DO/AC--Playing in the sand; signs of recovery on the Jersey shore

Back in June, your diarist took his annual vacation and as usual, this was time well spent on south Jersey shore.  One of several signs that the hard hit coast is coming back to life are the series of free to the public events in neighboring Atlantic City which fall under the comprehensive banner of "DO AC".  The next couple of posts will feature photos taken at a pair of events which we attended.  The first was a sand sculptor contest.

A World Championship right here in Atlantic City--who knew?

I don't know much about art but I'm all over the concept of "free".

Neptune looks slightly bemused by the proceedings.

"DO AC".  Several AC icons in this photo including Mr. Peanut (sadly, Planters Peanut shop is long gone from the broadwalk) and Uncle Pennybags from the children's game "Monopoly".  The original game featured well known Atlantic City street names.

This one was entitled Amazon's Pet, the artist was Karen Fralich from Canada.

"Watchers (privacy? What privacy)" by American Lucinda Wierenga

At first I thought he had his finger up his nose but on closer inspection (and after reading the sign) I discovered that I was looking at American Matt Long's entry "Shhh...The Gears'R Turning".

David Ducharme, down from Canada, puts the finishing touches to "Folded Memory".

Another view of Folded Memory.

One might wonder what artist Jooheng Tan (Singapore) is doing--spraying for weeds?  No silly, with strong afternoon T-storms in the forecast, he's spraying on a coating of Elmer's glue diluted with water in an attempt to protect "Ocean Symphony" from the expected deluge.

I'm amazed that this particular sculpture could some how support itself.  Jeff Strong (USA) works on "Dream Weaver".

I liked the wood-like details on the "planks" of Hemmingway's boat in this rendering of the old man and the sea entitled "The old sea and the man" by Belgian creator Enguerrand David.

Here we have the Biblical Eve offering us "The Last Apple" rendered by Karlis Ile from Lativa.

This enchanting wee beastie is "Pipistrellus (Madness)" by Bouke Atema from Kenya. I think the National Cathedral called and they'd like their gargoyle back...

This one was entitled "Russian Mermaid".  Apparently mermaids don't have tails where Nikolay Torkhov comes from.

Being something of a traditionalist, sand castles seemed appropriate to me and this one got my vote.

Zooming in on Stairs to Parsdise" by Brett Stocker from Mexico.

This looks like it was inspired by Easter Island's totems.  Canadian artist Damon Langlois called it "Unwind".

Here we see the back side of American Brian Turnbough's "Engine of the City".

I'll never complain about the awards at Moth Boat regattas again!  Well, the artists were also competiting for cash awards. 

Another look at "Amazon's Pet", the overall winner.