Sunday, June 11, 2006

Sun and Fun, Surf and Turf: The Beach



Greetings from vacationland! Can you believe that 81% of Americans have never even seen an ocean? Even so, the beach remains a popular and crowd-pleasing destination. Here is a special beach edition of Very Little Known Facts.



  • Only five of Hawaii's two thousand islands are not completely surrounded by water.

  • Conchs, whorls, and other shells are the discarded exoskeletons of immature eels.

  • SORRY KIDS: Since they are made entirely of lava, it is impossible for volcanic islands to have natural beaches. Sand must be brought in by barge. In the Bahamas alone, over 7 million metric tons of sand were shipped from Tunisia.

  • Approximately 2 million people around the world live in underwater colonies--and you can bet they don't vacation at the beach!

  • Sand, glass, and plastic are all chemically identical; they are all made of silicon dioxide, better known as Silicone!

  • I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT ALOE: The best salve for jellyfish stings is butter. If you don't have any butter handy, try mayonnaise.

2 comments:

Alice said...

The longer you look at that postcard, the freakier it gets. I mean, is she supposed to be emerging from the water? Why is she not looking at the ball she's tossing about - Is she balancing it on her head?? And why are those windsurfing people shamefully bereft of any clothing at all???

I don't think I'm ready for the beach.

Jon Black and Britt Bergman said...

Thanks for your comment, alice. The only thing to remember when going to the beach is that the worst burns always occur with heavy cloud cover. Also remember, if you do get burned, sleep is the only cure!
Thanks again!