Eight of us met outside the Whistle Stop in Plant City this morning. The day started with a speech and special presentation by Bill McDaniel commerating his unique photo opportunity in Cades Cove, TN in June of this year. Click here to view the video.
After breakfast at Snellgroves, we bid farewell to Eddie & Bill who were off to barbeque some more ribs for an Elks Club fund raiser and to Robert wh had to complete his build of a new grill. The rest of us, Boyd, Lloyd, Scott, Bob K. and I, mounted up and headed out for the day's adventure.
The ride took us north to Zephyrhills, Dade City and San Antonio before turning west towards Tarpon Springs. Along the way we visited Pasco Road, a hidden gem just west of San Antonio. After a short stop in Land O' Lakes, we completed the run to the sponge docks. The complete route can be see here.
As can be seen from the photos, it was a near perfect day for our visit to this historic location. We had expected to find large crowds there on such a beautiful Saturday, but we had the place almost to ourselves. I guess the economy has hit tourism pretty hard. Hopefully, things will pick up for them as the snowbirds begin to return to the area.
After a tour of the area, we settled down for lunch a a local Greek restaurant. I had not had a good Greek meal since my days policing Greektown in Detroit, but the food here proved to be the equal of anything Detroit had to offer. We all had the Gyros sandwich and Greek salad. Excellent.
Before leaving Tarpon Springs, Bob K., a former resident, led us to Fred Howard Park situated on the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, the Howard Parkway was closed for repairs so our view was shore bound.
We soon turned towards home and the end of another great day of riding. Be sure to come out and join us. For those members of our group who are headed to West Virginia next week, we wish you safe roads, great vistas and good times.
Ride with Pride
Gunny
