We met Kevin at his hotel and had a Starbucks coffee and a light breakfast before heading for the ballpark to watch the Phillies play the Houston Astros. It was another packed house with a lot of Houston fans, even though the Astros play their spring training games on the Florida east coast in West Palm Beach.
The game was a "stinker" for the Phillies however as they were routed by the Astros, 11-2. The Astros have a good team and it showed today. At this time in spring training a lot of free agents and minor leaguers are still being evaluated by the Phillies to see if they will be offered a spot on the roster before the start of the season. Most will not.
After the game, Kevin mentioned Greek food and we knew just the place. So after going back to the hotel/RV and resting, we headed up to Tarpon Springs, just north of here along the coast.
Tarpon Springs is along a water outlet to the Gulf and has a long history of sponge diving and commercial sales. Greek sponge divers came to the area in the 1920s and it has remained a predominately Greek community ever since. It is still an active port for local sponge harvesting and has maintained a strong Greek presence in the local area.
It is also apparently still one of the major sources of sponges in the country.
The sponge dock area has also evolved into a popular tourist attraction with great Greek restaurants, bakeries, curio shops and opportunities for boat tours including a trip into the Gulf in a boat captained by a grizzled old guy with a Greek fisherman's hat (right out of central casting) where a diver in an old fashioned diving suit goes into and under the water and brings back a sponge - every time. We just came for Greek food this trip however and passed on the tourist attractions.
We had an outstanding meal at Dimitri's on the Water, our favorite Greek restaurant here followed by a short walk along the waterfront. We then drove back to the hotel/RV to rest up for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.
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