A Day in the Life of a Beach

"And you'll want to go to White Rock," was the recommendation from a Vancouverite.

So, one day we headed to the British Columbia seaside resort town of 19,000 about five minutes north of the Canada-US border. Homes rise along the hillside overlooking Semiahmoo Bay.

This stairway is one of those providing a route from the homes to the street-level businesses.

The colorful design on the steps is the result of mosaic tiles applied to the risers of the stairway.









Interspersed among the many souvenir shops, restaurants, and real estate offices along Marine Drive are the independent service providers, such as the psychic spiritualist here.

(I haven't figured out the hours though.)







After crossing the street, we crossed the tracks over which the Burlington Northern Railway traveled. The tracks run parallel to the waterfront.

The waterfront includes a promenade (paralleling the tracks) that is a mile and a half long.

Walking along a portion of the promenade brought us into contact with a number of other early risers and past a variety of flowers.












From the walkway, we could see the 1,559 foot-long heritage pier, a historic landmark dating back to the 1920's. Here people out for a stroll will pass among crab fishers, pier jumpers, and sea gulls.

From the promenade, we saw this sailboat anchored in the bay a distance from the pier.



Looking right and left, we surveyed the sandy beach which stretched nearly five miles along the warm shallow waters of Semiahmoo Bay.

As we surveyed the landscape, we could see the beach come to life.

Joggers began their stretching routines, but appeared to be trying to move concrete tables and permanent walls as they prepared for the morning run.

Some folks arrived early, appearing to stake a claim to a specific location along the waterfront--but in the case of these two, they left on some errand as quickly as they had arrived. But their position had been established.

The metal detector person then arrived to fill his position in the drama of the beach. He seemed to have an avid learner with him, since they appeared to be involved in an animated conversation.










The roles of the seashore zoologists were filled by this mother and her two sons (I assume) as she turned over rocks and identified the little critters living under the larger rocks.

The seashell collectors took their positions among the cast of the early arrivals on the beach.













Some early arriving families sent out scouts to check on the water tempera-ture. This youngster was prepared for some serious water play.

The next players to arrive are the groups who "home-stead," setting up a sleeping area, an eating area, and a play area in their space.

Then the entrepreneurs arrived. These young merchants arrived with boards and equipment.













As they began setting up their awning, a crowd of youngsters began to gather around. Viewing this activity from a distance, we put together the following interpretation: Billabong seemed to be renting skimboards for use on the beach.

Continuing, our interpre-tation was that the boarder would run in the shallow water, flip the board into the water, and then hop on the board for a short ride through the pool of water.

Accurate or not, our interpretation seemed to account for the activity, which brought a lot of interest from the beachgoers.

The last players to arrive on stage were the kite flyers. The wind was only slightly sufficient for kite flying, but we appreciated the efforts to provide this activity for viewing.

Although not captured on film, there was a cameo role played by the owner tossing a stick to her dog.

We had to leave for lunch, so we may have missed any sand castle building that may have been conducted that day, but we did see some examples of these castles painted on trash cans that were present along the promenade.

The beachgoers frequenting White Rock succeeded in presenting a representative "Day at the Beach."