My husband and I decided to take a much needed vacation to Florida and happened to leave on Saturday, the day that Pickens County had its first snowfall…December 5th. We had to load up the car in the snow and cold, where the temperatures were in the 30′s and both of us were so excited to be exiting the cold for a few days!
As we headed south, the temperatures kept rising and we were happily taking off our jackets!
Our first stop was Tarpon Springs, Florida where we met up with some great friends Dan and Melissa. They call Tarpon Springs their home and they showed us a great time – dinner of raw oysters and grilled crab legs at a local place called Crabby Bills and lunch the next day at Mama’s, an authentic Greek Restaurant, at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks!!! How wonderful!
The Sponge Docks, decorated for Christmas, in Tarpon Springs, Florida
Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks – Tourists flock to this large bilingual Greek community as Tarpon is famous for its working sponge and fishing docks where Greek divers net and sell sea sponges. Across from the Tarpon Port are tourist’s shops, Greek restaurants, and bakeries lying along the Gulf.
Being able to see, visit and eat where the locals go is so very nice. You see first hand the real skinny of the place! Thanks Melissa and Dan!!!
We then headed south to Naples. We had no idea that we were going to cross the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at Tampa Bay. This bridge is approximately 5.5 miles long and a little scary as you start up toward the top!!! We were very glad to get over the bridge and back on ‘dry land’…
Thank goodness to be back on I-75 and flat land…
We arrived in Naples and found it to be a beautiful place. We truly loved the landscaped and neat, tidy area. The beach was a fine place also.
Naples has so much to offer, well manicured areas, restaurants of all cuisines, entertainment, history and water galore! The Gulf Coast and all kinds of inlets! Just Beautiful.
We are truly enjoying our time here in Naples, Florida – really don’t want to head back to the cold and wind of Pickens County right now, as we are truly enjoying the warmth here in Naples. The warmest temperatures we have seen so far have been 86 degrees!!! Woo Hoo and in Pickens County, my sister tells me some of the temps have been in the low 30′s and even in the 20′s…
When we drive back to Pickens County this weekend, we will be very happy to be heading home; we’ve missed Miss Annie, our Boston who is visiting at her cousin Jack’s house and our very own bed!!!
Here are a couple of videos of our time here in Tarpon Springs and Naples-we hope that you enjoy them.
