Manatee

After a relaxing first night in Clearwater, we jumped aboard Mary & Karen's Prius and took a tour of the Tampa area with a stop at the pier in Safety Harbor. We looked into the water and only saw a few minnows until we got towards the end of the pier. At that point we heard a hearty snort coming from below us. There was a family of manatees hanging out just below us and we watched them for a solid half hour. They didn't seem to be a terribly industrious species, and we decided that we wanted to resemble them on this trip!

We left the protection of Safety Harbor, we headed towards Tarpon Springs which we learned was the Greek capital of Florida and a center of sponge fishing. We found a Greek restaurant and scarfed down enormous gyros before wandering down the boulevard, admiring the fishing ships. With no need for sea sponges, t-shirts or key chains we jumped back in the car and headed south.

The afternoon was spent at Howard Park, a beautiful (and not too crowded) beach on the Gulf of Mexico. We wandered through the water and napped in the shade of the palm trees. When I woke up, I was still in half of the shade that I started in.

Tonight, we are planning our trip ahead to the Everglades. We leave tomorrow morning and Lisa is a little nervous about getting eaten by a crocodile.