Thursday, January 29, 2009

Vacation Day Two: Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs Beach, Florida 01/21/2009

The second day we were in Florida, the girls and I took a drive to Tarpon Springs on the recommendation of my MIL. It was a fabulous drive, especially since the girls slept the entire way. Once we arrive in Tarpon Springs, we wound through a beautiful district of antique stores, nostalgic candy shops, statues and restaurants. There were Greek Gods and Goddesses poking up all over the place.

We continued down toward the coast where the marina's were plentiful and the lake houses beautiful. Even their docks were something to look at. Izabel loved seeing all the boats lined up in decks 3 and 4 high.

We finally made it to the coast and stopped at the Beach. I mean, that is where we headed in the first place. It was still very cold and windy so our time spent there was minimal. We were the only ones actually on the beach with the exception of the birds. The sand was soft and white and once again we started collecting shells.

Izabel Grace, Tarpon Springs Beach, Florida 01/21/2009

Izabel loved any form of beach we ventured to but Emily had a hard time with it all. She didn't mind the wind so much but the feel of the sand on her fingers was a bit too much for her. At this specific location, she fell and landed right on her hiney. When she attempted to get up, her hands dug into the sand and the tears started flowing. LOL!

Emily Rose, Tarpon Springs Beach, Florida 01/21/2009

Emily's love for the beach was later evident when she found pleasure in the seagulls. Every beach we went to, she found the birds and chased them. She loved it!

After we left Tarpon Springs Beach, we headed down to what would be the tourist district. Lots of pink and green buildings. LOL! There were shops everywhere. We started in the visitors center, hoping for a boat excursion, but no one was boating because it was so cold. We walked around the marina a little bit, went through some shops and ended up at Spongeorama.


Did you know that Tarpon Springs is very close to being the Sponge capital of the world? To keep you from the entire history of Tarpon Springs, I'll cut to the chase. Tarpon Springs used to be a huge Sponge harvesting area. It dropped off for quite awhile until 2007 when they recorded the biggest harvest in a very long time. So, yes, there were sponges everywhere. It's directly on the water so we saw boats coming in and hanging the sponges to dry. A very cool event to witness.

Spongeorama is of course a tacky tourist spot but I found it to be quite neat. They had a museum and the girls got to pick out a sponge to take home for their baths. We even bought some handmade goats milk soaps. They smell divine!

Tarpon Springs was very nice and quaint. Izabel really got a kick out of all the Greek people and their accents. And not once, or twice, but three times did people ask if my girls were twins. LOL! They are 20 months apart, but so many still assume they are twins.

Izzy 'N Emmy, Tarpon Springs Beach, Florida 01/21/2009

These are the last of the photos I have until this crisis can be resolved. In fact these may be the only photos I have from our trip, but at least I have them. There are a few more over on FLICKR! Enjoy!

7 comments:

Kmommy said...

That looks soooo beautiful and fun!!

Unknown said...

did I mention I am jealous?

looks like you had a great time, and as promised the spider story is now up,.......lol

Frogs' mom said...

oooh It loooks like fun - Great pictures - the girls are soooo cute!

Dawn said...

It looks like you definitely made lemonade out of lemons - too bad it was so cold.

The big girls are 20 months apart and everyone thought they were twins, too. And how we have twins for real!

tiarastantrums said...

aww - the beach - that would be heavenly right now

Unknown said...

Girls and beaches go hand in hand! :) What I wouldn't give to be at a beach right now. :)

tommie said...

looks like so much fun!

I get asked if mine are twins at least once a week. They are 16 months apart....Livi is a good inch or two shorter too!