An Afternoon at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

A girlfriend of mine from Illinois came down to visit me. She left during a blizzard, so imagine how happy she was to come down here to the warm Florida sunshine. It rained when she got here... what can I say... but the following Monday was very nice.

So we got a sitter for the little ones and took an afternoon for lunch and shopping. I had never been there before, and with my recent obsession with learning about my Greek heritage, we took a trip to the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs. It's said to be the largest Greek community in the whole United States. The sponge industry brought the Greeks here for work. And this wonderfully authentic Greek community arose. The people on the street were speaking to each other in Greek. The smells of Greek coffee and pastries were everywhere.

We found Mama's Greek Cuisine by accident just walking by. The son of mama herself was outside passing out menus, adding that if we weren't happy with our lunch, he would pay for it himself. We went inside and were greeted right away. We chose to sit on the back patio to do some people-watching. We had some Greek wine and had the BEST Greek salad either of us ever had! The wine was pretty good, too. We both had the combo platter, and the portions were unreal!! We both took home at least half of our lunch! It was really a wonderful lunch. The bread was fresh, and the locals sat around us speaking in Greek. The service was personable and quick. Being a family business, that's what you would expect. Did I mention that at night they have a live band that plays Greek music? I can't wait to go back, and when I do, I will add some photos. It was a really wonderful experience.

I took another trip to Tarpon Springs, and I took a camera this time! We walked around the docks and took pictures of the canal full of boats! Then we ate off Main street, at Costa's. We took the kids with us this time. We had lunch on the sidewalk outside. The owner was wonderful. The wine was sweet, and the food was divine—and that Greek bread, YUMMY!!! Listening to the people walking by speaking Greek, and cars driving by now and again with their Greek music floating out of the windows... it was like stepping into another country. I love Tarpon Springs!

This was a lot of fun with the boys. It's small, but worth the time. The aquarium is huge and has a petting pool with stingrays. You can watch the divers hand feed a huge grouper, sharks, and other fish!! A reeeel good time :)