Amazing Citizens Bank Park Sandcastle

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Earlier in the week we saw a photo over at Zoo with Roy of an absolutely amazing sandcastle modeled after South Philly's own Citizens Bank Park. We wondered what kind of hardcore Philadelphia sports fan would make such a masterpiece so we emailed the creator, Alex Nakahara, to find out more about his castle on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

Not surprisingly, Alex is a University of Pennsylvania alum who majored in mechanical engineering and is now a second year grad student studying aeronautics at MIT. He told us that when he's living in Philly he typically gets to about 10-15 games a year at the ballpark, but probably made it to only five or so this season due to living in Boston. So he's plenty familiar with the intricate details of the Phillies home.

So how long did the Citizens Bank Park sandcastle take to make, we wondered. [more photos below]

"The sandcastle took most of the day to build, so around 6 hours. My brother and dad helped me out with it," Alex said.

From looking at the size and detail of the CBP castle, I had the feeling this was not their first foray into sand sculptures.

the bullpen

"We usually make ancient cities (Roman, Greek, Egyptian) but we've also done the Titanic, the Jefferson Memorial, Minas Tirith (Lord of the Rings), the pyramids and Sphinx, and the Parthenon among other things," he said.

If you look closely at the photos, you'll notice seashells being used for the base paths and some of the chalk lines, but that wasn't the only extra detail in the CBP castle.

"I wanted to get the stands to be recognizable, although some things can't really be done in sand and I was working from memory," Alex told us. "I also tried to get the major landmarks in: the scoreboard porch (the jumbotron proved too challenging), the batters eye in center field, the bullpens, and Chickie and Pete's. I ran out of time to make Ashburn Alley completely, which was disappointing. Other than sand, we used some shells to do the base paths and some driftwood for the foul poles and scoreboard."

Using the remnants of a real crab to represent Chickie's and Pete's was a great touch. Sadly, ocean water doesn't really give that day-old beer smell, so they couldn't make the replica 100% accurate to a South Philly sports viewing experience.

Thanks to Alex for telling us about his amazing castle and ZWR for the find.

Alex's girlfriend Meg rocking her R2C2 shirt

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