Boston Locals Baffled After the Sand at Revere Beach Turns ‘Purple'
Despite the winter chill blowing through New England right now, there are enough hardy locals willing to brave the frosty weather for a serene walk on the beach. However, Bostonians who dared a wintertime visit to Revere Beach, just north of the city, were surprised to find that the sand at Revere Beach had inexplicably turned... purple?
Pink or purple-ish sands might be more common in the Caribbean, but up in New England, they're an oddity. However, many locals, including reporters from the Boston Globe on February 8, confirmed that the sands of Amerca's first public beach seem to have taken on a distinctly magenta hue over the winter!
Your eyes aren't deceiving you- as if Revere Beach got a bright-pink dye job that faded over the winter, the sands over the Massachusetts beach currently shine an odd mixture of purple and beige in the sun. While the sands look faded in this video, their bright magenta tone is much more visible in pictures taken a few days prior, such as these pics published by the Boston Globe last week. Reporters from the @bostonglobe were initially just as baffled as many other Boston-area locals at this sudden switch-up in color. What was behind this eye-catching change?
I'll admit, I like a good mystery, so at first I tried to guess for myself- was this the aftereffect of an algal bloom? Nope- swing and a miss. The purple actually comes from the crystalline content of the sand itself. According to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts' State Department of Conservation and Recreation says that these pink-purple sands are a "natural phenomenon caused by mineral deposits of rose quartz and garnet from the White Mountains."
Yep- the purple sands on Revere Beach are essentially made of pulverized semi-precious stones from the White Mountains. If you've got any friends who are really into collecting crystals, you might wanna send them up to Revere Beach. As joked in the video, the purple sands also serve as a cute reminder that Valentine's Day is just around the corner!
About Revere Beach
Even when its shores aren't dyed magenta with rose quartz and garnet-laced sands, Revere Beach is remarkable in its own right. Located about five miles north of downtown Boston, Revere Beach is officially recognized as "America's First Public Beach" and is designated as a National Historic Landmark, according to the beach's official website. Throughout most of the 20th century, Revere Beach had a boardwalk area to rival Coney Island with dance pavillions, roller coasters, movie theaters, restaurants, and more. Over time, though, the businesses and attractions on the boardwalk went into decline, and now they are no more, save a few surviving restaurants.
Even without its once-famous boardwalk, Revere Beach is still a popular beach destination for folks living in the Boston area. There's no doubt that it'll be just as bustling and popular as ever when the weather warms up later this year- though whether or not those purple sands will still be around remains to be seen.
For more WanderWisdom updates, be sure to follow us on Google News!
Have you had a funny, interesting, or just highly memorable experience while traveling? We'd love for you to submit a video of your travels for a chance to be featured on WanderWisdom and our social channels! Click here to upload your clip and share your adventures with the world.
