Just north of Tampa is a small town called Tarpon Springs that has one claim to fame.  The sponge industry is big here and they make the most of it.  The Sponge Docks have become a nice little tourist attraction, with shops, restaurants, dolphins cruises, etc...  So this is where we decided to spend our labor day.  We used to live in this town about ten years ago, so we knew the ins and outs, and there's a nice relatively unknown beach here that I'll show in another thread.  Today we decided to take the munchkins on a dolphin cruise...

The main drag...



Raw sponges for sale...



The motley crew...



Fishing boats and yachts in dry-dock...



More fishing boats taking the day off...



Sponge boats tied up to the dock...



Looks like he had a good day...



Abandoned fishing boats that broke loose and slammed into each other.  Looks like they've been there forever and no one will move them...



What I wouldn't give...



Oh yeah, and we saw a couple of dolphin as well... 

I've been there in 2004. Very nice place to visit! Sadly we missed a boat trip. Looks like you had a great time! And did you get some sponges?

Don't know, that large boat hasn't even sails....

You put Tampa and Tarpon too close together and I was sitting here reading Tampon Springs wondering who on earth would name their city that    I'm going back to bed, nice shots!

Never made it over there while I was in Tampa... thanks for sharing.