Smell of the sea

How things and places are named can be a mystery? This is especially true when you are in a new area and unfamiliar with the history and culture.

We encountered this sign when driving along the beach. It struck me as funny. Hence, I took a picture.

I wondered why such an unpleasant name would be assigned to a beach. I was standing there and I noticed nothing unusual about the odor. Perhaps, I thought, the locals decided that "Stinky Beach" would be more successful than "Private Beach" in keeping tourists away. Who would lather on the sun screen and settle into a lawn chair on a stinky beach?

We must have been there on a good day. Winds and surf push sea grass up on the beach at this location and this mat of vegetation begins to rot. Evidently, the locals were not saving the location for themselves, but felt the need to post a second sign to explain. I also learned that a pile of rotting sea weed is called a "wrack". And this folks is what I learned today.

[near the Stinky Beach, Rockport, TX]