The annual Sun & Sea Festival was this weekend in Imperial Beach, our current home town. It dates back to 1960 and was the site of the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition for 32 years, from 1980 to 2011. I'm not sure why it was discontinued in 2011, but I read that the festival had grown to over 400,000 spectators, so it's my guess that with I.B being a fairly small beach town, it probably didn't have the manpower or parking places to handle that many people. I wish I had seen it when it was at its peak, but the smaller, scaled-down version was just fine. For all you East Coast readers, that would be like trying to put 400,000 people onto the beach in Hyannis or Ogunquit!
The day started overcast and about 70 degrees and stayed that way most of the day. It made for a nice day to spend on the beach without getting burned.
The construction started at 9:00 am and the sculptures had to be completed by 2:00 pm. The bucket brigades and digging commenced.
After 1 hour, there wasn't any noticeable progress except for some very deep holes and tall piles of sand.
After 2 hours, some of the piles started taking shape and it was interesting to watch and try to figure out what they were going to become. When we asked the guy in the picture below on the right what he was sculpting, he only said it's the "most recognizable structure ever built by man and was one of the 7 wonders of the world".....hmmmm....we only concluded that it didn't look like the pyramids to us.
Hour 3, it was time for these 2 spectators to take a break for some fish & chips and cups of beer on the pier.
Hour 4....still on the pier for just a couple more beers....contemplating that most recognizable structure ever built by man that was one of the wonders of the world....Great Wall of China? Taj Mahal? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Hour 5....the results!
Oh yeah.....that most recognizable structure ever built by man that is a wonder of the world? It's the Eiffel Tower! I guess I didn't know that was a wonder of the world. We might have to consult Wiki-pedia on that one.
Hour 5 1/2. As all good things must come to an end, the children on the beach demolished them much faster than they were built. A sad ending to a beautiful day.
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