Ahhhh. A warm, sunny day on a beach with miles of turquoise water AND a few seashells. Heaven on earth!
Our afternoon iLoveShelling boat trip with Captiva Cruises took us to Cayo Costa Island to experience a wonderful adventure with a few “firsts”. Susan from Michigan found her first LETTERED OLIVE!
Ardys (WI), Gene and Susan learned how to use their shell nets and “backhoes” for the first time- that first OLIVE got them going. They are pros now!
Tamela from Georgia found her FIGHTING CONCH conch.
I got to meet some awesome families visiting Cayo Costa for the first time like Ashley, Reese, Sonny and Chandler from Oklahoma.
And like this awesome shelling family Reese, Tamra, Sue and Reilly from New Hampshire. Nope, that wasn’t a typo- we had 2 Reeses that were able to meet each other on the way back to the boat. First time hanging out with 2 cutie sheller girls named Reese.
These were Reilly’s favorite shells she found. That’s an itty bitty teenie weenie little bright orange SCALLOP SHELL. Adorbs!
Her first BABYS EAR! Sue is visiting SW Florida all the way from Plymouth, England to do some shelling and was ticked to collect a BABYS EAR shell.
I’m so thankful to Ellen and Tom (CO) who came on our trip with stories and thoughtful gifts so I’m thrilled they found some beautiful treasures to take back with them from this gorgeous day.
Well I shouldn’t say ALL of their treasures were “beautiful” haha. Yes that GAUDY NATICA, double SUNRAY VENUS, double ALTERNATE TELLIN and most of their shells are fabulous but Shellen Ellen found a SPIDER CRAB shell (at the top) that is a very cool piece of “Beach Bling” but …. beautiful? Naaaaa. haha
So much fun to hang out and talk with shellers because we all have so much more in common than just shelling. Susan and Bill (NC) were no exception- so much fun to hang out and chat with y’all while we look for shells.
Same thing for talking to Julie and Patrick (Chicago) in between scooping for shells along the surf’s edge.
So I found out that Jay and Jo (Indiana) are just about as obsessed with shelling as much as Clark and I are. Fun!
As we were pulling away from the dock on Cayo Costa, a family of MANATEES popped up out of the water to say Hi! That’s a first for me on this back side of the island.
They hung around the boat for a few minutes putting on a show for us. Cool!
Also on the way back to Captiva, I had to take a photo of Kris, Linda, Diane and Dave because I’ve introduced Linda and Diane before on another cruise. They met on another iLoveShelling cruise and this time brought their husbands with them- the story is so cool! CLICK HERE
Don’t you just love, love, love Gwen’s smile? This is exactly how I always feel when I find shells or bling that make me happy.
She even found a huge chunk of JUNONIA.
Of course everybody had big smiles as well after receiving $25 gift certificates to Sealife By Congress
Super fun and so nice to meet you! Since our cruise Jay has found an alphabet cone, true tulip, and a spiny jewel box still intact! We both found Cruisifix shells too! We both are finding some really awesome shells. Hope to shell with you again.
So nice to meet you both Jo! Yes- super fun
Thank you for a fab cruise and finally meeting you Pam. Jeff and I had a great trip, which was topped off by the manatee showing up.
Looks like everyone had a great day shelling! Good for all of you! Enjoy your finds!