Oceanside picnic

Had started in the morning to check out a car. It took a bit longer at the mechanic's and I missed the bus. Since it was the lunch break, the next bus was after 2 hours. I tried going to a couple of delis, which were closed for some reason (later realized they were serving at the festival). That was when I heard music at the oceanside.

The saturday post thanksgiving is when the US dons a informative role, I had already seen a bible parade earlier this day. This was the Ocean, Beach and Reef festival. Catered towards families with kids, it had several stalls like "what do you spot on the beach", "what lives in the sea", "which part of the beach to steer clear of to save the turtles", beach cleaning signup, kayak/surfboard rentals etc. There werent just posters around, but each stall was manned by Professors from the nearby Florida Tech University Oceanology Dept talking to the kids. (Again one cant help wonder why do such things dont happen in India.)

some cool thing on display

After checking out a few stalls I headed out to the beach for a stroll.

शंख शिंपल्यांचा सडा 

I highly recommend the Indian Harbour beach, and also wish that I had spotted this stretch of sand earlier. It is an amazing beach, and this was the first time I saw heaps of conches and shells.

In the US, the food stalls at football games, or festivals like theses typically serve hotdogs; but the planner in me always has a backup lunch stashed no matter how early in the morning I have started. I just had to get Cheesy dips from a nearby CVS to make the lunch less dry, and off to an impromptu oceanside picnic!

After I returned from my stroll + lunch with more conches and shells than ever, I waited for my turn to talk to the Professor to help me identify the stuff. I spoke to Prof. Richard Turner, and we had an interesting talk. Before talking to him, everything was just "शंख शिंपले " to me, he helped me identify the different types. 

Thanks to Prof. Turner, I can now identify "olive shells" (bottom left set of 2), "moon shells", "ears" made by scallops, and pigmented "arcs" of snails..can also identify how eroded arc Vs non-eroded arc looks like 

While I was waiting for the bus, my cell was low on battery. The infodesk lady pointed out that all the beachside pavilions have an electric socket. I was so impressed that I couldnt help but blurt out "I love USA". The point to be noted is that these pavilions were at a small town, and not a popular tourist destination like Miami. Yet, all the pavilions are equipped with a drinking water source, a tap to wash off the sand, barbeque spots, and my recent discovery - electric sockets. The point also to be noted is that such pavilions are present every half a mile down the beach, and note once again that this is not a spot that features on any "top 10" lists. I was appreciating some artists's stalls when he came over to chat, asked if I was an Indian, and told me that he has learnt many of his techniques from streetside painters in India. The infodesk lady gave me a free bottle of water, (cant help but compare to overpriced water bottles bought during Mood Indigo! )

Indians will keep on debating whether US is advanced because it has good roads or vice versa. Many mayors and whoevers keep on visiting the US on official visits. Why cant we ever learn these tips about how to project India as a tourist friendly nation.



P.S: Shrikant, you are so right about the "Life in the US" blogs being super-convergent about comparing US and India!! Cant help it :P Just waiting for you to come to the US and then let's see if you dont compare things in your head if not on the blog :))