Our Time in Clearwater



Sitting out on the deck with Wayne, Linda and John



Enjoying the crowd at the American Legion on a Sunday afternoon!



Even Mr. and Mrs. Claus got in the act!



Sunrise view from the Legion - Not bad!



This American Legion has the largest membership in the United States!

Mural of over 400 cats and dogs on Skip's Bar

Isn't this just amazing!  I felt like I could reach out and pet them!



Skip and his buddy



Check out the sponges!

Memorial to all of the Sponge divers in Tarpon Springs

Couldn't miss the Spongeorama "Sponge Museum"!

We've been really enjoying spending time in the Clearwater area. After catching up on our sleep, we decided we would venture out to Tarpon Springs. Saturday morning we said goodbye to Jeff and Linda of "Jeremiah". They would cross their wake near Sarasota and were anxious to get home. We have really enjoyed traveling with them along the way. That is one thing about this adventure – you meet the greatest people and many longtime friendships are created. We look forward to seeing them again after the holidays.

That afternoon we took the Jolly Trolley to Tarpon Springs. For only $4.00 we both could ride the trolley all day. It not only went all over Clearwater, but to the Beach, Dunedin, Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs. You can't beat that!! We got to do a lot of sightseeing along the way. This area is so pretty. The first thing we needed to do when we got to Tarpon Springs was to find a place for lunch. We were both starving! We walked over to the Rusty Belly's which is a neat place on the water. Along the way we met up with several Loopers checking out the town. Rusty Belly's was the perfect place. We sat outside and had wonderful Mahi Mahi. They also had the best ever hush puppies! We also hit Happy Hour time! Great timing! After that we checked out some shops. Tarpon Springs is the "sponge capital the world". SO, it was no surprise that I wanted to buy a sponge! Sponges were everywhere! We found this young woman named Sophia that was selling them on the street. She gave me a good deal on several sponges. She told us all about how they harvest the sponges and all the different types. She was a real joy to talk to. Did you know that there are over a hundred types of sponges, but only five types are marketable? Well, now you do. We even went to the free Sponge Museum. Let me tell you, it was worth every penny! LOL!

We then had to stop at a Greek bar for a cocktail. Opa! Interesting place – good local music.  The town has a lot of history and "interesting people"!  Finally we were back on the trolley and headed back to NautiNell. 

Earlier when we were on our way to Tarpon Springs on the Jolly Trolley, we went through the town of Dunedin. There we passed this neighborhood bar that looked rather interesting and fun. At the time there were at least 50 bikes there and everyone had on Santa hats. When I said bikes – I meant bicycles. Come to find out – this bar used to be a real "biker" bar years ago, but since has been cleaned up and now is the local corner "dive" where nearly everyone hangs out at one time or another. Since this place had perked our interest, we decided to stop there on the way back to Clearwater.

The name of the bar was Skip's Bar. We even met Skip who kept continually buying us beer. So much so that we missed our trolley to Clearwater and had to wait another hour. No surprise there! No big deal either – we just had another beer (or two)! On the outside walls of the building is a fantastic mural of over 400 dogs and cats. Skip is very active with the Animal Rescue in Dunedin. The pictures on the mural are dogs and cats that have been rescued. The new owner pays to have their pet's portrait on the mural. The money goes to the Animal Rescue. The mural is wonderful. They were having a grand unveiling of the mural on Sunday. The artist was going to be there along with Santa. Skip said it was going to be a really big deal – even the press was going to be there. Sorry we missed it!

A group of young guys went out in a big fishing boat - they came back with a 7 foot tiger shark!  This one guy had caught a good sized grouper on his line and the tiger shark decided he'd take it for himself.  It didnt work out so good for the shark.  They were beside themselves when they came in.  They laid out the shark on the dock - it was huge!

We hung around the marina until about noon on Sunday.  When we finally did leave, we only went 12 miles! We found an American Legion on the water! This Legion has the largest membership in the United States. There were slips where we could pull in so we decided to check it out. There were two different bands playing. The one inside was Rock 'n Roll with a little easier (older) style and the one outside was a little more upbeat. They both were good so it was hard to decide where to be. Both of them had a huge crowd. There is also a restaurant there so we had pizza and beer (and a couple of margaritas on the side). We had so much fun just watching the people. Even Santa and Mrs. Claus were there. How do they find the time!?!

We met a couple there that was interested in talking to us about living on a boat. Wayne and Linda
invited us over to their table where we had a really nice conversation. They live in the condos right next to the Clearwater Marina and saw all of us come in Friday morning. We decided that we could just stay in the slip for the night. No one seemed to care. So that's what we did! Free dockage!

In fact, it was so nice here at the Legion that we ended up staying all the next day and night! They were having tacos at the restaurant for lunch – so we couldn't miss that! We hung out all day and relaxed. We even ended up eating dinner there too. BTW, the Commander of the Legion came by to tell us that they normally just let boats stay one night. However, since they weren't crowded and it was getting late, we were welcome to stay another night. Good thing! We really hadn't planned to leave! LOL!

Mike had taken a dinghy ride to check out other anchorages. There are several around here. Since we are in no hurry we might as well take advantage of them! Tomorrow we are planning to stay at a free slip that a couple has and offers to transient boaters. That is really a nice thing to do! It's somewhere near John's Pass so we really want to spend some time there.

Till next time!

Admiral "C"