John Gowdy, who started building sand castles with his own kids about 25 years ago, has all the credentials (and then some) to show you how to build a perfectly good one with your kids. He even ...

Next time you're at the beach, take a look around: You may spy a mermaid with long, tangled hair or a dragon with pointy ears and flared nostrils. If you get lucky, you'll come across an actual castle ...

As building blocks go, pancakes fall low on the list. But a successful sand castle, I learned, starts with pancakes. A tall stack. Turns out those plastic molds I had packed with sand — only to dump ...

Remember how much fun it was to take a plastic pail and shovel to the beach and spend hours in the sand building sandcastles? I remember being so upset when the waves rushed on shore to devour my ...