South Padre Island,
Spring break, drinking, sun, fun, bikinis and parties…
Well, not so much…
But as you know, we don’t head to where the crowds ARE. We tend toward a more quiet life, which is why we are staying in South Padre Island in October. The water is still warm, the beaches are clean and the regular folks are friendly. What we also found was Sand Castle Days!!!
This was held on the first weekend in October at a beach bar called Claytons. If you’ve never seen “professional” sand castle building, let me try to describe it for you. Some of the tools include pump sprayers, plastic panels, trowels, hoses, brushes, and even dental tools.
Did I mention buckets…
and hands…?
These competitors, and make no mistake, they ARE competitors, from all over the world, started Friday and worked all day. Filling their sand boxes, adding water to create the right consistency, unboxing and then sculpting in the solid blocks and rings of sand.
Saturday, the crowds came, and the sculptures were completed during the day.
By Saturday afternoon, the judging had been completed. Judging was accomplished by the spectators donating money into a bucket by each sculpture.
And, if hanging out on the beach wasn’t your thing,
you could always head up to the bar and sit at tables and enjoy the arts and crafts and food.
So, without further ado, here ARE the sand castles. Most of these pieces are 6 to 8 feet tall and the bases are 6 to 8 feet around.
And here are a few of the amateur sand castle entries…
All of this with the Gulf of Mexico providing the perfect backdrop for the weekends activities…
