Sandcastle Competition

Galveston Idol

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A Throne for my Castles

Rock music

Saturday afternoon we attended the AIA Sandcastle Competition on the East Beach of Galveston, which is the most eastern point on the island, a few miles out from the ferry. It was a beautiful day for some fun in the sun- if you like Galveston heat. I think it was about 92 degrees when we decided to go around 2:30pm in the afternoon, which was around the time of judging. We wanted to see the sculptures in their final form, although so did everyone else- hugely crowded. I think we may have picked the worst time to go. We parked for free and tried to take a free shuttle from Stewart Beach to East Beach- a few miles away. By the time we found the shuttle, there was a long line. I was not too impressed at waiting 45 minutes in the blazing heat, especially since I am pregnant. I did bring a huge bottle of water with me and lathered on the sunscreen so all was well to start out. I was grateful for the wonderful breeze coming from the gulf. Thank God the shuttle was air conditioned, which helped prepare my body for the next part of the journey. East Beach was packed full of tourists and kids playing in the gulf. There was about a mile long stretch of sand castle sculptures which we walked through and then walked back along the gulf to keep our feet in the water. Of course the wait for the shuttle back was over an hour, and we were two dehydrated monkeys by the end of the day! (It didn’t help too much that we took a four mile walk on the seawall on Friday; my legs were already tired!) In reality, I don’t think there would have been a better way to get to this remote point on the island; if we drove ourselves, we would have sat in traffic for hours anyway. Then again, the car would have at least been air conditioned. 🙂

The sand sculptures were quite amazing. Themes ranged from Alice in Wonderland (sand) to legos, to sea life, to all kinds of crazy things. It is obvious how much planning goes into each one and how talented the people are who make them. A lot of them had themes that played on commericals or movies. My favorites were the Space Invaders one (lots of detail and geometry) and how to train a dragon. I think Tim’s was the throne for the castles one with a big toilet… just kidding. He liked the octopus one the best. I have posted a bunch of pictures of the ones I thought were really good for those of you who have never seen this type of art. There are many pictures, but there were many more creations. I had never been to a sandcastle competition before, so I was very impressed at everyone’s creativity! There was a sand version of the Stanley Cup there. N0 worries- we claimed it for the Philadelphia Flyers- so even if they don’t win the real one, they will have this one instead!

Overall it was a fun event worth going to, but I think I might plan a little differently next year so we wouldn’t spend hours sweltering in the heat!