The San Diego Traveler

27th Annual U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition

by Carole A. Lane on July 29th, 2007

Imperial Beach went sandcastle crazy all weekend! It started with the Sandcastle Ball at the Boy’s & Girl’s Club on Friday night, which went until midnight.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, the  street festival began, with over 140 vendors up and down Seacoast Drive, along with music and large crowds of fun-seekers. The Kids-N-Kastles Competition was held later that afternoon on the beach below.

This was all a prelude to the official U.S.  Open Sandcastle Competition, which began at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. This competition brought together amazing sand artists from near and far, all vying for more than $21,000 in cash prizes in front of very appreciative crowds.

When I left Comic-Con this afternoon  (I’ll be writing much more about that in  coming days), I headed straight over to Imperial Beach to try to catch a few pictures of the finished sandcastles before the  tides or local kids got to them. I was lucky on the first count, but  I’m afraid a few castles  were destroyed by kids before I could get to the end of the line.  It’s heartbreaking to see such amazing works of art destroyed so easily, but that’s the life of a sandcastle.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy seeing this very temporary art show.

I wondered how these polar bears ended up on white sand (snow), until I overheard someone explaining that they used flour.

Dragons were a popular theme this year. 

Here’s Pete’s Dragon, on the right, but can you find Pete?

Here’s Hogwarts, straight out of the Harry Potter books and films.

There’s a story behind this one, to the right. It’s a wedding cake, which included a live bride and groom who actually got married on the steps today. The guest book is in the bottom of the frame.

Here are four sandcastles in one Egyptian ensemble.

I’m so glad that someone took time to create an “Earth Wash” (above). The Earth can be such a dirty place.

The submarine and octopus (below) were part of a larger ensemble, which appears to be a tribute to the Beatles. In the back corner of this entry I found the peace sign and the word “IMAGINE” printed in the sand, and realized that we must be in the Octopus’ Garden. Of course, I wished the submarine was yellow! There was also a Volkswagen bug, which didn’t fit into the picture frame.

Here’s one of the award winners, noted “In Memory of Mark.”

The “Penguins of the Caribbean” (above) were hilarious! Can you see the “bad penguin” on the far left in the stocks, or the Davy Jones penguin on the right? Excellent!

Last of all, have you ever wondered what was on the other side of Mount Rushmore?

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POSTED IN: Events, Recreation