I used to live at the beach: Surfside Beach SC, Siesta Key FL, and close enough in both Houston TX and Fairhope AL. I always liked seeing the sand castles that visitors would make. It always seemed that the majority of sand castles appeared as day-old ruins on Saturday mornings. My hypothesis is that vacationers staying for the week have to check off “build a sand castle” on their list of things to do before they leave to go home.  Next time you are at the beach, check it out.

Anyway, I have been doing a Sand Castle Friday post for the past 20 weeks in honor of these to-do-list vacationers.

Sand sculpture competitions are all year round. You can find one near you at SandSculptingEvents.com. The International Sandsculpting Championship event is in September in Virginia Beach. You’ll see all kinds of sculptures made of sand. Of course if it was a sand castle contest, entrants could only build sand castles. All others would be disqualified.

Do you remember the Nickelodeon “Rocket Power” cartoon? There was an episode where all of the kids entered the sand castle building contest. Wow… were they all competitive and creative?! In the end, though, the winner was the littlest member of the crowd because she was the only one to build a sand castle; a simple castle.  Moral of the story: read the fine print when you enter a contest.

Sand castles are awesome and fun to build. I think just playing with the sand, the tactile experience is relaxing.  And, if your mind wanders and you end up building something fantastic, it’s a great day!

Don’t know how to make one? Want lessons? Or, do you want a sand castle for your beach-front wedding ceremony? There are professionals in many beach towns that can help you. Just internet search “sand castle lessons”. I’ve found several in Florida.

When was the last time you made a sand castle? I built one this summer; little but fun and made with my empty coffee cup.

S is for Sand Castle.