A Day At The Beach

A Day At The Beach originally published on Food and Fond Memories on May 25, 2011 by sandyaxelrod Leave a Comment (Edit)

A Day At The Beach

Who Says Sand Castles are Just for Kids?

Every Castle Needs a Moat

Manfred Schmidtke and His Sand Castle

As I told you on Monday, Sunday was the perfect beach day. Of course here in paradise almost every day is perfect. So after our glorious breakfast of Cinnamon Nut French Toast and Sausage Links we headed to the beach just a few paces away from John G’s. As soon as we descended the steps we realized we needed to walk very quickly because the sun had made the sand scorchingly hot. It was pretty crowded so we had to zigzag our way toward the ocean to find a clearing where we could set up our own little oasis. After slathering ourselves with sunscreen we grabbed our “noodles” and plunged right into the cool Atlantic. The water was a little choppy and the tide was still coming in so we didn’t have to go too far off shore to avoid the breakers. Every time Steve and I come to the beach it feels like we are tourists on vacation. It’s amazing how just a few hours there can rejuvenate us so much! We returned to our seats to relax and read but first we did a little people watching which is always so much fun. Just off a little to the left of us was a guy working on a fabulous sand castle. I can’t remember the last time I saw anyone creating such a work of sand art on the beach. It was totally complete with towers, turrets, stairs and a moat! We couldn’t resist chatting a bit with the artist Manfred Schmidtke. As it turns out he and his family live in Wellington just as we do. He told us photos of his sand castles are on Travel and Leisure.com and he is in the running to win their contest. He also mentioned that he was asked to enter in a sand sculpting competition but turned it down because he had enough stress at his regular job. He built sand castles to relax and have fun at the beach with his son. He said at the end of the day his son would bestow the honor of guarding his castle on another worthy child. Being inquisitive (aka nosy) I asked Manfred what he did in his regular job and much to my surprise it turns out he is the Pastry Chef Instructor at Lincoln Culinary Institute Florida. Finding out we had food in common our conversation lasted a few minutes longer, I took some pictures and then returned to our oasis to bask in the sun until it was time to return to the ocean for another cooling dip. We enjoyed our day at the beach until our time at the parking meter was about to run out. So at 4 pm we headed back to Wellington wondering the whole way home what to have for dinner and could we stay awake? Even though a day at the beach is rejuvenating it is also exhausting. The sun can really wipe you out! As for dinner I made the most delicious shrimp salad sandwiches with coleslaw and potato chips.