My wife, daughter, and I search for driftwood when we go to the beach. So far, we’ve had little luck. We found a 1-foot piece but I left it on our back patio to dry off and our black lab chewed it to pieces. Then we found a nice, hefty 2-foot chunk when we stayed at the Marriott in Ventura. I hid it in the parking lot because it was wet and smelled. Then it rained overnight and soaked the wood, strengthening its odor and increasing its number of flies. So we abandoned it in the parking lot and drove home.
This piece was ginormous. Around 10 feet long. I would have needed a crane or team of vikings to lift it up and get it home.
Then we discovered a giant piece of driftwood that looked like a dinosaur fossil, (pictured to the right), but I couldn’t figure out a way to get it home.
This makes us 0 for 3 when it comes to driftwood hunting.
Until today when I hit the mother lode of driftwood – on Craigslist.
My Craigslist app beeped and showed two driftwood benches in my city. $25 each or $40 for both.
40 bucks? Seriously? For giant pieces of driftwood? Bargain alert.
This bench is 7-feet wide and heavy. But oh what a piece of wood it is. Or pieces of wood.
I believe in luck and making your own. No hesitation, I called the seller and told him I’d buy both benches. At lunchtime, my neighbor in tow, I was at his house with $40.
Lesson learned today about large pieces of driftwood: they weigh a friggin’ ton. It took all three of us to lift the large bench down a flight of outdoor steps – one step at a time. Then we had to lift it up and into the bed of my friend’s pick-up truck.
The seller was super nice. He said he received several calls after mine, and a couple of people offered him more. And he didn’t say this next part, but he still honored the deal and didn’t sell to the other caller. I respect that in this today’s world of “anything for a buck.”
This is the small bench. It’s almost 5-feet long and takes two people to lift it.
I looked up driftwood benches when I got home. I found one that was similar and sold for $600. Now I feel guilty about the great deal I got.
Should I?
I am thinking of sending the guy a thank you note and $20 in the mail he can put in his son’s college fund. I know. I’m nuts. But if I ever wanted to sell these, I could make a good chunk of change.
What would you do?
The Unknown Cystic 
I don’t think it matters what you do as long as you can let go of the guilt. I just want to say that you’re a good guy.
Ms. Levy,
I have my doubts I fit into the “good guy” category, but thank you for thinking that. Guilt is a funny thing. I wish I could let it go, but it’s fading by the day.
Hope all is well with you and the family.
UC
Anyone who entertains the notion that you mention proves they are good folk in my book. Don’t feel guilty about the treasure you happened upon. Perhaps he was, or his wife was, for whatever reason, tired of it taking up space and was glad to have you take it away. And the surprised look on your face when you saw it for real was most likely worth the addittional $20. you are thinking of adding to his asking price.
And I can certainly relate to the black Lab patio chewings. Not so much now but she did lots of damage on our back patio too…and things inside as well. :>)
A good post as always, enjoy the nice benches, and be well my friend.
Larry,
I see the Falcons are making some good off-season moves. Denver-Atlanta Super Bowl next year.
I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do yet about the extra donation. I’ve been so busy with work this week that I haven’t had much time to think about it.
I see your pup is related to mine. Cali has a knack for finding anything new in her environment. It’s strange. She’s a curious little pup.
Thanks for writing. Always happy to hear from you.
UC
Relish in the notion that you just got a plain old good deal. Enjoy the benches and I’m sure that would be thanks enough. You win some, you lose some and this time you won. He was a great seller and you paid what he asked for. I’d leave it at that. I give away a lot of expensive stuff to Goodwill because I’m too lazy to sell it on craigslist these days. I take my $6 deduction over the hassle of selling the $40 item or whatever. Enjoy the benches! You’ve been waiting for them for a long time!
Tara, Tara, Tara,
You and my wife would get along great. She said about the same thing when I told what I was thinking of doing. She may have even said, “you win some, you lose some.”
I agree with you on the Goodwill trips. I don’t have the patience for selling anything on CL for under $100. It’s too much of a pain in the ass with spammers and nutjobs.
BTW, I know I forgot to answer a question you had about beaches. Do you still need info? My email is unknowncystic@gmail.com.
Very nice to hear from you and I hope the husband and kids are doing well.
UC