Safety Harbor Travel Guide

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John Wilson Park is located in the heart of Saafety Harbor's downtown and features a huge gazebo in its center. This park is like a traditional New England town common, where community concerts and events like farmers markets draw locals and visitors.

The third Friday of each month, the town hosts its 3rd Friday Music Series with concerts at the park. This free event takes place from 6 to 10 pm at the park and at some other venues in town. Besides music, there are food and crafts available around John Wilson Park.

The Farmers Market is held each Thursdays 8am to 1:30pm from November through May. Its vendors offer fresh and organic produce, plants and cut flowers, gourmet foods, baked items, other snacks, and crafts such as jewelery.

The gazebo can be rented for $50 an hour for residents and $75 an hour for nonresidents.

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This 100 foot tall Baranoff Oak, also called the Safety Harbor Oak, has a circumference of 20 feet at the base. The park around the oak -- Baranoff Park -- was established in 2004, and it was then that both the park and the tree were named after Dr. Salem H. Baranoff.

Baranoff was born in Kiev, Russia to a Jewish family and he came to the US in 1904. He became a doctor, practicing in New York City prior to starting his first health spa in Spring Valley, New York. When he came to Safety Harbor, the site of the spa was a natural spring and a rehabilitation sanitarium for alcoholics. Baranoff bought the town's five waterfront springs in 1945 and formed the site into Florida's first health spa and a major destination for visitors and celebrities. Baronoff also used his wealth to help the local community, donating the land for the library, helping purchase the American Legion building, and providing scholarships for local youth. Baraonoff died in 1977 at his home in Safety Harbor.

The plaque at the base of the mighty oak reads:

“The Baranoff Oak”

This tree is reportedly the oldest living
Live Oak Tree in Pinellas County and is
estimated to be between 300 to 500 years
old. This grand oak tree is registered with
The Live Oak Society of the Louisiana
Garden Club Federation, Inc.

Erected by the
Safety Harbor City Commission
2005

I made a reservation and had a romantic dinner for a new girlfriend set and even spoke to Kris the owner. Unfortunately, nothing we discussed was remembered, we waited 45 minutes, the food took another 45 minutes and was cold and the owner, Kris was incredibly rude. There are so many great places to impress a woman and I wouldn't risk taking someone for a special occasion here. Save your time and money and find another place that respects romance:)

Favorite Dish: Terrible!

A neat little bistro adjacent to the town square park. It is in a former house that has a quaint feel to it and includes an outdoor patio. They typically have an acoustic musician playing during dinner.

Favorite Dish: I had the duck breast and it was delicious. They have many excellent seafood entrees on the menu as well as steaks.

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Green Springs is one of the best little locally owned restaurants I have discovered in the Tampa Bay Area. This cool location (as the name suggests) is in an old Tampa bungalow which has been beautifully remodeled into a restaurant with six or so uniquely decorated rooms. Maybe my favorite decorative touch was the SCUBA breathing apparatus that was attached to the urinal in the men's room.

Our meals started with a small, but complimentary, cup of the soup of the day, which was potato. We also had simple side salads included with our entrees.

I decided on their appetizer called Saganaki ($7). This piping hot baked Greek Kefalograviera cheese was fried in olive oil and served in a sizzling iron skillet with soft bread. When the waiter brought it out to the table, he exclaimed "Ooopah!" as he squeezed the lemon on the cheese to make the whole dish sizzle.

Laura ordered their blue crab-stuffed portobello mushroom ($10). This dish came with two flattened portobello mushroom caps overflowing with great blue crab meat.

My entree was their "pesto-seared jumbo shrimp and scallop risotto" for $19. The name is a mouthful and so was the meal! The mound of creamy pesto risotto was topped with six or eight small Key West pink scallops and sea scallops, all seared to perfection, along with about four grilled shrimp, maybe slightly overcooked.

Laura's entree was the roasted duck breast served with blackberry sauce ($20). The five or six slices of tender roast duck were served with a blackberry-orange sauce, buttermilk smashed red potatoes, and some grilled vegetables including some great carrots. This was a very tasty dish.

Where we sat in the restaurant, we had a front row seat to their live entertainment, which is offered daily during lunch and Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. We really enjoyed Michael Rusch and his guitar.

Green Springs began in 2000 in a small house dating back to 1920 located on Third Street. By 2004 the restaurant had outgrown its original location, so the owners moved one street over to the 1930s-era house on Fourth Street.