Memories Rewind: Finding Treasures

We woke up refreshed and ready to go. The beautiful sunrise in Panama City was beckoning us to come outside.

Eli and I ran out ahead of our parents because we were on a mission. Our Mama taught us at an early age that the best seashells are found in the morning. I grabbed a rusty white pail, taking my time to pick out the most interesting ones. Eli, on the other hand, grabbed every shell in sight.

"Look how many I found, Madison!" he said. I turned back for just a second. Eli swooped in with a flick of his wrist and plopped a black and white shell into his bucket. Ugh. Brothers.

I moved away from him. I was going to find my own shells. I bet they would be prettier, too. I soon forgot about his mischievous ways when I found a beautiful sand dollar. "This is so cool." I muttered to myself.

Afterwards, I loved to take each shell out of the bucket and let the salty water wash all the sand off. I carefully laid each one back in the bucket to dry. I couldn't wait to show Mama what I had found! I found a few more shells that day, but as the sun was coming up over the water, I ran to find Eli. Being by myself wasn't as fun as I'd thought.

We collapsed into the sand and turned our buckets into shovels. We were going to build a sand castle and a darn good one at that.

What was your favorite thing to do at the beach?

P.S. I need your help! One of my friends has entered Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw Challenge. She has written an essay about memories of food in her Mammaw's kitchen. Click here to read it and vote. (You can vote once a day). Voting ends September 30th.