Do you know what today is????

it’s shark week 2018!!

Since my boys were wee babes, this has been one of our favorite weeks as a family! If you have young children, you get always trying to find those common ground TV shows where you aren’t bored to tears nor are you teaching your child ridiculous violence and inappropriate language….it’s a delicate balance as a parent…haha! Well, Shark Week totally bridges that gap!!

All the goodness…the fears, the excitement, the discovery….begins this Sunday, July 22 at 7pm CST on the Discovery Channel!!

Are you and your family tuning in??

In honor of Shark Week 2018, I wanted to share an awesome trip we took this summer to Shark Tooth Creek in Aliceville, Alabama. It was a fun filled day of collecting shark teeth literally in a creek in the middle of Alabama followed by a BYO lunch, ziplining, and trampolining into a swimming pond! And about this time people usually say, “Wait!…where did you say this was?!” And, “this must be a gimmick because how in the world could you find shark teeth….and lots of them…so far inland?”

Now, you need to pause and check out this map of Alabama and where Shark Took Creek is located vs. where the coastline begins to fully appreciate how truly cool this place is.

Ummm…yes! You are seeing that correctly. Shark Took Creek is roughly 150+ miles from the Gulf of Mexico in the central western part of Alabama….right on the Mississippi border. So, how in the world did those shark teeth get there?? Well, hang on, I will get to that in a second.

We were visiting my mom and drove over from Mississippi that morning. Our GPS….and you must trust in the good directions of the mighty Google!….took us to just the outside of Aliceville, Alabama where we arrived at a beautiful property!! We followed the signs to “Shark Took Creek” and were greeted under an open pavilion by other families and our host for the day (and the owner!), Mr. Ken!

We had been instructed to pack sunscreen, bugspray, a towel, water shoes (not flip flops!), a sack lunch, and a freezer quality quart sized baggie with each child’s name written on it. This was important….a regular non-freezer baggie wouldn’t hold up to the shark teeth…some are extremely sharp!

Such a character, Mr. Ken began by assuring us that no one had ever been eaten on HIS TOURS at Shark Tooth Creek! He then showed the kids and families all of the varieties of shark teeth that we could expect to find in the creek. And, of course, he was asked the question you must be thinking….

HOw in the world are there shark teeth…and so many…this far inland?

Mr. Ken’s answer was that it depends on whether you believe the Biblical Noah story or Global Warming or just that the shore lines evolved and moved over millions of years…..but regardless, it is no gimmick, and this place….this creek….at some point was a place where a large variety of sharks lived and for some reason the water must have dissipated and a massive amount of sharks perished in this creek leaving behind all of the teeth. It is also filled with a variety of fossils.

Next up, we loaded into a cattle trailer called the Shark Tooth Creek Express….aka a retrofitted cattle trailer with bench seats on both sides. He asked all the kids whether  they wanted to go “slow and smooth” or “fast and bumpy???” Well, you know the answer to that question was a very loud and excited, “Fast and Bumpy!!!!” And we were off!!!! And let me tell you, the kids were squealing with pure delight, and the parents might have been holding on to dear life….haha! It was a blast though!!

We turned up into the woods and had a little fun scare….I won’t give it all away because you need to experience it for yourself!

We all unloaded, applied lots of bug spray, and were led down into the creek by Mr. Ken and his assistant! The creek was partitioned off into three sections so we began searching in the first section. Some families had brought colanders and other sifting tools….they must have received insider tips…haha! We simply used our hands!

this is where the magic began!

Y’all….when I tell you that you couldn’t go two steps without finding shark teeth, I am not exaggerating AT ALL!!! I have never experienced anything like it in my life! Mr. Ken had promised that there would be two prizes….1. for the most shark teeth collected and 2. for THE BEST tooth which would be up to Mr. Ken’s discretion. My boys were in it to win it, and being slightly competitive myself, I was kind of in it, too!!

We searched through all three sections and worked on filling up the boys’ baggies! It was a blast!! We scooped, we searched, we laughed, we explored!! It was just so cool! The bugs didn’t bother us. The creek was nice and cool and shallow. No snakes. No other animals. It was a delight!!

After about 45 minutes to an hour, we loaded back up in the Shark Tooth Creek Express to head back to the pavilion for lunch! We all ate and mingled and visited. There were families from all over Alabama, some from Mississippi, and one group of grandchildren from Atlanta!

All of the bags of shark teeth were weighed, and prizes were awarded. I know you are on the edge of your seat to see if we won. Well, I might leave you hanging…..haha! Each child was allowed to keep his/her favorite 10 shark teeth though so we came home with a really awesome souvenir!!

After lunch, we loaded back into the cattle trailer to head up the hill to Mr. Ken’s backyard. What a playground of paradise. He has the most amazing playset that has a slide that drops you into an above ground pool. And there is a long zip line that runs from the top of the playset all the way down the side of the house to the edge of his fence….probably about 60 feet at least! The kids had a blast, and this portion of the day lasted about 45 minutes. For some of the parents, it was a respite filled with a beautiful view looking down over the lower land and the lakes! You could see for a while, and there were storms in the distance that were simply gorgeous!

Can you guess what we did next? Well, yes…we loaded back up in the trailer and were chauffeured down the hill to the swimming pond there there was a massive floating trampoline! Ummmm…yes, please! The kids all lined up and took turns swimming out to it, jumping for a minute, and then a big dismount into the water! You know those corporate or sorority retreats where you have to do all these trust exercises together and then by then end of it all you have bonded?? This kind of felt like that because the older kids were helping the little kids while all of the families were visiting. And then we dried off and headed home to Mississippi!

The entire day was finished between 1pm-2pm! And truly, I was surprised at how much fun I had, too! When we first talked about the day, I thought, “okay, we will do the shark tooth hunting, and then we will head home…probably skip out on the zip line and the swimming.” BUT, I am so glad we did not!! It was warm, but it wasn’t miserable. And what amazing memories my boys made! We will definitely visit another time!

If you ever find yourself in this area….maybe as you are making your way from Memphis, Oxford, or another northern part of Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, or Alabama area….or if you are just looking for a fun excursion, I would totally recommend Shark Tooth Creek! It is a fascinating and totally entertaining experience that is super fun for the entire family!

Click here to find out more about Shark Tooth Creek!

happy shark week!!