68 Beach L i fe Experiences Building Sandcastles building sandcastles
WITH THE SANDCASTLE COACH
by Susan Vallee
Have you ever walked past an intricately carved sandcastle on the beach and thought , wish I could do that ? Well , you ’ re not alone . Rick Mungeam was volunteering at Topsail State Park and building sandcastles on the beach for fun when people began to take notice of his creations . It turned out the retired architect had a knack for crafting buildings from sand .
“ One of the rangers saw a few of my castles and asked if I ’ d teach a class on building sandcastles for the park ,” he said .
The classes filled quickly , and one evening , during a particularly gorgeous sunset , he noticed a bride and groom posing for photographs next to one of his castles that featured a big heart .
“ I realized I might have a business opportunity when I saw that ,” he said .