The Road Ahead ................. (Florida Ride 2013): Doing Time With Cousin Ralph (Part 2)

May 4, 2013
Today Ralph chauffeured us to Tarpon Springs, a Greek enclave famous for its sponge diving of times past. The commercial sponge business died out years ago and the waterfront now taps into a new industry .... tourism. Entrepreneurs offer dolphin-viewing boat rides, Greek clothing, various trinkets and tiny wedges of baklava at $2.25 each. We passed on the baklava and the dolphin tour that a young Greek man was trying his best to convince us we needed to take. I picked up a couple of souvenirs for Sherry back home and we motored on.

We continued south along the shore, passing by the famous Clearwater Beach, a mecca for "Spring Breakers", and on to St Petersburg. Increasing clouds and wind accompanied us and got absolutely fierce at Fort Desoto, an interesting bit of history on the outer edge of the bay. From there we could see the Skyway Bridge, an awesome structure built high enough for big ships to pass under.

We returned to Tampa where Ralph drove alongside the "World's Longest Sidewalk," a favorite for locals to walk, jog and ride their bicycles. We watched a tour ship leaving port, waved at the passengers and took another pass through Ybor City before returning home. It was a long day with lots of miles traveled.

The last couple of days at Ralph's were spent locally, preparing for my departure. I did my laundry, worked on the blog and washed road grime and bugs off the Harley, which had accumulated since Phoenix.

Ralph's kind hospitality was much appreciated and won't be forgotten. We parted company Wednesday, May 8, and I continued south to Everglades City.