We stayed at the Neptune Resort after ‘de-ferrying’ at the dock and riding two miles in the dark. Always interesting to see what a place looks like in the daylight.

. . . as I looked out the window, I felt like I was still on the ferry as the waves were still rocking and rolling. Either that was a tidal wave, another hurricane was approaching or the cheap glass in the window was causing a refraction. Surfs up!!!

Greg picked up our rental van, we packed up and began our drive back to Tarpon Springs. Along the way we stopped at the Ding Darling museum. Ding was an environmentalist, artist and originator of the Federal Duck stamp.

. . . self explanatory!!!

. . . each of the annual Duck Stamp winning artist  stamp, since the inception of the program . . .

. . . nice museum  . . .

. . .  and we took the walking tour looking for gators . . . alright, that’s not a gator . . .

. . . harassing a gator? Problem solves itself!!!

A lot of ‘Guess the Scat’ displays . . .

Gator tracks while looking for chow. mmmmmm . . .  that pasty white tourist from WI looks yummy!!!

Is there a gator down there lurking . . . no swimming here.

See anything in the bush . . .

. . . look closer

oh yeah . . .

. . . this guy eventually made a lunge for a bird, for a nice mid day snack, but missed!

Next stop was touring the summer homes of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. A great walking tour among the estates of both men . . .

The Edison house . . .

. . . among the structures was the Edison southern laboratory . . .

. . . well preserved homes

. . .both Edison and and Ford planted many species of trees, and had large orchards and vegetable gardens. Edison sold his extra produce in a local market!!

Several Ford vehicles were also on display.

. . . wonder where the word ‘pick-up’ comes from’?  When you ordered a utility vehicle from Ford, it was shipped to you in a wooden crate without body or flatbed. You needed to go to the railroad depot to ‘pick it up’. Usually the buyer would hire a local carpenter to build a cab and flatbed for the chassis out of the packing crate materials. Ingenious!!!

Soon we arrived in Tarpon Springs, walked around downtown, had a few drinks  . . .

. . . and a wonderful dinner of panko encrusted hogfish. YUM!

. . . and ‘Pots of Creme’. Nice way to end the trip