I left Tallahassee early Saturday morning and drove Route 19 south – past horse farms and through pine forests – to Tarpon Springs.
I had written about the town in the early ’90s, when I did a special Ethnic Florida issue of my Travel section, and I was pleased to see that off of the touristy Dodecanese Boulevard, puffy with sponge shops, there were still bakeries and cafes where Greek was being spoken. The cafes, I noticed, were still all-male enclaves.
Eating my gyro at Costa’s, I eavesdropped on the two men in the booth behind me. They both sounded like locals – they were talking about the Bucs’ playoff chances (in English) – so when I finished I asked them the best way to get to Tampa.
"Get back on Route 19 and take it south to Tampa Road,” the dark-haired man said. “Take a left on Tampa Road, which will eventually become Hillsborough Road. When you get to Dale Mabry Highway, take a right.”
“Dale Mabry,” I said. “That’s the street that’s famous for strip clubs.”
“That’s right,” the man said. “If you see Clarissa tell her Jim says hi.”
