Sea Glass Love
Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 6:15 pm
I've been checking this site regularly since I booked our second trip to St. John last fall. We'll be returning the last part of June and I have definitely benefited from all the great info I've found here. So, thanks very much for that.
I want to ask a question, but in hopes of enticing more of you to respond, I want to tell a story first. Here goes:
About 16 years ago, while working on Long Island (far from my home in Virginia) I met my wife, Jean. Of course, she wasn't my wife yet, but I knew after we first met that I would be lucky if I could make that happen. It took more time for her to see things my way, but eventually she came around.
We spent a lot of courtship time wandering the beaches of Port Washington looking for sea glass. Jean introduced me to this and it became sort of a competitive sport with points for unusual shapes and rarer colors. Over time we collected a pretty good amount.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5752511168/" title="A little bit of our collection by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/575 ... 94cf9d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="A little bit of our collection"></a>
On New Years day in 1996, we went out to our favorite beach in search of more treasures. After a bit of hunting, I waited until she turned her back and said "Holy shit, look at this one" while holding out the ring. She said yes and we were married in June.
On our honeymoon in Turkey, we spent a week on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. We had told our shipmates our story and, at a stop on a little sandy island, they collected some sea glass for us and bought a tiny basket to keep it in. We were very touched and have long considered this one of our greatest treasures.
Fast forward to this past fall. We decided to book our next trip to St. John based, in part, on the fact that our first trip is still our daughters' favorite vacation (even better than our Disney World blowout or our trip to Europe). So I started visiting the forum regularly again and began to make plans.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5752511106/" title="2007 by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2489/575 ... 655f19.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="2007"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5751965651/" title="Looking for sea glass. by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/575 ... c37413.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Looking for sea glass."></a>
One day, I ran across a discussion about renewing wedding vows. What a great idea, I thought. I knew our girls (now 12 and 10) would really be excited to be able to be part of something like that and I couldn't think of a more beautiful place to have the ceremony. So I emailed Jean (I know) to see if she wanted to do that. Fail.
She was OK with the idea, but a proposal is a proposal, even for a vow renewal and my lame attempt was not cutting it. If I wanted to make this happen, I had to come up with something better.
After thinking about it for a couple weeks, an idea finally hit me. I went to our sea glass collection, took out a baggy worth of really choice pieces (including some from our honeymoon) and went to a local jeweler. We were able to work out a design for a bracelet and a pair of earrings and I waited for them to be finished, hopefully by my deadline.
Just before Christmas, I got the call. Everything came out even better than I had expected. The bracelet even had 3 pieces from Turkey. Now I just had to wait for the right moment.
On New Years Eve, we had a few friends over before we all went up the street to a party at the neighborhood clubhouse. When we got back after midnight, Jean thought the festivities were over. Until she turned and saw me on my knee (I didn't even do that the first time) with the bracelet asking her to marry me all over again. Score! I gave her the earrings for her birthday a few weeks later.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5751965551/" title="Custom made from our sea glass collection. by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/575 ... 003e12.jpg" width="350" height="280" alt="Custom made from our sea glass collection."></a>
So, that's my story and now here's my question. Where are the best places to find beach glass on St. John? We all still enjoy hunting for it and really want to collect some on this trip to mark the occasion.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
I want to ask a question, but in hopes of enticing more of you to respond, I want to tell a story first. Here goes:
About 16 years ago, while working on Long Island (far from my home in Virginia) I met my wife, Jean. Of course, she wasn't my wife yet, but I knew after we first met that I would be lucky if I could make that happen. It took more time for her to see things my way, but eventually she came around.
We spent a lot of courtship time wandering the beaches of Port Washington looking for sea glass. Jean introduced me to this and it became sort of a competitive sport with points for unusual shapes and rarer colors. Over time we collected a pretty good amount.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5752511168/" title="A little bit of our collection by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/575 ... 94cf9d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="A little bit of our collection"></a>
On New Years day in 1996, we went out to our favorite beach in search of more treasures. After a bit of hunting, I waited until she turned her back and said "Holy shit, look at this one" while holding out the ring. She said yes and we were married in June.
On our honeymoon in Turkey, we spent a week on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. We had told our shipmates our story and, at a stop on a little sandy island, they collected some sea glass for us and bought a tiny basket to keep it in. We were very touched and have long considered this one of our greatest treasures.
Fast forward to this past fall. We decided to book our next trip to St. John based, in part, on the fact that our first trip is still our daughters' favorite vacation (even better than our Disney World blowout or our trip to Europe). So I started visiting the forum regularly again and began to make plans.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5752511106/" title="2007 by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2489/575 ... 655f19.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="2007"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5751965651/" title="Looking for sea glass. by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/575 ... c37413.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Looking for sea glass."></a>
One day, I ran across a discussion about renewing wedding vows. What a great idea, I thought. I knew our girls (now 12 and 10) would really be excited to be able to be part of something like that and I couldn't think of a more beautiful place to have the ceremony. So I emailed Jean (I know) to see if she wanted to do that. Fail.
She was OK with the idea, but a proposal is a proposal, even for a vow renewal and my lame attempt was not cutting it. If I wanted to make this happen, I had to come up with something better.
After thinking about it for a couple weeks, an idea finally hit me. I went to our sea glass collection, took out a baggy worth of really choice pieces (including some from our honeymoon) and went to a local jeweler. We were able to work out a design for a bracelet and a pair of earrings and I waited for them to be finished, hopefully by my deadline.
Just before Christmas, I got the call. Everything came out even better than I had expected. The bracelet even had 3 pieces from Turkey. Now I just had to wait for the right moment.
On New Years Eve, we had a few friends over before we all went up the street to a party at the neighborhood clubhouse. When we got back after midnight, Jean thought the festivities were over. Until she turned and saw me on my knee (I didn't even do that the first time) with the bracelet asking her to marry me all over again. Score! I gave her the earrings for her birthday a few weeks later.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokornypics/5751965551/" title="Custom made from our sea glass collection. by mommaneedsleep, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/575 ... 003e12.jpg" width="350" height="280" alt="Custom made from our sea glass collection."></a>
So, that's my story and now here's my question. Where are the best places to find beach glass on St. John? We all still enjoy hunting for it and really want to collect some on this trip to mark the occasion.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
