Treasures From the Sea {Part 1}

I have always loved the ocean.

Even as a little kid I wanted us to take family trips to the beach.

I always liked the less commercial beaches. Boardwalks, rides, and towel-to-towel sunbathers just ain't my thing.

I'll take remote, unspoiled, and unpopulated any day.

The first time I stepped out onto the beach on Ocracoke I burst into tears. The beauty simply overwhelmed me. I had never in my life seen that kind of unspoiled beach and ocean.

The beach on Ocracoke is amazing.

So amazing, it's a national park!

Meaning there are no houses, no hotels, no condos on the beach or on the dunes. Just miles and miles (10+ miles) of sand, dunes, and ocean.

It's routinely rated as one of the world's top beaches.

But the absolute best thing about it?

The shells and treasures.

Oh. My. Word.

I have spent my life going to beaches where I set the alarm clock for 6:00 a.m. so I can walk the beach (with a dozen or so other hard-core folks) and gather a handful of shells....maybe even a small bag, if I was lucky.

Beachcombing on Ocracoke's beach is like shooting fish in a barrel. Seriously, look at all the shells:

You can find starfish:

 

And jellyfish:
 

 

And even fishy fish:
 

 

In fact, there's plenty of cool dead things in various stages of....dead. Here's a horseshoe crab that washed up on the beach (it might not be dead, it might just be an old molted shell...I didn't really pursue it):

 

 

This guy, on the other hand, was definitely deceased. Some sort of ray or skate, maybe:

 

 



 And probably one of the coolest things I've ever found.....a sea turtle rib:

 

 

Pretty cool, huh?

 

I love the anticipation of heading to the beach....wondering what gifts the sea will have left. It's pretty much better than Christmas for me.

And fortunately, there's a great section of beach with a lifeguard, a bath house, and a whole lot less dead things when swimming and sunbathing are on my beach to-do list.

 

In Part 2 I'll show you some more treasures.......and what I plan to do with loads like this:

 

 

Happy Beachcombing!

 

~Betsy xo


Click here to go to Treasures From the Sear {Part 2}.