Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 20,814
I related this years ago, but it bears repeating :
There's a certain state park beach near me called "Seacliff State beach". It has a colorful history : Some enterprising person in 1930 bought a WWI surplus cement hull-ship, and purposefully grounded it onto the shallow beach there. Then built a pier out to it, to serve as off-shore gambling, fishing, tourism, drinks during prohibition, etc.... As the decades went on, the popularity faded, the structure became unsafe. Eventually, only the pier remained , open to fishing. But the rotting hulk still draws curious lookie-lous, and today the beach is just a routine normal mundane beach in our area.
There's a little beach-side museum there today, that has mostly the natural history stuff (marine life, etc...) . But it does have a few interpretive panels about the history of the cement boat and pleasure pier thing. This beach, along with all the beaches in our area, have been detected since the dawn of detectors, no problems.
And one day, in the early 2000's, a buddy of mine was down there swinging his detector. And it JUST SO HAPPENED that there was a visiting state staff archaeologist who was going to be giving a little lecture, in the museum there.
As the archie got out of his vehicle, and got ready to walk to the museum appointment, he *just happened* to glance out onto the beach. And *just happened* to see my friend down there.
To be continued :
There's a certain state park beach near me called "Seacliff State beach". It has a colorful history : Some enterprising person in 1930 bought a WWI surplus cement hull-ship, and purposefully grounded it onto the shallow beach there. Then built a pier out to it, to serve as off-shore gambling, fishing, tourism, drinks during prohibition, etc.... As the decades went on, the popularity faded, the structure became unsafe. Eventually, only the pier remained , open to fishing. But the rotting hulk still draws curious lookie-lous, and today the beach is just a routine normal mundane beach in our area.
There's a little beach-side museum there today, that has mostly the natural history stuff (marine life, etc...) . But it does have a few interpretive panels about the history of the cement boat and pleasure pier thing. This beach, along with all the beaches in our area, have been detected since the dawn of detectors, no problems.
And one day, in the early 2000's, a buddy of mine was down there swinging his detector. And it JUST SO HAPPENED that there was a visiting state staff archaeologist who was going to be giving a little lecture, in the museum there.
As the archie got out of his vehicle, and got ready to walk to the museum appointment, he *just happened* to glance out onto the beach. And *just happened* to see my friend down there.
To be continued :