Following a nice visit with Lucas’ dad (aka Grandpa Bill) and his wife up in Fort Bragg last weekend, we went down to Glass Beach for some fresh sea air before embarking on the two hour drive home.
Back in the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents referred to this stretch of beach as “The Dumps” and threw household garbage down from the cliffs above. I know, can you imagine? The area was closed in 1967 and eventually cleanup programs ensued.
Over the decades, pounding wave action has worn the discarded glass of yesteryear into smooth bits of gleaming treasure along the beach so named for its plentiful sea glass.
It was windy and freezing cold but the rock formations were perfect for climbing around on and Clover (I mean Clara, yes, the tiara is under her hood) had a total blast doing just that.
Over the years, in spite of signs forbidding it, the beach has been totally picked over (we saw several beachcombers filling small pails while we were there), to the point where the remaining sea glass is mostly made up of tiny pieces. Though I imagine there were once some amazing treasures to be found.
Speaking of found treasures, this coat is my most favorite recent thrift find. It's like wearing a cozy wool blanket with pockets, I love it. Perfect now that the winter chill has finally found its way to us.
I scored it for six bucks at one of the two new Goodwill stores in town (the cutoff overalls are from the other). I love that there are still new thrift stores popping up here. We already have at least 15, that I can think of, I'm probably forgetting a few. Not to mention others in towns nearby. Whenever I travel anywhere, I always return feeling very thrift fortunate to live where I do.
Out of curiosity, if you don't mind sharing, how's the thrifting in your town?
23 comments:
That's shocking that people used to use such a beautiful place as a dump! I'm glad its beauty has been reclaimed :-)
wow, i'm from the UK and have never heard of a beach with all that glass! amazing! you may have seen this short documentary about Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang, artists who collect plastic from the west coast of the US http://vimeo.com/18718794 :)
I'm not so surprised that that stretch of beach was used for a dump, but I think it's wonderfully fitting that Nature should take something so carelessly filthy and callous and turn it into soft beauty.
Speaking of soft beauty, that jacket! Woah! Such a wonderful find.
Thrifting here? Is the pits, sadly. Well, thrifting clothing, I mean (secondhand appliance and furniture places are all over). Most people here are very "Eew, no," or "You think I can't buy my own *new* clothing?" about that kind of thing. Hayle, my sister, has so many adorable clothing items that she's outgrown, but we can't give them away to anyone because they may be insulted even though we just don't want something perfectly good (better, even) to go to waste. Different mentality, I suppose.
Take care!
mmmm... SEAGLASS LOVE 8-) !!!
People used to be so callus... still are, I've been too many places deep in the northern forests on a fishing or hunting trip, to find random piles of trash... huge ones. Couches, old tvs, garbage bags, appliances... a random old mound of it in the forest. At least this beach is being better treated now!
That coat is awesome, great find! Thrifting here in Ottawa is so-so. We've got Salvation Army stores and Value Villages. The first are mostly hit-and-miss, and the later go by neighborhood. I know which ones to go to now and which to avoid. Sadly we don't have many independent thrift stores :(
Wow, exactly the same thing happened in my town too along the 'back strand' as it is locally known. (The beach/strand at the 'back' of the town harbour). Tou can still find old bottles and things and lots of small shards of sea-glass. How crazy were people long ago??
Thrifting in our town is pretty good, for a small town. There are 9 places I can think of off the top of my head, possibly a couple more. If you ever come to Ireland I can take you shopping;)
crazy. i recently found out that the land our town homes were built on was a dump in the 60's. not trash but greenery and stuff. i guess when places were less crowded the trash still had to go somewhere...even somewhere pretty.
love your new jacket. i have a big shawl that is like a blanket. i love it. yours has pockets though which makes it even better!
thrifting in my town? well there are lots of thrift stores but i find most of my things in neighboring cities. my favorite thrift store is in fullerton, that's were i get all the items for my shop. i always find something there!
it's kind of poetic...your common theme of this post. thrifting, dumping, trash into treasure. i have spent many relaxing hours gathering glass on glass beach. my mom loves the dark blue pieces. on a trip up the coast to washington, my mom and sister and i stopped there and spent soooo long sifting through those smooth little bits. we couldn't get my mom to leave!
thrifting: not as soothing, but much more practical! i have about six thrift stores in or close to my town. but the best thrifting by far is in provo, utah which of course i just got home from. they have these massive warehouse size thrift stores chock full of stuff...really nice stuff because the people there are rampant consumers and very looks-oriented so last season's items get thrown out quickly. makes it fun for the scavengers like me! but looking for vintage is a little more tricky there; they've learned to mark up the prices quite a bit. still, i've had plenty of great scores!
i LOVE that coat, looks super cozy. the whole day in general, matter of fact!
ah, i'm glad you like the link, missa :) x
Hi missa that sure is one cosy looking jacket so perfect for chilly days. I'm away on a small holiday right now and am typing on Steve's teensy phone, so I just wanted to say yes to swaps and I'll email you when I'm back! Glad to read a missa post 2day. Xx
your jacket is sooo adorable! thrifting in my town (seattle) can be hit and miss. on occasion there is treasure to be found...
xo m
I love your coat!!!
This post reminded me of Judith and Richard Lang...have you heard of them? They collect plastic from one beach in Northern California and make amazing art:
http://beachplastic.com/
happy you made it up there before the storms hit! funnily enough, chrissy field was the victorian dump in sf! guess beaches were popular dumping grounds back then.
i don't get out to thrift as much as i want to but it's also very picked over here so it's not too great anyway. overpriced, overpicked. thus, i so often turn to etsy! also cause i'm lazy and like shopping laaaate at night! :)
I think that coat is made for the beach........ and maybe the beach was made for you and you for the beach and the coat. Its all very lovely and the colors are a little taste of how winter must be there, so used to seeing you in the sunshine. I am amazed by this idea of a glass beach and by t being a dump. The only thing similar here are old slate quarries which were sometimes used as dumps. I remember playing in one as a kid, I found one recently( not having been used as a dump) it was all overgrown and beautiful, like a little lost place in the earth, where no one saw.
My thrifting is the nearest towns, bout 20 miles away. I never resist a peek when I am in there, and most of my clothes are thrifted, I wonder will I ever share such things on my blog: ) We call them charity shops here, and sometimes call it trawling: )
Be well Miss Missa x E
Perfect beach coat! My mom would just trip out on that beach, she's such a collector and comber :D I'm gonna have to go back a post or two to find out about Clover's new identity :D Such a sweet lil imaginative soul.
Thrifting around here is not all that bad. I did stop in to a Salvation Army (much prefer it to Goodwill because of it's frequent sales and lower prices) the other night and found an AWESOME tapestry coat that was priced at $25. I liked it enough that I thought I'd buy it (even out of thrifting price range for me). When I got up there the manager happened to mention that tomorrow was gonna be $2 clothing day!!! C'mon.... I can't justify $25 instead of $2 for the same item. I himmed and hawed about how I could get here tomorrow... waited, thought.... and he finally said, I'll just sell you that $3 blanket for $5. hehehehheheh. I got that coat for 2 bucks!!! Man, I love deals like that! :D
Are you having any warm northern Ca weather? It was like a summer night here tonight- love it (thought I love the rain too)
Just found your blog. I'm also a loving mum who loves thrifting :)and the seaside. That beach is sooo amazing!
I live in South Wales and thrifting here is not bad at all, you can see my latest finds in my blog... The only problem I have with thrifting around here, in fact, is that I must control myself otherwise I won't have space to put any more clothes!!! (and my partner will kill me :P)
I go through these thrifting fevers, and I always manage to find lovely things at ridicously low prices....
http://www.clothery.blogspot.com/
honey! i keep trying to comment and blogger won't let me! ugh.
to nutshell. 1. elf coat = elf queen 2. beachcombing = yum and addictive 3. dreamy day, dreamy post, dreamy girl. 4. sf thrifting = no fun.
also...
1. YES to a meetup at the alameda flea, which i have never been to either and...
2. do you know about the oakland white elephant sale? preview is this weekend, but you have to pay $20 to get in and i think it's crowded/stressful. march 3-4 is open to all. i told fhf nicole about it too. wanna go? http://www.whiteelephantsale.org/white-elephant-sale-electronic-flyer
Ooooh two new thrift stores!? SCORE.
As a matter of fact, I just posted about thrifting in my town (well, the next town over, but it's where I find my best scores).
The jacket is amazing! What a find.
That is unbelievable about the trash throwing. I just watched the episode of Mad Men when the Drapers have a picnic and leave their trash behind on the grass.
Hugs to Ms. Clara from me & Mycie please.
beautiful treasures, both from the beach and the thrift store! thank you for sharing!
Love this blog.=D
buy rift account
Thrifting in California sounds wonderful! Definitely want to visit there sometime :)
Blanket coat, check. Overalls, check. Adorable folk top, check. Those boots, check. The perfect Missa outfit happenin' right here.
Thrifting out here is bad, so much old lady junk. I honestly thought that thrift would be better in America, but I so miss the giant flea markets of Finland. However, the Dump always gives good stuff. I love it so.
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