Beach Treasures

The beach. Its all there for a wonderful holiday. Nothing else is really needed. Sand. Water. Shells. Space. Perfection.

Had we not ventured from the beach it would have been as equally relaxing and adventurous.

The shells of course were a big hit, the first day gathering everything in sight. As the week progress we realized the abundance and became more selective. We sorted, washed, polished, examined, enjoyed each shell.

A few times over the week we found different types of jelly fish washed up on shore. We were fascinated. The kids (carefully :)picked them up, examined them, tried to bring them to life in the water, then give them a burial and no stings to be had!

After reading about ghosts crabs we decided to time our visit to Myrtle Beach State Park to include dusk. We searched out and found the crabs holes. We followed their tracks, and after being totally startled we realized they bury themselves in the sand. We watched them scurry sideways, bury themselves except for their eyes. They are the same colour of the sand, which makes them look almost see through, hence their name ghost crabs. We were giddy to have found them....or have them find us :)

When we were at Huntington State Park Chris noticed lots of bubbles in the sand as the waves rolled in and out. With the kids they sat and watched little tiny bivalve mollusks (tiny shelled creatures) go in and out of the sand between waves. They would poke out and bury themselves before the next wave returned. Later we watched the sand pipers and plovers catch them.

It was so great being in a totally different environmental zone, discovering all these cool things!