Travel & Leisure magazine recently included Tarpon Springs among the “most European cities” in the United States. The list included Boston, DC, and San Francisco, but anyone who has been to Tarpon would probably acknowledge that as far as resembling some portion of Europe, it is in a class by itself.
The area was inhabited by Greeks over a hundred years ago, predominantly from the Dodecanese islands of Kalymnos, Chalki, and Symi, as the new settlers were able to ply their trade of sponge diving – which they honed on the Greek islands – in the Gulf of Mexico.
Tarpon’s historic and picturesque Sponge Docks feature an array of fishing and sponging boats moored at the Anclote River, with a plethora of restaurants and gift shops, most emitting Greek music from their loudspeakers all day long, situated along the Docks’ main thoroughfare, Dodecanese Boulevard.
This idyllic, almost mythical community welcomes droves of tourists by day – most of them not of Greek descent – who populate the restaurants and gift shops, take tours on the boats, and walk along the Boulevard, enjoying maritime scents amid mild, tropical breezes. Nearby are the beach towns of Clearwater, Dunedin, and St. Petersburg.
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