1 Night in Tarpon Springs
After our 20 hour trip across the Gulf we arrived in Tarpon Springs around noon. You probably remember what a great overnight we had, followed by a hard time getting tied up in the marina. After a long night with little rest and an arrival like that, we didn’t even get a break because we had 3 kids on board who slept GREAT all night and were FILLED with energy. The life of looping parents!!
We were anxious to get off the boat and explore, but first we were hungry. It always seems like we want to get off the boat right when everyone is hungry, so that delays us a little bit (this is true just about every day).
We met some helpful loopers who welcomed us to Tarpon Springs and watched Miss Daisy get tied up just a few slips down (their landing wasn’t easy, either, but maybe better than ours.) Special thanks to Herb, Harbor Host of Tarpon Springs who came down to our slip to personally welcome us and congratulate us on our crossing. He even came with maps and cinnamon rolls. What a treat!!
Tarpon Springs is best known for it’s sponge docks, so we learned a lot about sponges and saw some cool working boats that collect them.
We ended up walking along the sponge docks and finding a place to eat ice cream!! Surprise surprise!!
After ice cream we found a playground and tried to make a good plan for our exhausted crew for the rest of the night. We weren’t thrilled with Tarpon Springs and part of it was probably because we were tired. There were people haggling us everywhere trying to sell us boat rides and dolphin cruises, and some of them were quite rude when we politely declined. Other than that, there were a million souvenir shops ad lots of restaurants. After pulling the kids out of the souvenir shops, I didn’t really feel like any of us had the patience for dinner out which is unfortunate because we hear they have some great Greek food. So we headed back to the boat for an easy dinner and a movie for the kids while mom and dad relaxed and decompressed.
Thanks for keeping track of our adventures!! This was not one of our favorite stops, but ya just never know!!
5 thoughts on “1 Night in Tarpon Springs”
ignore my last question as to why you crossed at night. On second notice it was obvious that 20 hours includes night time. lol. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy Tarpon Springs but as tired as you were, I don’t think you would have enjoyed anyplace. And Yes, it is a tourist trap. Enjoy. Looking for ward to your next post.
Hi. I’m really enjoying your blog. My wife and I are planning to do the loop in 2022 (we have a couple of other adventures planned in the meantime). We are also from Harrison Twp, and our kids went to South River as well.
Anyway, I am curious as to why the effort was made to make the long night crossing to Tarpon Springs and not do a shorter run to Steinhatchee or Crystal River (lots of Manatees) or somewhere like that? I know that’s a pretty common route for Loopers, but I never heard an explanation of why that is.
Hi Dan! Thanks for the message!! Lots in common! We didn’t do the “big bend route” because it generally requires multiple days of good weather, there aren’t many anchorages/marinas in some of those areas, and there is a lot of shallow water that needs to be avoided. Personally, I think we were anxious to get to warmer weather, and I’m not sure Mike ever really considered that route. I would have enjoyed the manatees and the “old Florida” feel, but again, it would require 3 days with good weather in the Gulf. Many loopers do go that way, however, and I have never heard anyone say they didn’t enjoy it. It’s funny how you don’t have a schedule, but then time slips away and weather dictates so much of what you do. We were ready to get moving. Enjoy your planning stages!! I would highly recommend joining the AGLCA at least a year or so in advance so you can keep in touch with all things Loop related!
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for the reply and the info. I certainly understand your eagerness to get to nice weather. You guys had more than your fair share of cold and rain on your way south!
Another thing we have in common: my wife is a Kindergarten teacher – at Carkenord Elementary. Your advice about AGLCA is absolutely correct, and I have been a member for the past two years.
Thanks again, and enjoy your journey!
Thanks, Dan! I hope your wife is having a great year (and more importantly, enjoying her break!!).