Or, after two hours in the sun, re-board the buses to drive about 3 minutes away to enjoy your lunch at a lovely shaded waterfront picnic pavilion that we've reserved.

Liability Waiver:  The BBC has a revised Liability Waiver specific to our club.  Even if you have signed a liability release form in the past for our club, we are asking that you sign the revised one. This will only need to be done one time; not yearly as in the past.  Please click on link below, print and sign, and give the form to your bus leader on this trip. 

Soooooo instead, we have a special day in store for you

on Monday, June 20

from 8:30 am-8:30 pm when we visit

Fred Howard Park and Tarpon Springs
(1 hr. 45 mins. from The Villages)

While there is a modest food truck on site, we are recommending that you consider bringing your own lunch. Take your choice of enjoying your lunch on the beach; just keep it close to your chest so seagulls don't--again--get the mistaken impression you want to share it with them.

Although I announced on the SE Atlantic bus trip that we would be visiting Honeymoon Island in June, after studying the coastal tidal charts and speaking to three representatives there, I discovered that high tide would eliminate any beach near the café and restrooms between noon and 4:00. Therefore, we are postponing that trip until Sept. or Oct. when the tides are the opposite.

However, you might get tempted by other restaurants that you pass along the 3-4 block walk. If you wish to dine in a less crowded area, consider several restaurants--including Mr. Souvlaki's and the Original Mama Maria's Greek Cuisine--that you'd find on N. Pinellas Ave., the perpendicular street where our buses are parked. All of these restaurants were among Trip Advisor's top 10 in Tarpon Springs.

How else might you spend your two hours in Tarpon Springs? You could choose to stroll among boats lining the wharfs and piers of the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. Or visit the famous Spongeorama's Sponge Factory at 510 Dodecanese Blvd, where you'll become a sponge expert while watching the free movie on sponge diving and harvesting. Regrettably, there are also a million "touristy" but fun shops.

Drop some of those Greek calories as you hike back up Dodecanese Blvd to the buses in the parking lot where you were dropped off. We will depart--looking a lot like this--at 6:15 pm.

You can stay at this beautiful and serene site for either 30 or 45 minutes then return to the beach.

After several more hours of peaceful beachcombing, we will proceed at 3:30 for a 15-minute drive to Tarpon Springs, a Greek community known not only for the world's finest sponges, but for some of the most superb Greek restaurants, markets, and bakeries outside Athens. There are at least twelve of them within walking distance along the main thoroughfare, Dodecanese Blvd.

Because the restaurant, Hellas ( http://hellasbakery.com/company-info/hellas-restaurant-and-bakery-tarpon-springs-florida) came highly recommended, 4 of us enjoyed a delicious dinner there for $48, then proceeded next door to their bakery where we--like naughty children--somehow racked up $36 in baked goods. Hope you're more mature and disciplined than were we!

2016 Beach Trips

To join us on this trip to Tarpon Springs, print the reservation form (click on green button below) and mail it along with your check (made out to the BBC) for $25 per person to the address below. 

                        Barefoot Beachcombers Club (‘BBC’ will also suffice)

333 Colony Blvd. #110
  The Villages, FL 32162

 I want to go to on the trip to FHP and Tarpon Springs on June 20th.  Enclosed is my check for $25 per person.

 Print your name(s)

 ______________________________________________________________________________________________

 We would like to be on the bus with up to 4 friends named below:

 ______________________________________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________________________________
        
 On June 1, we will conduct our lottery and you will be notified shortly thereafter of your seat confirmation or waitlist status.
 
 

BBC Revised Liability Waiver March 2015.pdf

We’ll return to this man-made beach--one of the most perfect beaches we have encountered yet--at the end of a mile long causeway. It's narrow and pristine, with plenty of wildlife to be seen, including many types of aquatic birds (eagles, ospreys, herons, egrets, pelicans, etc.) and occasionally dolphins and manatees. A limited number of palm trees provide a shady escape. Because there are some grasses in the shallow water, you may wish to wear water shoes. The clean restrooms were recently remodeled, and there are chairs, umbrellas, kayaks, and paddleboats for rent. (Prices are not known at this time.) Best yet, there's not a building within site~~well maybe 20 miles away.