Arbroath, Scotland

by Laura
(New York)

I decided to read an old book my mother had laying around the house. It was the summer after I graduated college and needed something to fill my time since i kept the "real world," on the back burner!


The book was called "Sea Glass," and although I can tell you absolutely nothing about the story line, I can remember the passion that the main character had for her sea glass and how each color meant something very deep and symbolic to her personally.

Not to mention the wild thoughts that danced in her head while she walked up and down the beaches in search of the beautiful glass, but more importantly, the search for herself.

A couple years went by, and I ended up in a little fishing village named Arbroath in beautiful Bonny Scotland!

How I ended up there is irrelevant, but what basically kept me there, besides my yellow lab, Belle (please don't laugh) was sea glass. I just couldn't get enough of it!

The first pieces I found were jagged and quite large. I cherished those bits at first, but when I started finding the round, smooth and perfect pieces, (perfect to me, anyway!) I longed for more in that category.

FYI- I'm a 27 year-old girl that has never collected a single thing in my whole life!

My collection grew so large and colorful and I would just run my fingers through it at night- that was the time i missed my home, my friends and my "old" life, the most. Old life referring to pre-Scotland.

So, the day finally came when the cons outweighed the pros, and so I packed my bags and about 1 pound of my favorite treasure, and returned home to New York. I've been back for about a year and a half now and have not found (nor really looked) for a single piece since then.

I was just thinking about it today when I opened up my suitcase and found a solitary shard! I'm ready to start my search again and I found this website and thought I'd share my story.

It's nice to know I'm not the only nut out there who loves the stuff!!

Thank you for allowing us to share our stories on here. Never talked about my sea glass "obsession" much to anyone!

Comments for Arbroath, Scotland

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Jul 08, 2014
 My place of birth
by: Betty Coughlin

I was born in Arbroath now live in America.

My fondest memories was going down to the beach and rocks and catching crab and gathering wilks and seaweed with my dad.

That was many years ago.

I have many fond memories in America with my children here but Arbroath is just always in my mind.

Miss it.



From Petticoat Tails to Arbroath Smokies: Traditional Foods of Scotland
Apr 19, 2012
 Scotland - Great post
by: Anonymous

Nice story and I am happy to read it!

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