Coquina clams can be found by the thousands up and down the North Carolina coast. These tiny little mollusks come in a wide variety of brilliant colors, from bright yellow to deep blue or white with purple stripes.
When my youngest begins to get bored during a beach trip, I will take her to the water’s edge for several rounds of what we call “Coquina Races.” We each hunt for just the right coquina, and then meet for an exciting coquina race. When the water flows back and exposes sand, my daughter says, “on your mark, get set, go” as we drop our coquinas on to the sand. Then we wait and hold our breath. Finally, one of the coquinas will turn end up and begin to dig under the sand.
You win if your coquina buries itself first. This game is actually quite addicting, even for an adult. We have spent up to an hour at a time finding coquinas and racing them to see whose is the fastest. We experiment between sizes, shapes and colors. And of course each coquina races only once and is completely safe and unharmed – although perhaps a bit tired from such a big workout!
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