Tis the Season for Sand Castles

An ephemeral masterpiece in sand. Courtesy stephengg under CC.

San Diegos storied Hotel del Coronado is the preferred site of the citys most noted architect in sand, Billy Pav - or as locals know him, The Sand Castle Man. As highlighted recently by HotelChatter, Billy has been erecting elaborate castles with only sand, water, and shells at a number of San Diego beaches, Coronado being his favorite building site. If youre strolling the beach on the weekend or a Friday evening, youre likely to catch Billy working on one of his ephemeral masterpieces.For those who cant get to San Diego to enjoy Billys castles at Coronado, there are sand castle competitions throughout the country where you can witness the amazing work of patient and talented seaside artists and architects.Amagansett, New York - 20th Annual East Hampton SandCastle Contest (Aug. 6, 2011)Belmar, New Jersey - 25th Annual New Jersey Sandcastle Contest (July 13, 2011)Galveston, Texas - 25th Annual AIA SandCastle Competition (June 4, 2011)Imperial Beach, California - The U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition (July 22-24, 2011)Long Beach, Washington - Sandsations Sand Castle Competition (July 20-24, 2011)Santa Barbara, California - Annual Sandcastle Festival (September 2011 date TBA)South Padre Island, Texas - Sand Castle Days (October 19-23, 2011)


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