Why You Should Visit Tarpon Springs, Florida

Tarpon Springs is a small town on the gulf coast and can easily be overlooked when you're mapping out a trip to the Sunshine State. Doing that, though, robs vacationers of one of the state's greatest treasures. You'll find great food, unique art and small town friendliness.

The city traces its history back to Greek settlers and most early settlers were sponge diving. You can still get great bargains on loofah sponges in many shops in the city. The hub of the city is still the sponge docks and the two-lane roads than run along the coast. Here, you'll find everything from tacky souvenirs to imported designer dresses and fine art. You can learn more about the history of the city at a sponge diving museum, one of the oddest museums I've ever been to. Your kids will enjoy meeting a real, live sponge diver and can even try on the gear.

The sponge docks host several festivals each year. There's something going on almost every week. Last year, I was there for an art show and found everything from unframed "starving artist" works to framed works by some of the country's leading artists. I ended up buying a beautiful beaded necklace. These celebrations always include live music. It is usually Greek, but, depending on the festival, you'll also find classical, jazz and salsa music in Tarpon Springs.

In planning your trip, schedule a couple of hours to allow a trip along the Anclote River.. You can go deep-sea fishing, but our family chose to take a sightseeing cruise on the upper deck of a large boat. We saw several manatees on the trip and some gorgeous homes and scenery. It was also very affordable. If memory serves me correctly, the tickets were only $8. Several companies offer similar cruises, so you might want to find out the details about what sights you'll see around Tarpon Springs before choosing a boat. The shores of the river that dumps into the Gulf of Mexico (the cruise trips go into the Gulf of Mexico) are lined with park benches. It's very nice to just sit and watch the boats.

For me, the biggest attraction in Tarpon Springs is the food! No trip is complete without a meal at Papa's. It's one of the more upscale shops in the town, but tourist casual wear is fine and the menu is varied enough to allow something for anybody's budget. I recommend the Greek salad. It's the Americanized version with potato salad at the bottom. Very good. I've eaten at several mom-and-pop places along the docks that were even better. Here, the Greek salad is authentic, basically being cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese. It has very little lettuce and no potato salad. Gyro fans will want to get one from a street vendor. They slice the meat off right in front of you and it's delicious. I think I've bought one from all the vendors and they're very generous with the sauce.

Finally, no trip to Tarpon Springs is complete without a stop at the bakery. I don't usually eat many treats, but I can't resist these. Hella's Bakery is a great choice. Of course, the natural inclination will be to order Baklava. I encourage you to maybe try it once, but try some canelli, some of the fruit-topped cheesecakes and some crème-filled cake, too. My family took an assortment of pastries back to the hotel and shared them over the course of the evening.

Finally, probably the most overlooked treasures in Tarpon Springs are the churches. The icons are beautiful and a stop is very worthwhile if you're into art or religion. Two churches, St. Nicholas was modeled after St. Sophia's in Constanople and is open every day. A smaller church, the Universalist one, houses the work of a famous landscape artist during the winter months.

Tarpon Springs is located on Highway 19 between New Port Ritchey and Clearwater. If you're going to Clearwater Beach, Tarpon Springs is an evening morning, afternoon or evening trip and it's a nice break from the beach.