Archive for Sanibel
History of Sanibel Lighthouse Cottage 3
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Move over Nancy Drew! There’s a new girl on the beaches of Sanibel solving our own Beach Bling mysteries.
In a few posts a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned there are some chunks of concrete, bricks and debris I’ve never seen before that have been uncovered because of beach erosion by the Sanibel lighthouse. Remember?
The first thing that caught my eye was this piece of concrete with a layer of aqua linoleum or tile adhered to it. Hmmm. Where did it come from? I wanted me a piece of that aqua Beach Bling!
Then I saw pieces of red brick scattered around…
There were random bits and pieces of concrete every where…
So I put on my Pamsy Drew hat and tracked down the very man that buried this rubble 40 years ago… Charles LeBuff.
While working for US Fish and Wildlife Service, Charles LeBuff lived in the beach cottage called Lighthouse Quarters 2 (which is still there today) in 1958 through 1979 when the Sanibel Lighthouse facility was headquarters for National Wildlife Refuge.
page 43 in Charles LeBuff's J.N. "Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge (my edit in red)
Jackpot! He knows the history of each of those pieces of rubble and wrote two books telling the story!
As he stated in his book, Lighthouse Quarters 3 was built in 1942 to house the Coast Guard’s wartime beach patrol. Then became a guest cottage rented to Service employees for vacation retreats.
page 155 Charle's LeBuff's book Sanybel Light (my edit in red)
Unfortunately, the cottage was torn down in 1969 because a Washington office employee complained about an odor of stinky bait which had been left in the unplugged refrigerator. At that time, the regional refuge supervisor thought that shutting the cottage down would be easier than maintaining it so they tore it down. What?? Was he crazy?
page 44 Charles LeBuff's J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Charles said when they tore down the cottage, they burned the wood and used heavy equipment to move all the other remains of the building (concrete, bricks, etc) closer to the water. Charles pointed out that the aqua color on the concrete was the tile floor of the cottage.
The bricks were from the chimney of the cottage…
After demolishing and burying this cottage 40 years ago, he recognized each piece of this “Bling” and told me what it used to be.
Sanibel lighthouse cottage 3 page 41 in Charles LeBuff's book J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge
concrete sanibel lighthouse
Isn’t it so interesting how much you learn from getting out on the beach just to go shelling? I did see lots of good shells getting stuck around those concrete chunks but my curiosity about that “Bling” got the best of me and I didn’t pick up one shell.
rocks sanibel light house
Talking with Charles at “the scene of the crime” was fascinating. Of course I thought y’all would enjoy hearing him as well, so I made a short video so you could meet this memorable man.
I was tickled to hear him tell the stories about the “old days of Sanibel Lighthouse” and I also enjoyed browsing through the pages of his two books… “Sanybel Light” published in 1998 and his latest one “J.N.Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge” published in 2011. You can find the books here on Sanibel at MacIntosh Books where Charles works on Sundays or on his website Sanybel.com. 
I’m so happy to tell you that the wonderful couple that now live in Lighthouse Quarters 2 love shelling too. Here are Judy and Dennis who have been in the cottage for 10 years and are now…. the “keepers of the Lighthouse”…
PS- Speaking of shelling at the lighthouse, Donnie found major treasure over the supermoon weekend. A JUNONIA! That makes #2 for him almost in the same spot as finding his first one six months ago as I showed in Another First Junonia. Congrats again Donnie!
Beach Bling Is A Wonderful Thing
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If you want to learn the types of seashells, sea life, vegetation and what the different kinds of mollusk egg cases look like and live in the Gulf Of Mexico, you’ve got your chance this week. It all washed up on the beach on the East end of Sanibel.
You can see it for miles. So many mollusk egg casings and PEN SHELLS galore!
MERMAID PURSES! Well, they are really SKATE EGG CASES…
HORSE CONCH EGG CASINGS (I shot this with the Nikon J1)…
WHELK EGG CHAINS…
Lots of CRABS too. This one is a STONE CRAB…
My friend Jane called me and said she found a dead crab shell on the beach that had a NAUTILUS shell pattern. She has found a NAUTILUS before so she would know! Wanna see? CLICK HERE . So I went to see this crab…and it does have that pattern! It’s a FLAME BOX CRAB…
I also saw lots of SEA WHIPS. This was the first time I’ve ever found a WHITE SEA WHIP…
We normally just find the purple SEA WHIPS but when I went to see Jane’s FLAME BOX CRAB she showed me this bright yellow WHIP she picked up as well.
There were oodles of PURPLE SEA URCHINS also ( J1)…
I always get questions about the bones on the beach. They are from the bait in the crab traps… not random dead carcasses. LOL
I also get a lot of questions about this guy on the left. It’s a SEA CUCUMBER…
Don’t worry, I saw lots of shells too. Mainly, the double DOSINIAS.
Cyber Sheller Alert! This next photo is really big so you can do a little shelling and blinging…
Looking through all this BEACH BLING, there are little treasures that look like this so you have to look closely…
Some goodies were still washing in at the shoreline as well…
The big find was by Seth (FL)! He found this huge HORSE CONCH on the sand bar near Donax Rd. Here he is with Erin and Reese…
See? BEACH BLING is a wonderful thing… (J1)
PS- Some of you know I’ve been testing a new Nikon J1 camera. It isn’t very spontaneous but when I do catch a nicer shot than with my spontaneous, trusty, easy, clear Panasonic DMC…. I’ve noted it.
World Record Sanibel Stoop Scoop
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After seeing over 700 hovering hineys on Bowman’s Beach today, I’m sure there was a new record set for the Guinness Book of World Records doing the Sanibel Stoop.
It was a blast to experience this spectacular kickoff for the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show with so many shellers bending over … with butts in the air … to do the Sanibel Stoop all at one time.
Before we started stooping, it was like a party while I stood in line with friends Karen, Gail, Sandy and Jane to register our names to make it official.
Then we all headed to the beach…
My good friend Lisa showed up in style with her iLS cap! But why are Jane and I turned around? We put our tees backwards for the stoop overhead photos- ha!)
Then the party got crazy when 3 other beach bloggers showed up! Here’s the shark’s tooth queen of Englewood Kaybe (The Essential Beachcomber), the ultimate shelling guide Captain Brian (Captain Brian On The Water) and Rhonda (of Shellbelle’s Tiki Hut). That’s Capt. Brian’s boat anchored in the background. He came by water to the stoop!
Wahoo! Here comes the helicopter for the overhead count and photos!
Everybody in stoop position!
The crowd went wild after the chopper passed the second time for a “shellabratory” spin..
The organizers did a fabulous job getting this event together. They even gave away free tee shirts for the first several hundred “stoopers” to register. Darn! I was too late!
When I get more scoop on the outcome of the stoop, I’ll share the word. Let’s keep our fingers crossed we make it in the Guinness Book Of World Records. It was a day to remember for Shellabration 2012!
Lego My Beach Bling
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I always pick up plastic toys and occasional litter that washes up on our beaches to help keep the beaches clean and safe. Fortunately, we have very clean beaches with minimal litter but some times junk happens. That’s why when I picked up this little LEGO toy, I put it in my shell bag to throw away when I got home. Along my walk, I also saw a few of these little seeds on the beach…
I got curious about what plant produces this seed so when I got home I looked in “The Little Book of Sea-Beans and other Beach Treasures” to make sure I had the identification correct for my Beach Bling page. It turns out it’s a COIN VINE SEED. And this is a WHITE MANGROVE SEED…..
While I was thumbing through the book, I found a story about lost LEGO toys. How ironic! In 1997, cargo ship Tokio Express lost close to five million LEGO pieces in the Atlantic ocean. I found this LEGO piece and it just so happens, the same day I ran across a story about lost LEGOs that have been found all along coastal shores. Again…How ironic! So I spent hours surfing the web to find my LEGO identification in hopes that it would be part of the lost cargo. Nahhhh. Some little kid must have lost this new LEGO guy on the beach in Sanibel recently because this toy was made in 2011. Oh well, at least there is one less piece of litter on the beach. I decided to keep this cute LEGO toy to start to my own kicks and giggles jar like Dick and Mary have.
When Shelling Worlds Collide
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Ken found an extraordinary JUNONIA! I introduced you to Ken on my last post “Saving Another Sanderlin…Andy!“…. but remember I told you things were getting a little crazy? It’s because I was listening to Ken’s heartwarming story of his JUNONIA when all of our iLS worlds collided. Now that you’ve heard about Alyssa’s SANDERLING, I have to share the story of this extremely precious JUNONIA…
Ken’s sister Chris introduced the family to her passion of beach combing while on their annual visit to Sanibel. After being on the beach with Chris the first time, Ken’s wife Sue understood why her sister-in-law loved shelling so much and became hooked right away so she tried to get Ken to shell with her with no avail…..at first. This is Ken and Sue…
Ken thought shelling was more for people who just liked walking on the beach until…. you ready for this? Sue called Ken over to the computer one day to show him all the cool stuff Clark finds on the beach then she showed him Donnie’s shell posts on iLS too. An “Aha moment”! He started to get it. He finally realized it’s all about the treasure hunt! Now he’s a sheller and it all began with his sister Chris sharing her passion.
Donnie, Ken and Clark
Then Sue said to me… “Our family love love loves your website, including Ken’s youngest sister and our shelling buddy Chris. Sadly we lost her in August, at age 38 to ovarian cancer. The last time we saw her, I whispered in her ear that we would think of her every time we were shelling, and if there was a way for her to communicate that she was OK, she could guide us to a junonia. In the fall, her sisters sprinkled some of her ashes in the Gulf off the Lighthouse Point. On Tuesday morning, the fist day of Ken’s shelling vacation, he waded out in front of the Light House and found a beautiful junonia. The following morning he found an angel wing in the same spot. While it was a bit emotional when he first found it, we have been grinning from ear to ear since!
This is the same photo (Sue took the picture) I showed you on my last post when I said things were getting a little wild. Somehow, this photo makes a little more sense to me why all of our worlds were brought together at this very moment. Alyssa found another Sanderling while Mother Earth Marilyn was there again for the rescue….. then ME Marilyn was there to witness the heavenly JUNONIA being found….. when one of the reasons Ken was inspired to shell was because of Clark and Donnie…. then Karen shows up with her iLS shirt to explain how we all know each other… then Andrea joined us because it makes us realize all of these people are part of our iLoveShelling family. Bonded by the beach.
Our Future’s So Bright We’ve Got To Wear Shades
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Seriously, you’ve got to wear sunglasses when you’re on the beach. This is how many pairs of sunglasses I have because I keep a pair close at hand at all times……except yesterday. I did not take one pair of these sunglasses when I went to the beach. Not one pair. I forgot them. Not good. I’m just now recovering from a very long painful headache that kept me up all night long. So, PLEASE … ALWAYS protect your eyes! Drug stores, grocery stores and big box stores now sell the cheap (even polarized!) ones that are fantastic. Okay? I’ll be back to normal self soon and I’ll show you my cool finds.
