Clearwater – Gulfport

Clearwater–We were dead tired when we arrived at our marina in Clearwater, but first things first. Got the hose out and washed all the salt off the boat. Then time for a short nap. We really didn’t feel like doing anything touristy but did eat at the local Frenchy’s restaurant. FYI: During our walk the next day we noticed that this particular restaurant was encased in plastic with the word POISON pasted all over the covering. Gave us pause to wonder what we may have ingested at our meal.

Tuesday we were up and ready to be tourists. We caught the local bus (looks like a trolley) north to Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs was settled by Greek immigrants who harvested the natural sponges in the area. Of course we had to buy a few to help the local economy. We visited a local Greek bakery and had an authentic Greek lunch. The food was very different than what we are used to, but we found most of it very good. We checked out the marinas and such and headed back to the bus stop.

Our next stop was Dunedin. Lots of small tourist shops. We did find a small history museum of the area which was interesting. Lots of history on how the city grew because of the orange/grapefruit production, producing citrus concentrate for our military personnel during WWII, the freeze the wiped out the groves of citrus trees and other events that affected this area. Very fascinating.

Back on the trolley to Clearwater and the boat.

Wednesday we slept in and enjoyed hanging at the boat until about noon when we ventured to the beach which was about 3 blocks away. Nice white sand and refreshing gulf water. We enjoyed a nice long walk along the beach in the sunshine. Just a laid-back kind of day.

Gulfport–One thing I am learning about Florida are the tides–not something we deal with in the Great Lakes. I guess when you live here, the tides are just something you know and deal with everyday. Just make sure you a going out on the rising tide…. The area near our marina is shallow, so we left on the rising tide and entered the ICW. As I’ve stated before, each section of the loop has its own challenges. This area of the ICW has houses on either side with lots of boats all around us. There are No Wake areas and resume normal speed areas and lots of day marks to mark different areas of the bay or otherwise. Keeps you on your toes that’s for sure. We arrived at Gulfport Marina in a timely fashion and without much stress as Tim knew this area from his racing days at the Gulfport Yacht Club (right next door to the marina we are in).

We are here for 3 nites as there is a cold front moving through the area bringing thunderstorms and wind. This marina is well protected, but our boat is still being buffeted by the wind. Also, we are on a floating dock, so don’t have to be concerned about the tides. We enjoyed a meal at a local restaurant, a bike ride around the area. Tonight we enjoyed the company of 3 other looper boats which is commonly called “dock tales”. So many stories and laughter about our journeys. We were even treated to the looper “tiny beers”. On the last night we had dinner with Jim and his wife Nora at “The Pearl”. Good times with new & old friends.