Thursday, July 12, 2012

Blue Streak Sand Sculpture on Midway Beach

When Will insisted that I go to Midway Beach a few nights ago to "see something amazing", I wasn't sure what I'd find. This could mean many things to a 10 year old. What I found was a truly amazing, built to scale, sand sculpture of Conneaut Lake Park's historic Blue Streak roller coaster. 

Below is a picture of the actual roller coaster from a few years ago. The 1937 wooden coaster was designed by Ed Vettel, a big name in the roller coaster world.

A family (a large, extended family) makes a sand sculpture on Midway Beach each summer. The design is top secret until plans are revealed to the family. Each child has a job to do. It took two days of hard work to create this giant sculpture.

To give you an idea of the size, Kate is kneeling in one corner of the sculpture.


I love the detail of the wooden trusses.


Then, as if seeing this wasn't enough, we witnessed something equally as entertaining the following morning. We happened to be on Midway Beach at 8:00 a.m., only because of free donuts that morning - not much else will get my kids up that early. It also happened to be the planned destruction time of the sand roller coaster. Below, the creators lined up and enacted a ride on the famed Blue Streak, complete with up hill, down hill, and hand motions.


After the dry run of the ride next to the sand sculpture, they all boarded the roller coaster, buckled in, and proceeded to ride' the entire coaster, destroying it as they went.








4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a fun day all of you had!! I love your sand sculpture...in my city we have a National Sand Sculture on the beach in November. I always look forward to it.
Laurie @ Pride in Photos

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

Oh what a lovely spot and great shots of the sand sculpture it looks as if they had amuch fun knockingnit down as building it !
Visiting from BTS
Viv x

Sarah Huizenga said...

I LOVE your header. I love the vintage look. Great story about the sand sculpture. What fun those kids must have every year.

Renee said...

What a fun adventure you took us on. So glad you HAD to get up for the free donuts. A great moment in time. I bet there was lots of laughter as the "riding" began.