Galveston Sand Castles

We drove into Galveston today, for the annual sand castle contest. Not your usual fill-a-pail-with-sand contest.... this competition is serious. The sand designs are original concepts from local architectural firms, and the "castles" are huge.

Not only castles, but every imaginable structure that can be formed with sand and water, using (if necessary) wood forms like those contructed for concrete work. There were a few designs using popular television shows and movies: "Darth Tater" (a science fiction potato hero); "The Ducks of Hazzard;" "The Sandy 500" (a racecar rally); "Desperate Houseflies" (or is that 'houseflys'); and "Wisteria Lane" (the infamous street on "Desperate Housewives").

There was "The Sand Bar" -- a huge bar, complete with swivel-stools and drinks. Also constructed from sand was an enormous American flag, with the stripes of the flag waving on the beach as the stars stood firm in the upper left corner. One firm came up with the "Car-Madillo," which was an auto-sized armadillo with four wheels, a windshield, a trunk and a hood with an engine underneath.

The best entry, in our opinion, was a huge fairy-tale castle, complete with moat. The castle itself was very intricate, with turrets and domes and "wrought-iron" sand-designs around the windows. Totally amazing how it held together, given the height and width of the structure. It looked like something out of DisneyLand and you expected Cinderella and Prince Charming to walk through the door at any minute.

Hot day out there, but there was a breeze blowing constantly on the beach, which made for comfortable viewing of the sand exhibits. There must have been at least 75 of them. The minute we got back into the hot car is when we realized just how hot it really was out there on the beach.

By the way...
On the way home from Galveston, we passed that big computer/electronics store on I-45--- it's called "Fry's" and that's the way it is spelled. I checked the sign as we drove by. I wrote it that way in a blog a couple of weeks ago, and a reader told me the store spelled its name "Frye's." Maybe that's how they spell it in the reader's state, but here in Texas, they don't add that 'e.' So, me being me, I've got to go back and correct it...... I can't stand to see misspelled words.