Our first iLoveShelling Sight Sea-R Cruise was even better than I could ever even imagined! This brand new Sight Sea-R boat proved to be the absolutely perfect shelling excursion with plenty of room to take our 48 amazing shellers to this new shelling destination only accessible by boat… Big Hickory Island.
Not only is the island filled with our favorite treasures (shells, of course)….
We kicked this shelling adventure off with lots of other goodies too. Giveaways! Clark and I brought a big bucket of Sanibel Six shells so everybody could pick out a lucky shell to get things started. Then we treated everybody to iLoveShelling waterproof Seashell Identification guides, bumper stickers and had raffle prizes for hats and tee shirts. So. Much. Fun.
Our biggest surprise was from Mary and Jana of Sealife By Congress– my fave jewelry store. You won’t believe it, they gave every single person on this cruise a sterling silver sealife charm. Seriously. They came on the boat with large baskets filled with beautiful pieces of jewelry and let us all pick our gift of hand made sterling silver dolphin, starfish, sand dollars, scallops and yes… even junonia charms. So sweet!
Texas cutie cousins Pat, Pam, Kay, Peggy, Debby and Linda were thrilled to all receive such a gracious gift of jewelry. Thank you Sealife By Congress!
Let me tell you… this boat turned into a parrrr-taayyy!
So to top it off, on the boat ride to the island we spotted lots of different wildlife. There were dozens of species of birds but we were most excited about seeing many ROSEATE SPOONBILLS…
We also saw a rare sighting of a SEA TURTLE popping out of the water and we also witnessed countless pods of BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN.
This was already so much fun and we hadn’t even starting shelling yet. But I was soooo ready… especially since I saw Holly had made a special shell bucket for herself with “My Shell Holl” on it- heehee. She also made one for her husband Ted that said “Collect-Ted Shells” and she made one for me with “My Pamtastic Shells”. OMG So stinkin cute.
We were all ready to hit the beach to find shells. And we did! Sandy from Fort Myers Beach’s newspaper The Island Sand Paper found some awesome shells to make her smile. Go back and take a look at the second photo from the top, those are her shells- See? Awesome.
We couldn’t believe how many WORM SHELLS we all found…
And lots of SHARK’S EYES…
During the boat ride back, I asked how many people found CONE shells (and not ones they picked from the “lucky bucket”) and 19 shellers raised their hands. Wow!
I’m always so happy to meet families that shell together. Christine, Anthony, Paula, Bryce and Dominic (from VT and MA) were such a pleasure to talk to.
I asked Bryce what his favorite thing about the cruise was and he reminded me that together we saved a SEA HARE that got washed up on the beach. We put the SEA HARE back in the water and after a minute, he revived and swam away- that was his favorite moment. I asked Anthony what his favorites were and he immediately showed me his ROSE PETAL TELLINS (with 2 COCQUINAS as well).
Brooke and Josh from Georgia had favorites too… SAND DOLLARS.
Clark and I loved hearing Keri (also from the Sand Paper) tell about shelling bringing back so many memories of her childhood while shelling with her grandmother. I think that’s why we love it so much… we explore the beach like we are kids again and remember those days.
Thank you Captain Phil and Meg for such a great adventure!
I still can’t believe how exciting every moment was with perfect weather seeing DOLPHINS, ROSEATE SPOONBILLS, OSPREY, PELICANS, a SEA TURLE, lots of seashells and the best group of people Clark and I could wish for.
To make a fairy tale ending, on our way back to the dock we watched the sun set over the Sanibel Lighthouse…
It was a very special day to remember. Oh but wait… I still have more photos and I have just a few more things I want to share with you about this day on my next post. The surprises continue!
Thank you Sight Sea-R Cruises!
You can catch a cruise too. Hop on a regularly scheduled shelling cruise on the Sight Sea-R to Big Hickory every Wednesday at 10am, Call 239-765-7272 or go to the website at http://www.sightseaflorida.com. You won’t be disappointed.
If you want to catch an iLoveShelling shelling adventure with me as your guide (once a month), CLICK HERE
That looks like a great trip. I hope you will still have a cruise next year-late Jan-middle of Feb. Love all those wormies and cones. By the way, I’ve been having trouble with your facebook for several days. I’ve been having trouble viewing the posts your fans post. Hope the shelling continues. Pat
Hi Pat- I believe Facebook is doing maintenance with the changeover in their layout- I am having trouble too. I couldn’t even post the update I had a new post on this cruise until now. Finally got it to stick!
Gina- Bryce and I were so into saving the sea hare, I didn’t even stop to take photos. The waves kept bringing him back on the sure so I had stay with him unit he got comfy and started flapping his wings. So happy Bryce got to see him finally revive!
What an amazing day, you shell-lucky shell-folks! That’s the best across-the-board spectrum of shells I’ve seen in a long time. Pam, I have seen a lot of beautiful sunsets, but I have never seen “marmalade clouds in a tangerine sky” until now. I understand the thrill of Bryce’s Great Adventure, since I recued little Bubba Octavius, the beached octopus last May. Congrats, Bryce! I hope that Pam got photos or video for you.
Hi Pam! Kim and I are coming back to Sanibel Oct 4 to 10. We want to do the Oct 8 cruise with you. Where does it go? Cayo Costa? Thanks ……..Lynn
HI lynn, Yes! come with us! October 8 is Big Hickory- check the info here- http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/2014/06/25/maiden-voyage-sight-sea-r-shelling-cruise-was-incredishell/
Pam,
Congrats on your maiden voyage! It sounded wonderful! Planning on doing the July one with you….looking forward to it!
Yes! Ur gonna love it denise
Hi Pam, congrats on your shelltastic maiden voyage! I can’t wait to book a trip with you to Big Hickory, looks like lots of fun!
Looked like an awesome day and a lot of fun!
This is definitely on my “to do” list!
Really nice images. Great story about the stranded sea hare. :)
Hi Pam – this post finally came through (Friday). Wanted to thank you again for a really fun cruise. It’s like you arranged for perfect weather too!! If only you could have supplied a Junonia!!!!
What beautiful shells were found. I hope the same finds are there in August! Sounds like every things was perfect–sealife, seashells, good boating weather and rescuing the stranded sea hare.
Thought you might enjoy this video on chambered nautilus from the radio program Science Friday. They warned against collecting live specimens since the don’t start reproducing until many years old and then not abundantly.
http://www.sciencefriday.com/video/06/20/2014/teaching-ancient-nautilus-new-tricks.html
Pam,
We had a great time at old hickery park. My grandson (Bryce) Had a ball. He still talking about saving the sea hair. We found some really neat shells and learned some great shelling tips. Thanks again for the memories! ;-)
Paula