It might be pretty up north in the U.S. right now with white blankets of snow but I think you need to get your beach fix warmed up a little too. So Im sending you some sunny sunshine photos of my  morning beach combing.  I thought of so many of you “in the cold tundra” (as some of you call it- heehee) so as soon as I saw so many bright yellow COQUINAS covering the beach this morning, I knew I needed to send you some of this warmth.
My friend Alex and I only had to walk a few steps on to Gulfside City Park beach to find lots of treasures still scattered throughout the SEA SQUIRTS.
She was collecting lots of DOSINIAS and juvie FIGHTING CONCHS to make another shell mirror.
I met Shelly on the boardwalk to the beach and she collected COQUINAS too. She said “… in a way I’m glad the bigger shells weren’t around… otherwise I may have missed this experience of looking for the small wonders”. Be still my heart.
But hold on to your sun hats, folks! She wasn’t just collecting sunshine yellow ones, she was collecting COQUINAS of every color under the rainbow…. and “CANDY” too. Gorgeous! 
There were areas that had gobs of double DOSINIAS, FIGHTING CONCHS and stinky SEA SQUIRTS but after a finding shelltastic gems in just a few minutes, amazingly enough the odor went away.
Talk about amazing… Rick from Fort Myers found the sweetest perfect JUNONIA at Bowmans Beach. Shellzam!
Even if you haven’t found your JUNONIA…. yet… there are so many shell lines to sift through right now to find so many fabshellous shells and bling to find sunshine and happiness.
Oh wait, you’re not in SW Florida to sift through these shells for yourself… and maybe the photos aren’t doing it for you? How about some CYBERSHELLING! In this next photo, notice that this area doesn’t look so pretty at first, right? This is exactly what Shelly was talking about… if there are larger shells on the beach, we never look through the shell lines that look like this because it just doesn’t look as appealing at first. But… if you take you time and look a little closer…. Oh My! There are such beautiful shells just waiting there for you to discover and appreciate one day. Click on the next photo to enlarge it… then look around for three WENTLETRAPS (I only saw the big one- I had no idea the other 2 were in there until I enlarged it- Ack!) , a BABYS EAR, TUSKS, a DRILL, JINGLES, MUSSELS and all sorts of other goodies. Have fun!
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Great cybershelling! And lovely yellow (and rainbow) coquinas!
Thanks for sharing the sunshine! The bright yellows made me feel warmer just by looking at them!
Thanks Pam, we needed the sunshine in the form of shells. We have a small dusting of snow here in Southern Michigan.
Really appreciate your warm weather updates and images of shell paradise! Just 4 more weeks and we’ll be leaving the frozen North and combing the shores with you.
I love collecting the mini shells and the coquinas have always been one of my favorites.
Beautiful colors!!!
I’m so jealous because they are really beautiful shells but it wont be long now hope the shells keep coming especially the junonia because its really special thanx for another great post I’m loving it –r.g.stein
Loved Shelly’s colorfull finds. Nice little junonia Rick found. Love your first picture. Enjoyed the cybershelling-much easier on the back! Pat
From Michigan…………… All I could think about today was how I wished I was at Sanibel Island, and then to see this post from you made me laugh.
No I’m not jealous of you at all (yes I really am LOL)! I’d love to trade you places for a few years so you could enjoy the snow (which after 46 years I’m sick of it).
Anyway, have fun and keep posting so that people like me can look at our computer screens and pretend for the moment that we are in Sanibel as well!
Thanks for the warmth from the chilly north. Was there in September and founds lots of beauties. So now I’m enjoying making fun things with my shells, while I wish I was back on the beach.
Thank you so much, Pam! That sunshine was just what I needed after a cold day. That’s really what shelling is all about, isn’t it, finding beauty in the smallest things!
Thanks for the virtual shelling! Going to be there again on sat. can’t wait! hope to see you again on the beach! Happy shelling!
Hi Pam, my sister and I will be in Sanibel on December 1 thru the 10th. We are planning on having a shelling adventure with you on December 7. Look forward to meeting you for the half day shelling adventure to Cayo Costa.
We were at Gulfside today, too, Pam! So so many fighting conchs up for grabs, it was crazy. The smell didn’t bother me too much, though I heard other people complaining! ;)
Pam,
Which beach was the cyber shelling picture from? Was it still GSCP? Or Bowmans?
Thanks,
Karen (the crazy one)
Hi CrazyKaren! it was gscp. Seriously, it was on the beach right in front of the parking lot. I barely had to walk the beach
Thanks! We are headed there early this morning. It’s our last day for shelling… leaving tomorrow. :(
-Karen
perfect timing! Needed this little shot of sunshine and candy :-)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! for this post and for thinking of us freezing our behinds off up north here!! ha ha Yes, we have our first snow–although it just barely is blanketing the ground here in Fargo I have a feeling it’s here to stay! Thanks again for your wonderful blog, Pam!!
Thanks for that bright yellow sanibel reminder. Sure needed that right now! xo
Rainbow Coquina and Candy! What a favorite picture.
Thank you for the cybershelling! It’s 25 degrees in Knoxville TN this morning so this helps “warm” me!
I love cybershelling! Thanks
The coquinas have been amazing recently, right? I just put away 2 quarts of those little beauties (doubles). So glad to see some REAL shells coming back our way!!!!
When we say “just put away 2 quart ” of somethin, it usually is tomatoes or green beans. Would much rather have coquinas! Smiling!
I’ll be there in just a few weeks. I can smell the salt and sand looking at the pictures. You’re wrong when you say they’re not appealing (which I know was your point). Sit in one spot, search through the shell line. Small wonders abound. Thank you for all the good stuff on your website.
Thank you Pam!! Was just going over details last night for our “girls” trip to Sanibel coming up at the end of January. These photos just make me that much more excited!!! Cannot wait!!!!!
Expecting snow (2-3″) this afternoon. Yuk!
Iowa Snowbird
Just wanted to thank you for your awesome site! My 5 year old daughter’s Make-A-Wish trip (Leukemia) is to shell on Sanibel! Your website gives us such insight as to what to expect and we just wanted to say “Thank you!”, we have been visiting Iloveshelling.com off and on again for nearly 2 years! She loves the shell ID sheets. :)
I’m honored that I could help get ready for your trip. I’ve tried to get in touch to see when you’ll be here. I hope I get to meet you both!
Love all your cybershelling, Pam. Just makes me even more anxious to do some of the real thing!!! Woke up to snow here in Maryland today, so I can’t wait to get down there. I know this is a weird comment, but can anyone tell me how the parking fees are collected at the various beaches. Are there meters, and if so, do they accept quarters, dollars bills, or what? Or is it handled some other way? I hope to do some shelling at a few of the beaches while I’m down there in December, and want to be prepared.
Ha ha, Sophie (5 year daughter) just exclaimed “I can’t believe my eyes!!!” when I showed her the rainbow colored coquinas picture above! ;)
Hi Pam! Im going to Sanibel and Captiva in January 2016 I can’t wait to get in touch with you!