In a frump on a gorgeous sunny day I sat, listening to the newly updated automated message and tried not to pout. As I shook my head no the voice on the other end was sounding pretty confident in his forlorn tone. “Pick at your own risk, crops badly damaged and very few strawberries left”. The wrath of storms and Wizard-of-Oz-style tornadoes from the days leading to our picking adventure had left the fields beaten and tattered. Visions of country woven baskets filled with plump juicy strawberries on long green stems were now just that – vibrant snapshots that rotated through my head in clicks like a Fisher-Price View-Master. Rats.
I text messaged Shan to tell her the news. She was at the salon getting rooster feathers strung into her hair because, well, she’s adorable and she can work that free-bird style. “Anything else fun we can do where I’m not going to sweat?” she asks. A girl can’t get her hair done and sweat out a perfectly good blow-out! Through a string of babble an epiphany occurs. “What about the sponge docks?” Perfect. The added bonus – an adventure that required little resistance from the guys. The strawberry fields, yeah, they weren’t too thrilled about that one.
The Tarpon Springs sponge docks are part tourist trap, part authentic Greek community living and part local delight. And to experience it fully, all parts sponge and feta must be embraced.
The small downtown street was lined with cultural treasures; imported shells and baskets of sponges harvested by local divers and some even sold from the back of vans. There were wool sponges, finger sponges, chenille sponges, bowl sponges, sponges as big as your bootie… all serving a different purpose and yet all from the same deep blue waters beneath us.
It’s a pretty fair statement that no village is exempt from it’s own eccentricities. I don’t know if it’s fair to say we stumbled upon Carols’ Boutiki-Hut, as you could spot the vibrant colors and statuesque mermaid from blocks away. We did, however, very willingly stumble inside to check out the treasures within. It is here, between several enthusiastic offerings of water and iced tea, that we learned of “Night in the Islands”. Live music, Greek dancing and dining on the sponge docks, and it was happening tonight. Bingo!
In Florida, Greek salad has a scoop of potato salad on the bottom. And if you’re a native, it may take until your nearly 30 to realize that the rest of the world doesn’t do it this way. Words like spanakopita and baklava are as familiar as hot dogs and hash browns, only with less room for variation. And if I had to choose my favorite, Greek food would take the cake hands down. It’s that good. Don’t even try and argue the goodness or I’ll chuck dolmades at your head (not really, I just wanted to thrown down some more Greek lingo).
After dinner we joined the spirited crowd that had gathered into an oversized old-school dance circle. We clapped and shouted “Opa!” as we were entertained by local villagers proudly showing off their heritage through moves I can only describe as some variation of artistic, interpretive, slow-motion folk dance. How’s that for a visual?
Shan and I stepped in to join. Of course it sped up then. We shuffled our feet in a haphazard bounce as the little man linked to me counted out the beat while nodding his head as a cue to follow. Remember growing up and there was always that one old person that could never clap at the same beat as everyone else? That was us, only we were young and it was our feet. And not unlike those people we used to roll our eyes at, we were obliviously happy as we single-handedly derailed our dance line. Scott and Ryan said people were pointing at us. I think they really just wanted to know where Shan got her feathers.
And then there was the guy who danced with an upside-down glass of wine on his head. He was pretty adorable on his own, but when his wife walked up to him and smooched him proudly on his lips, my cup runnethed over and my heart gauge was pushing full. She’s the luscious-lipped lady clapping in the background.
We stopped at the quickie-mart to buy lotto tickets on the way home that night. We talked about vacationing in the Greek Isles together in a sailboat that was bigger than our houses times 5. We divvied up the elusive jackpot and swore each other to secrecy of our winnings. We didn’t win (or did we?).
Until then, we’ll relish in our street lined sunset festivals and modified Greed salads. They’re pretty darn fantastic, too.
Suggested Listening: I Feel It All / Feist
great post. how cool is Shan? I could not pull off the hair feathers. Looking forward to a vaca in your neck of the woods. Too many amazing things happening.
It's hard to be happy for you sometimes when I'm so darned jealous! Lol. I wish I had stories like these. Great post and pics. Love you lots.
LOVE! I totally want to get the hair feathers. That's so totally popular out here right now!
I don't know B, it seems like there is always something fun to do in Nash-vegas! But definitely come down and play with us whenever you want to! <br /><br />Brad – don't be jealous, I know you have these stories, too. You just don't have someone toting along in the back making you stop every 5 minutes to get a picture. But at least now we get to create some of these stories
What a great post. I'm embarrassed to say I haven't fully relished in the delights of Tarpon Springs in at least 30 years, probably longer, although we did go on a Gulf dive out of the docks there that was one of the best I've ever been on (except for the vomiting bit, but that happens every time no matter what). Good times!<br /><br />"Facial Silk" is also an incredible
I can't believe you haven't been back to Tarpon Springs in 30 years! You have to go the first Saturday in May for the Island Nights. You'll love it! <br /><br />Facial Silk would have made an awesome 80's band. I know you can whip up a side ponytail in less than 30 seconds – I've seen it! You'd be the perfect groupie.
I can't believe you haven't been back to Tarpon Springs in 30 years! You have to go the first Saturday in May for the Island Nights. You'll love it! <br /><br />Facial Silk would have made an awesome 80's band. I know you can whip up a side ponytail in less than 30 seconds – I've seen it! You'd be the perfect groupie.