a diver going down and bringing up sponges. Best to do this on a weekend, as they like to fill the boat before going out.
Tarpon Springs is called the “Sponge Capital of the World” with good reason. In 1896 John Cocoris was the first Greek to arrive. With five other Greek men he started a sponge diving business in 1905. Word spread that sponges were plentiful and Greek families began migrating to Tarpon Springs.
It is an easy stretch to say that sponges, and the Greeks that came to harvest them, are the reason you can buy baklava everywhere in Tarpon Springs today. Greek cooking combines a love of food and fellowship and they have a sweet tooth for desserts.
Baklava and a lot of other Greek pastries called us onward to Hellas Bakery, 785 Dodecanese Blvd., phone (727) 943-2400 at the other end of the Sponge Docks. So many sweet choices, too many actually.
But we braved the tough decisions and had dessert along with Greek coffee. Hellas has a restaurant as well as the bakery.
Tarpon Springs contains different areas to explore. The Sponge Docks are a destination, so is the historic downtown area and the distance between the two means taking a car or trolley.
The Jolly Trolley (www.clearwaterjolleytrolley.com) rruns between the Sponge Docks and historic downtown every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Single rides are $2 adults, $1 seniors over 65, $1.25 for students. Children five and under ride free.
Tarpon Springs – stained glass window in cathedral
We visited St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in historic downtown, with its beautiful stained-glass windows patterned after St. Sophia in Istanbul, and then we walked around the downtown area.
Tarpon Springs – cathedral
Be advised before you go that a number of stores are closed on Mondays, the day we made our visit. So we didn’t get to go inside Back in the Day Books or get caffeinated at the UnderGrounds Coffee House and Art Gallery or see the Train Depot Museum, all closed on Mondays.
But a new venue, the Artists’ Faire Fine Art Gallery and Gift Shop caught our attention. Located at 111 E. Tarpon Avenue, phone (727) 937-7125, this is a cooperative venture between the Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Tarpon Springs Art Association.
At Global Folk Arts, 208 E. Tarpon Avenue, phone (727) 942-6977, we wandered through an exotic collection of global gifts and paused at display tables full of beads and stones for making jewelry. You can make your own right here.
Tarpon Springs – shopping
None of us could resist picking up menus for the Zante cafeneo, 13 N. Safford Avenue. They serve Cajun-Greek-Creole-Italian-French and bill themselves as an eclectic café. I am not making this up. They are closed on Mondays.
So much more to see and experience – the famous bayous, Anclote Nature Park, ride a bike on the Pinellas Trail, see the Inness Paintings inside Tarpon Springs Unitarian Universalist Church, go to the Leepa Rattner Museum, check out antique stores downtown, walk around Spongeorama, visit the Shrine of Saint Michael Taxiarchis, go to Sunset Beach, communicate with the primates at Suncoast Primate Sanctuary – whew!
Tarpon Springs murals
Back at Dimitri’s their trademarked motto is “Only the love of food can lead you here”.
That could sum up a visit to Tarpon Springs – come for the cuisine, stay for the culture. We’ll be back. Opa!
UPCOMING IN TARPON SPRINGS
Every Sunday – Farmer’s Market, 9-2, corn of Tarpon and Pinellas Avenues.
June 11 – Second Saturday Downtown and Sponge Docks Events, call (727) 937-6109
June 16 – Sunset Beach Concert, The Little Big Show, 7 p.m. free (727) 942-5628, www.tsrdonline.com
©2011 Lucy Beebe Tobias, all rights reserved.
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