Castawayll Great Loop: Jaunary 30, 2014 Thursday

Weather rainy again so didn't do much. Spent a couple of hours getting caught up on the blog but decided to go for a walk around town. Asked the secretary at the office if she knew where they got all the sponges. A friend of ours said everyone knows they are imported not harvested here in the Gulf waters. The young lady said the signs, advertisement and boats with sponges on were not for just show. A young man who was in the office quickly came over to ask what we wanted to know about sponges. His grandfather came here from Greece to dive for sponges and his grandfather sells sponges in Greece and Germany that are shipped from here. He talked about the different sponges, how they harvested them and said you should see how many I have in my attic. Tarpon Springs is truly the sponge capitol of the world. So off we went to buy some. Happened to go into a store called Diver's supplies. Talked with the young man there explained how the sponges were cut from the bottom just as the other young man talked about. Talked about the different sponges, wool ones are super soft and will last up to 15 years. Silk ones are good for putting soap on them and it will never get slimmy. Wool ones are good for makeup or washing the face. Vase sponges grow different shapes as a vase and will keep plants growing because they hold their moisture. They also have an antibacterial to them so they stay fresh. The first Greek Divers came here and made a living on sponges so brought their families here which started this Greek Community. There has been several times where there was a sponge blight or storm which destroyed them and the men had to go elsewhere to work and learn a new trade. Bridge painting seems to be that more popular job they are doing.
We ended up going to dinner at Mama's, thought we would just have "flaming cheese" but ended up getting a combo meal also. Our waitress told us about her family, (not many people there). She said she was currently trying to get a visa to bring her Mom back to the US so she could care for her since she was getting older. She said her mom came here when she was 14, they had to lie about her age saying she was 18. When she got here she was put to work immediately at a Chamois sewing factory. Everyone spoke Greek so she never learned English. Not sure why she went back to Greece. Then she talked about her father being a diver and drummer. He would back up famous bands when they come to Tarpon. She said after her brothers and she were born, he quit the bands and became a bridge painter. Now she says he takes care of the Greek churches here and sings or does the "chanting" for the priests, he is a holy man now. She had beautiful dark eyes and dark skin. Obviously grew up with brothers, tough but such a gentle spirit. We offered to introduce our youngest son as a good hookup, she laughed and said everyone is trying to introduce her to someone they know. When she brought us the cheese she said ready...then poured brandy over the fried goat cheese and lit it, then doused out the flame with squeezing lemon juice over it, when it burst into flames she yelled Oopa. We could only eat half our combo platter and after she brought us a to go box she brought us Greek Pudding and shyly looked around and said it's on the house, you have to find room for it, it's really good. We happily ate it all and yes it was very good. Just had to give her a hug and blessings, not often you find a waitress you just gotta give a hug when you leave. Off we went home to bed with our tummies full.

These were the sponges on the sponge boats

This boat was the one Mike on Dirtiest Jobs Show went out on a couple of years ago, you can watch the show on Netflix, above picture. Below are the finger sponges