Our Christmas Trip to Florida

 Time for another road trip!  It probably would not have happened had John not had his 80th birthday December 21st.  Our daughter Melissa and I cooked up a plan to give him a party in Florida, so we rented a beach house big enough to hold all of us- her family, as well as our sons Mike and Dan as well as Dan's wife Amanda.  Fortunately we found a place south of Clearwater, on the Gulf of Mexico.  It was conveniently located fairly close to Melissa's in-laws (they reside in Dunedin Fla.); she and Spencer needed to spend some of their time with them also.  We planned to stay in the beach house through Christmas, and for that holiday it was important that the grandchildren split their time between both sides of their families.

It was on the second day of our journey south that I decided to start taking pictures to share with you all.  Our stop that evening was in a motel located by Lake Eufaula, on the Chattahoochee River.  To be more precise, we were on the southwest border of Georgia, and the southeast edge of Alabama.  The next day we would be traveling through Florida. 

We had plan to spend a day in Tarpon Spring,s Fl. before continuing on to our final destination.  We had been to this town before and appreciated its history, as well as the shops and restaurants. It also has one particular park which we enjoy visiting, Whitcomb Bayou, where the springs are located (after which the town is named- tarpon is the name of a fish caught in the local waters).   As we began to walk around the bayou I heard a ticking sound- a noise which sounded like a traffic crossing alert which allows pedestrian to walk across a street.  I glanced around, but no traffic light seen.  I then looked up and saw the osprey on top of an electric pole.  First time I had ever heard any sound from an osprey!  According to my bird book they make the sound similar to whistled kyew notes.  Not too sure if that is what I had heard!

Whitcomb Bayou park is the location every Epiphany for the diving of the cross, an event sponsored by St.Nicholas church ( Greek Orthodox).  The statue above is located outside of that church- it is of a young boy who has just victoriously found the cross under the waters of the springs.  At that time of the year it is a cold dive for sure!

Surrounding the park are large Victorian homes like the one pictured above.  A sign nearby notes that that home is called "Annecy of the Bayou", built in 1885 and restored 1976.

From the bayou John and I drove into the town and walked over to what is called the Sponge Docks.  This town is known as the "sponge capital of the world".  Early Greek immigrants to this town on the Gulf settled here because of the opportunity to continue sponge harvesting, which they had done back in their home country.  Pictured above is the "Susie Sea".  You may notice the pile of brown sponges loaded on her deck.  Recently the town had a Christmas parade of boats, looks like the Susie Sea still is decked out with her Christmas finery!