My favorite part of meeting other shellers is to see what makes them happiest. Interestingly enough, I heard almost everybody from Shellabaloo 4 say it was finally so nice to meet other people that feel the same way about beach combing as they do. There are other folks out there that don’t think we are crazy for wanting to shell all day!
On our final night, Kris made a beautiful display for our Shell ‘N Tell and pizza party in the newly remodeled Florida Room in Kimball Lodge at Island Inn– it’s perfect for parties and games. And I love games! So we played a game throughout our shelling adventure. I made up a scavenger “Shellinger Hunt” game that gave points for different shells and beach bling finds to display for our party night. So much fun! You can see Kris showed some of her answers as… 3 sets of THE SANIBEL SIX, a FOSSIL, 10 JINGLES in any BIVALVE and 2 pieces of BEACH BLING. Hmmmmm…. she found some interesting BEACH BLING, huh? A pipe? LOL
(Oh, and her hand in the first photo has a “wedding shell cone”- I don’t think thats a FLORIDA CONE)
This is another beautiful shell display by Nancy for our Shell ‘N Tell night….
Some folks may have been disappointed to come to Southwest Florida to wear coats and long pants earlier this week… but not shellers! Shellers know that, almost always, cold north winds bring in lots of sea shells. So when a group of shellers like the wonderful folks at Shellabaloo get together… cold weather gets us excited!
We get excited because we find shells like OLIVES, SHARKS EYES, GAUDY NATICAS, WHELKS, TULIPS, MUREXES, BUTTERCUPS and so many other shells…
A little cold weather in Florida would never have made Bette and Rick disappointed when you can stand a beach filled with shells.
There were so many miniature shells to be found too…
Suzanne found all of these mini shells by sifting through the shell piles right in front of Island Inn.
Conne was so excited to find a SAND DOLLAR since I think that was on her bucket list… I mean shell bucket list. heehee
I think everybody found a SAND DOLLAR or two. These were some of Ricks finds…
Angela (who I’m now calling “Anshella”) was thrilled to show us her favorite finds for our Shell ‘N Tell and pizza party…
Between “Good Will Shelling” (Will) and his wife Sarah The ShellAnimal, they found such interesting shells and bling. He found MERMAID PURSES (SKATE EGG CASES), a huuuge old FOSSIL shell (bottom right), and a “wedding shell” Ive never seen before. I told him that shell (top left between the SUNRAY VENUS) was a foreign shell that was probably bought for decoration for a wedding or party on the beach. I told him to take to to the Shell Museum to ask what it was and Dr Jose Leal verified that is was a TORPEDO shell probably from Indopacific area. They were still excited to find it!
Super Sheller Clark couldnt be with us each day for shelling (that “work” thing gets in the way)but he still wanted to participated in the Shell ‘N Tell so he brought some of our favorite finds over the last couple of years…
Clark helped me add up the points for each of the shells entered in the game so we could give the winner of the Shellinger Hunt this gorgeous STARFISH REEF necklace donated from Sealife by Congress. Thank you Sealife By Congress for supporting our Shellabaloo!
Drum roll Please! ……. The winner of the Shellinger Hunt was…. Sarah The ShellAnimal!!!! LOL She found 2 big WHELKS, a CARRIER SHELL, CONES, PAPER FIGS, 4 BABYS EARS, WENTLETRAPS and more. Congratshellations Sarah!
She had so many shells spread out, I didn’t even get a decent photo of them. But… I did get a photo of her prize shell. Her ROCK SHELL. We just don’t find these every day so I asked her to show Jose Leal at the Shell Museum too. Dr Leal verified that this shell is more rare (on Sanibel -where she found it) than the JUNONIA. Shellzam Sarah!
We had such a fabshellous time getting to know each other while shelling the beaches, sharing meals, exchanging stories and laughing with joy. I can’t put it any better than what Sarah said…. “I have to say this was one of the best times of my life! William surprised me with it for my birthday, and it was epic! These memories and friends I made will last forever!!”
When we have dates for Shellabaloo 5, you will be the first to know!
Your pictures are so great! I feel like I am right there on the beach.
Love the displays. I love that other people actually do that, some people don’t understand why we do it and think we are nuts. I have a ministry where we give away free clothes. The things that I find in pockets…pot pipes, bags of pot, pics of naked woman, all kinds of crazy stuff…sometimes money.
Great pics and blog report! I really like that right tray in the Clark pic ;)
Pam, this looks like another great Shellabaloo! Everyone found neat treasures and will remember this experience for a long time! Wish I could have joined you and the group! Love the trays of everyone’s finds!
Looks like a great Shellabaloo. Is that a Scotch Bonnet in the upper right hand corner of the second photo?
Yes it is!!!!! Kris found a scotch bonnet! There were sooooo many amazing shells that were found I didn’t have time to post each individually. Crazy, huh?
Everyone found a lot of great shells. We’ll be down later this month at the Island Inn. I hope there will be some shells left. Happy shelling. Pat
Such amazing finds. We have finally booked our Sanibel Island vacation. I can hardly wait. Will be there on May 10. After this nasty winter up here in Canada, can’t come too soon. Save some shells for me.
Another fab group and wonderful shells!
Your displays are mouth-watering. On Saturday the 18th , my two daughters and I will be right out there on the beach searching for a whole week. We are coming down from the far northeast, so will have our winter jackets with us. Anything above zero will be just fine. Hoping for a little better, though. :-)
My husband and I had a great time last year although the thought of shelling at first wasn’t exciting for him. I knew he’d like it because when he goes to Florida for Spring Training, he always brings me back shells from the beach so I knew he’d enjoy it. And he did! Just last night at dinner we were discussing our trip back to Sanibel in May and he told our son, “I really did like it. Your mother had a list of shells she was looking for and it made sense once I got in the water.” And the really funny part is that one late afternoon on Bowman’s Beach, I looked up and couldn’t find him. I looked all around then finally him way out waist deep in the water with three other husbands and they were all looking for shells.
Shelling is so peaceful and relaxing. As long as you don’t go with the attitude of “I must find…” it’s very enjoyable. I look at shelling like this; this year is my second year and I’ve found so many exquisite shells. Every shell is a new gift. If I find something unusual, great, but if I don’t, look at these beautiful gifts from the sea!
Ok, I’ll now get down off my soapbox as I know I’m preaching to the choir!
Terry
Fun fun fun!!! Love that perfect rock shell! It looks as if even the protoconch (the embryonic shell at the very tip of the apex) is in perfect condition.
That rock shell can be fairly common on some rocky shores — the fact that Sanibel is nearly 100% sand is why it’s so rare there. But having found a nice juvenile rock shell in 2011 on Sanibel, can I now claim to have done better than the Junonia finders??? :)
Hi Pam, I will be there tomorrow for three weeks. Hope to see you and Clark on the beach. Mother Earth Marilyn
Hi Pam I found a large rock shell also on Sanibel Wednesday , I haven’t cleaned it up yet but it looks very nice, I haven’t figured out how to send a picture
Cool!! You can always share photos at iLoveShelling Facebook page… https://m.facebook.com/iLoveShelling