The kiddos really wanted to do another round of fossil hunting. They already had a book about Mary Anning, a local pioneering fossil hunter, that was given to them a couple of years back. At low tide is the time for fossil hunting in Lyme Regis in the same area where Mary Anning found her first icthyosaur. Although C and I were up for more fossil hunting like back in Decorah, we also wanted to explore the town itself. Seeing as it is only a couple of hours drive away from Weston, I was delighted to see a whole different vibe to this town.

After some research we went first to look in the rock pools at low tide and search for tiny life. The kiddos found tiny fish, crabs, tons of barnacles and snails and copious amounts of seaweed. It was interesting to see the slow movements of the snails in the pools and the trails they left behind on the bottom. I think this was the first time I’d ever search rock pools and seen a sea anemone in the wild. It was cool.

After the tide went down further, we headed to one of the public fossil hunting sites for ammonite fossils. We did manage to find a few small bits of fossils along the pebble shore. I also saw plenty of agates and sea glass. It still reminds me of seashell hunting along the beach, but instead we’re looking at rocks.

On the other side of the beach from where we hunted is known as an ammonite graveyard. There are so many fossils of various sizes. Some bigger than my head. C went along further than I did and saw a shelf rock with so many embedded ammonite fossils. We even saw a few belemnite fossils in the same area.

One of the places we did visit was Dinosaurland Fossil Museum. This is a don’t judge a book by its cover places if you are at all interested in geology or paleontology. It is run by the owner, a paleontologist, and clearly is a passion project. The first room is filled with samples of minerals and other stones. After this room, the building is jam-packed with fossils. I personally liked the little cartoons posted along the way. Kid Willow really seemed to enjoy their time and even took the time to have a legitimate conversation with the owner of the museum.

The town itself is cute. Other than its hilly nature, the beach and town are really reminiscent of coastal beaches and towns around the Carolinas and along Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. I am very partial to the Carolinas and really enjoyed this town. It also had places to eat along the shore with a relaxed feel. Although there were several tourists, it felt very different somehow than Weston we visited prior on this trip.

This was the first place that reminded me that people like to pose for pictures to fill their social media type feeds. There were carefully choreographed poses with serious faces in locations where one would have to walk around so they can get their perfect picture. There is nothing wrong with this, but many times in many locations on our trip, I ran into this situation. I will also say I saw “old fashioned I’m having a blast” impromptu pictures being taken as well. I guess it feels like the later group is having a better time and smiling. I do realize the irony in what I am typing, but want people to be aware.

Bye for now.