Last day in Clearwater

The correct pronunciation of Dunedin is not "Done-din" as we called it all day. It is pronounced "Done-Eaden" and we rode the Jolly Trolley there on our last day in Clearwater. Its only about 5 miles away. Its a cute little town whose Main Street is lined with patio cafes, ice cream shops, and (of course) several bars with happy hour specials all afternoon.

Dunedin is also the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Many of the Major League teams have spring training homes in this part of Florida. Their spring season is now underway.

We continued on the Jolly Trolley north to Tarpon Springs (about 15 miles from Clearwater). Tarpon Springs was the home of the sponge trade in the US in the early 1900's. Greeks (who were very experienced in harvesting sponges from their home waterways) were hired and relocated to dive the deeper waters near the town of Tarpon Springs to harvest the local sponges. And thus the sponge industry in the US began to boom.

Today, you will find MANY Greek restaurants in Tarpon Springs. More evidence of the city's Greek culture.

We've had an ice cream cone in almost every city we've visited so far. Its just fun to get a cone and walk down such picturesque streets in warm weather. However, we weren't sure about an Incense Cone?

There are specialty boutique shops in all of the areas we've visited. I like anything to do with Pelicans!

Sponges are for sale Everywhere in Tarpon Springs of all shapes, sizes and species.

What do you do at 3:00pm on Wednesdays? If you're retired in Tarpon Springs you apparently go to a local Tiki Bar and start (or continue) drinking. This place below was packed!

Seniors are everywhere. When we go to the grocery store at home on a Tuesday around 2pm, the store is virtually empty. Here its a full house ALL DAY. The restaurants are full, the bars are full, the streets are full (pedestrian and traffic), and if you go to church on Sunday you'd better be 30 minutes early or you'll be standing in the back. I'm not complaining, I'm just in amazement. I knew Florida was a popular place for retirees in the winter. But until you experience it, its a little hard to imagine.

Later in the evening we went back to Clearwater Beach and Pier 60. Two hours before sundown until two hours after sundown, the Pier is filled with local artisans/craftsmen selling their wares to locals from the nearby condos and to the tourists. Its a fun place to be - and quite beautiful to see a sunset over the water.

Below are some street performers on the Pier about an hour before the sun went down.

A few sunset pictures follow below. I should also mention the sand on the beach. It is so clean that it literally squeaks when you walk on it. Its texture is finer than sugar and it cools your feet even in the hot sun - again, quite amazing.

Below is a picture of Second Wave docked at the Clearwater Harbor Marina. The picture is taken while looking south toward Dunedin. There's a lot of water out there.

The photo below is of the rental boat fleet at our marina. We counted 31 boats available for rent in various makes/models. We don't like rental boaters in general because they usually don't know how to operate a boat and rarely know the rules of right of way on the water (never mind boating etiquette). Brent has a stronger opinion; Rental boaters are idiots. According to him the two terms have the same meaning and it is permissible to interchange them in any sentence.

"What? Does that NO WAKE sign apply to me even if I don't own the boat"? Or, "If I bump into other boats, do I have to pay for damages if I'm just renting"?

Or most recently, "Ugh, I didn't know that I was in the way, I didn't know where you were going". To which Brent replied from the flybridge, "Maybe I'm going to that empty slip that you're stopped in front of!! The one with two dockhands standing at the end ready to catch my lines. Get off the water idiot"!