The weather is heading toward COLD winter here in Chicago. Sadly, this means no more trips to the local beaches for awhile. I squeezed one more beach combing trip in for October. My dad lives on the Loyola University Campus now, which is only 1 block from the beaches. I've discovered that these little neighborhood beaches are fantastic for treasure hunting. They are less frequented than the big beaches off of Lake Shore Drive and they contains great sea glass traps. The traps are basically piled up rocks, created by the tide, that tend to catch (trap) other rocks, sea glass, and other treasures as the water washes over them. I think that the wave breakers and pier in this area help create these traps.
^My dad's dog Vivian enjoying the fresh air^
In total, I picked up 161 pieces of sea glass! That is amazing for one day. I found some nice large, well rounded pieces (including nice bottle neck pieces). Most were the popular colors of green, brown, and white. I did find some tiny pieces of aqua and baby blue as well. I am still on a quest to find some of the more rare colors (cobalt blue being at the top of that list). Red, orange, yellow, lavender, and purple are also on that list. I also dream of finding a sea glass marble. I actually have these written on my bucket list.
Sea Glass
^Bottle neck pieces^
^My most interesting piece of sea glass is this piece with a metal wire encased in it. ^
Sea Pottery
This trip also excited me by providing me with my first sea pottery finds. This is similar to the concept of sea glass, but it is broken pieces of pottery/ceramic. It is a mystery how this pottery gets into the bodies of water. Did someone drop old pottery dishes into the lake? Is it pieces of urns tossed overboard in a memorial process? Is it from a factory? I don't think anyone will ever know!
Rocks
Of course, I also collected more rocks for polishing. My most favorite finds were these pieces of mint green rock. I thought they were jade at first, but after research I decided they aren't. I am not sure what they are! I wish they weren't too small for the polishing process (they would be polished down to nothing).
Fossils
I also found some more fossils, including some Indian beads.
Here are the various other rocks and shells that I picked up.
^large piece of quartz?^
^carbon type rock?^
Art
Along with beach coming, I enjoyed checking out the art walk. It is painted cement benches along the water front. There are some really beautiful murals painted there. Here is an article about this art wall.
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