More than you or I ever wanted to know about sea glass.

Remember my last entry where I was climbing the walls because I wasn't at the beach looking for sea glass? My collection till today was rather pitiful because I had never gone out collecting it before.


Well my 9AM doctor's appointment was canceled, so I filled my gas tank (ouch) and bought a kitchen strainer, grabbed a bunch of CDs and some Mountain Dew, and took a drive to Watch Hill, RI.

Weeeee!

On the way, here's two things I noticed.

1. You can see the Newport Bridge (actual name: Claiborne Pell Bridge) from Ekonk Hill (Rt. 49). I lived in Sterling 13 years and never noticed this before till one night when I realized I could see two white solid lights on the horizon. I really didn't think it was the Newport Bridge till I actually could see those huge suspension towers. I would have taken a picture but it was a little too hazy for my camera to pick up. Here's what wikipedia has to say about the bridge: "The main span of the Newport Bridge is 488 meters (1601 feet), ranking it number 64 among the largest suspension bridges in the world, and making it the largest suspension bridge in New England. The overall length of the bridge is 3,428 meters (11,247 feet). Its main towers reach 122 meters (400 feet) above the water surface, and the roadway height reaches as high as 66 meters (215 feet).^[2]"

2. There's a bricked up root cellar far down Rt. 49 in North Stonington. I've driven by it several times and only today did it click what it was. lol.

And so I went to Watch Hill. The day was beautiful and the beach was deserted, sun was out, etc etc. The reason I chose Watch Hill was because that during the Hurricane of 1938, 36 houses washed into the bay and every once in a while artifacts turn up from them. I also figured some of them went in the drink with Depression Glass, which would possibly turn up the some of the rarest colors of sea glass (red, orange, black, milk white, electric blue, etc.) In fact, the electric blue piece I have was from 2003, when Zack, Brandon, and I went to Fort Mansfield and I found it. Zack was jealous. lol.

This marks one of the few times I went to Watch Hill without intending to go to Fort Mansfield, but every urban explorer knows the one thing you should never do is explore a place like that alone.

August 12, 2006

It lies 2 miles out at the end of the beach, and no ambulances can reach you if you were to fall two stories off the roof. I've been there a dozen times, no need to go alone. (Wikipedia entry on Watch Hill/Fort Mansfield here).

So I spent the next 4 HOURS there, combing the beach. I walked up one end and down the other side, collecting little bits of glass that glistened in the light. And I picked up a few other odds & ends, and found some things that I WISH I could have taken home...

Like this boat, for one.

What's this white thing farther down my path?

Another boat!

Ok, I'll fess up I knew about this second boat, that's been here more than two years, but I never saw it in person till today. Insane Bunkers originally hosted the photos from the person who discovered it, but they had a hard disk failure and lost all the pics. This boat apparently broke free from Stonington Borough (across the bay) and ended up over here. I wonder if its owner knows? lol

I left this for a child to find :).

After leaving Watch Hill I debated heading to Misquamicut (sp) but I couldn't find a place to park that wasn't fenced off for the season. Besides, I was hungry so I stopped at McDonald's (rare for me, but it's cheap and fast) and headed up Rt. 1, not really sure where I was going to go. I saw the signs for Charlestown Beach and decided to go for it, since it was only 2:45. I haven't been to Charlestown Beach since 1995 and had no idea how to get to it, but I found it anyway. It had become overcast and a lot more cold since I left Watch Hill, so I only stayed at Charlestown till 4:00. I ended up going to a third beach but I have no idea where it was and it was freezing at 4:30 so I took a quick look, found a large dead fish (gross!), and called it a day.

WATCH HILL FINDS:

In this lot you can see some kind of piece of bottom jaw of something with teeth. Above that is a piece of a slate shingle from one of the 36 houses. There's some other stuff there but most notably is a piece of BLACK sea glass. It's not as beat up as it should be, but I couldn't just leave it, lol. I also found a milk white piece, which is crazy in itself. I also found the thick bottom of an old Coca Cola bottle and this shell.

Charlestown BEACH FINDS:

In this lot you can see the rubber sole of a very old shoe, a metal label of some kind, a grey bird bone of some kind, a fishing thing, a large rock, and another piece of a coke bottle. There is one piece I found that I'm dying to get under a black light because I think it might just be Vaseline depression glasss (!!!), and then there's two olive green glass pieces.

All sea glass found today!

All sea glass is one big happy family.

Meanings of colors of sea glass and possible history (this is why I love it!):

BLACK: Possible origin: Tableware or flasks dating back to the mid to late 1800s. Its rarity is due to the obscure materials that were used with glass to make the bottles, which increased its rate of decomposition.

MILK WHITE-- Possible origin: Milk jars or Ball jar lids made between 1910 and 1936.

OLIVE GREEN-- Possible origin: Wine bottles pre-1900.

ELECTRIC BLUE-- Possible origin: Tableware, antique flasks or art glass. This makes sense because there's some kind of design on mine.

SEA FOAM GREEN (Coke bottles)-- Possible origin: Coca Cola bottles, ink jars, fruit jars, baking soda, and other soft drink bottles.

COBALT BLUE (3 pieces)-- Possible origin: Old medicine or poison jars, Vicks Vapor Rub, Bromo-Seltzer, and Milk of Magnesia products.

Clear, Brown, and Emerald Green are colors of common glass and beer bottles.

More info? Wikipedia's entry on Sea Glass. And this place, which helped me out with info for the colors.

So....did I mention I want to head back to Charlestown tomorrow? lol

EDIT: Yours truly just discovered that she has a SUN BURN. In WINTER. This, my friends, is a first.

Also a first: I made Thai sticky rice with coconut sauce, peaches, and custard. A+++++++++.