Sunset beach is famous for a couple of things, Cape May Diamonds and the sunken concrete ship Atlantus.
Cape May diamonds are actually pieces of quartz that have broken off a mountian in Pennsylvania and fallen into the Delaware River and traveled 200 miles to Sunset Beach to wash up on shore. It is so much fun to search for the diamonds on the beach. They were discovered by the Kechemeche Indians. You can read more about them here and here.
The concrete ship Atlantus can be seen from the beach. It was designed during World War I at which time there was a critial shortage of steel. It was experimental, made of concrete. A fleet of 38 ships were planned, but only 12 were actually put into service.
After the war the ship was purchased by a Baltimore firm that was attempting to start a ferry service. The ship was to be sunk to make along with two other bulks to help create a Y for the ferry to dock. Before that could be done, the Atlantus broke from its moorings during a storm and went aground. It has been there ever since. You can read more about it here.
Justin loved the beach and I did not take shorts or a bathing suit so he wore his pants and got very wet!
trying to keep his pants dry!
giving up on the whole dry pants idea!
climbing the jetty
exploring the jetty
muscles hanging off the jetty (they are the little black shells)
some little fish we found that had been beached by the tide-we threw them back in.
The sunken ship Atlantus
the Cape May diamonds we found
we also found some sea glass
some other neat stones we found
2 comments:
it looks like they had a great time!! What beautiful places to visit....
What a fun trip!! I have to say though, that ship gave me the creeps! LOL, I went and read about it more after seeing the photo you shared.
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