It All Started With A Trip To The Aquarium

This weekend, I checked out the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, SC with a friend.

It had been a few years since I had visited and a lot had changed! I think that's the beauty of the Arts & Culture world. There's always something new to see.

There was a sea turtle hospital, a HUGE tank of fish/sharks/rays/younameits and visitors were also invited to pet stingrays, SHARKS (eep) and horseshoe crabs. Overall, a great experience at a fantastic aquarium.



But, it was something else entirely that caught my eye & set off a wonderful chain of events. I noticed at the Aquarium there was a Trading Post experience.

You could bring items that you find like shark teeth, bones, sand from other states/countries, rocks & gems, and a variety of other items and trade them in for points that you can earn to get other awesome things. 



I remarked to my friend that it was my goal to find a few shark teeth on our area beaches. I made a mental note to do that and to also bring in my sand collection from Greece. 



The next day, I took a bike ride in the rain to one of my favorite spots in Charleston, not expecting to see a whole lot of people out due to the weather. I sat on a bench and watched from afar as a mother, father, and small child played in the pluff mud left behind by low tide. 



I wondered what they were looking for, assuming they were crabbing. When they came back on shore, I asked them if they had found anything cool out there. They immediately pulled out a bag full of items they had found: including... SHARK TEETH! I told them it was my goal to find shark teeth and that's when a random act of kindness kicked in. The mother reached in and not only pulled out two shark teeth for me, she also gave me a stingray tooth. 



I thanked them for their generosity and they told me it was a game they play at low tide. The family competes to see who can find the neatest item and/or biggest shark tooth. 

That's when it clicked - I told them about the Trading Post at the Aquarium and they were so excited to learn there was a place they could trade in their finds!

You might call it -- kismet. I had a chance to tell someone about the program our local aquarium was offering in the most organic way possible. 

It got me thinking about this Arts & Culture group and the hard work everyone puts into their themes, their promotions, their programs. Know that your hard work is rewarded by experiences like these. 

Sometimes all it takes is a trip to the Aquarium. 

**Update, I traded my shark teeth in for a quartz Crystal.