the [imperial beach] strikes back

imperial beach pier


on sunday i drove down to imperial beach, which is five miles north of the usa/mexican border to check out the 25th annual u.s sandcastle competition. now, i had read about this in my trusty "secret san diego" guidebook, but had forgotten that it was this weekend. thankfully a friend of mine reminded me. so i took the short 15 minute drive down. i was halfway expecting just a handful of teams and people on the beach playing in the sand. needless to say i was surprised to see that this little ocean front town turns it into a huge celebration with a carnival and several stages for bands to play. walking through the carnival i caught a whiff of one of the best smells in the world, funnel cake, i however resisted the urge to indulge myself in this deliciously decadent treat and made my way to the beach. walking past the entries i was amazed at the craft and detail they were able to sculpt using only sand and water and a few tools. walking past there were several "star wars" exhibits. even though i'm no star wars fanatic, i did think that the sculpture of darth vadar was the best out of all the entries. it is interesting that so much time goes into this, only to have these sculptures destroyed in a frenzy on the third day after judging. of course i'm sure the $10,000 grand prize helps with the pain.











darth_sand











crowd at beach










sand castle