Happy 2010!

Happy New Year from the cast and crew of the good ship Ithaka!

Tarpon Springs is one of those places that needs to be seen once, but when you leave you say to yourself, "Ok...been there, got the t-shirt." (although we didn't buy any t-shirts!) ha ha! -You can see it all in a day, two at the most...and most of it is pretty touristy. It was interesting to learn that it is the sponge capital of the world. The gulf waters north of Tampa Bay is one of the few areas in the world where the species of natural sponges suitable for commercial use are found. The local industry began in the late 1800's. Initially they retrieved sponges by gigging or hooking them. Diving for sponges was introduced in 1905 when the first Greek immigrant came to the west coast of Florida. As we walked along the docks we overheard Greek spoken as often as English. The restaurants were very good. I love Greek food! Our favorites were Hellas and Mykonos. Please, have you ever had fried cheese? Opa! ~We stayed at the city docks, which were pretty dilapidated to tell you the truth, but within walking distance to everything you'd want to see. (photo is of the Anclote River cruising into Tarpon Springs).

The two best things to happen to us in Tarpon Springs however, had nothing to do with sponges or fried cheese! We had two wonderful visits! First, early in the day, our friend Carol came to see us. Carol's husband is Chip's longtime friend Dave, who passed in August. We are dedicating the 4th and final leg of our journey to Dave's memory. Carol lives in Largo, not far from where we docked and she and her daughter Stacey, who was visiting for the holidays, came by to spend some time with us on New Year's Eve day. It was great seeing her...there were lots of tears and lots of reminiscing. Later in the day, my Uncle Joe, my dad's 'baby' brother, joined us for New Year's Eve dinner! What a treat for us to spend such quality time with such special people in our lives. A great way to start the new year and the new decade! Happy 2010!

Today we pulled out early; the sun was barely popping up over the horizon. We maneuvered our way past all the sponge boats and tour boats and made our way out into the intracoastal waterway. Tonight we are taking cover from the 25-30 knot winds in Tierra Verde near St. Pete Beach. It's pretty bouncy out there! When we cruised past the Bellaire Beach bridge around noon we called Grandma Helen and she waved to us from her window as I blew her kisses...I promised her we'd be back with mom in February. Tonight we are meeting up with Chip's cousin Tim and his bride Betty. They're on their way to get us now...We went 30 days without seeing more people than we could count on our fingers, but as we approach the end of the loop we are filling our days and nights with a lot of fun & happy people! All part of this wonderful journey home.

"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than in miles." Unknown to me