This is the way I like to kick off the first week of December… miles and miles of sandy shorelines, shorts, shells, sharing and warm sunshine on a boat shuttle full of shellers. It was a perfect day to have our iLoveShelling cruise to Cayo Costa with Captiva Cruises since we all found exshellent treasures like Julie’s (Ohio) favorite finds… a perfect WORM SHELL, ANGEL WING, SHARKS EYE, double SUNRAY VENUS, OLIVES, CONCH and WHELK. These were Julie’s (Ohio) favorite finds
Linda from Iowa found a MACULATED BABYS EAR!!! She has such interesting shells and bling on her try so it’s sort of hard to see, but look at the middle left and you will see the BROWN BABYS EAR.
I’m so happy for you Linda since I consider that a rare find for our area. Shellzam!
Most folks found LIGHTNING WHELKS and OLIVES in lots of rich colors just at the waters edge on the gulf side of Cayo Costa…
These were Maren’s (Iowa) favorite finds of the morning…
Oh how we love those wormies!!!
Jack and Nancy from Michigan were able to add these whimsical WORM SHELLS to their Southwest Florida shell collection. Good eye Nancy! (so fun to run into you Friday night at Sanibel Luminary outside Sealife By Congress too!)
Ahhhhh. Look at that beautiful BABYS EAR…
Janet found this one right after she got off the Captiva Cruises boat.
She also found lots of sweet minis in the high tide wrack line and also in the high tide dried tidal areas in the “coffee grounds”.
Nancy couldn’t wait to get her snorkel on to search in the water. It paid off! She found this good size beautiful empty WHELK.
Wendy and Bonnie from Cape Coral were shellebrating an early Christmas finding lots of shells and BEACH BLING. (Thanks again Bonnie for giving me a copy of the magazine!)
Woot Woot! Wendy from Ohio found this spectacsheller HORSE CONCH! I think she said she found it caught in the tree roots right on the tip of the island. (Did I remember that right Wendy?)
Cutie pies Michelle and Jessica started off the day finding some FIGHTING CONCHS near the boat then finished off finding some WHELKS and a couple of gorgeous LACE MUREXES as well.
I was amazed to see such large double SUNRAY VENUS CLAMS. Roger and Jeanne (Chicago) found a perfectly intact very large one to show us how beautiful they are.
Rick and Lisa (Indiana) were filling their shell bag with OLIVES, CONCHS and WHELKS in shin deep water in the Gulf Of Mexico. I love these iLoveShelling cruises so I get to meet other fanatic shellers. Just like seeing Jack and Nancy at Sanibel Luminary, I saw Rick and Lisa at South Seas Resort at the Golf Cart Parade for Captiva Luminary (photos to come soon). It was a fun and busy weekend! Good to see you both again.
There were quite a few people who found SAND DOLLARS as well which was one of Debi and Barry’s favorite finds of the morning. There was such a variety!
It was a real treat to have my friend Sarah visit us from Virginia Beach and join us on this sun filled shelling boat cruise. She is an artist so she was picking up ARK shells for a shell mirror she has started making. I wrote a post a few years ago about her stunning seashell chandelier she crafted so I was tickled she wanted to shell with us to find her own treasures to use in this project (she usually finds her shells in our “shellaboratory”- LOL). CLICK HERE to see her chandelier.
Along with shells and sunshine, we were joined by an OSPREY who wanted to hang out with us the whole entire time we were on the beach.
We also had a pod of DOLPHINS giving us a show but of course every time they jumped out of the water, I clicked the camera too late and all I got was a splash. So this was the best shot I got. hahaha
As always, the best part of the day was getting to mingle with such fun, interesting folks who love shelling.
Wanna join us on other Shelling Adventures? CLICK HERE!
Oh and PS- I’m starting to add more art to my new online gallery…
Such amazing finds! I miss Sanibel!!
Hubby Valy and I had a fantastic time, and it was so nice to see you later at Doc Ford’s!
Since the boat trip, where I learned a lot by observing every one else’s shelling “techniques”, I have now started checking out the wrack line, and not just the tidal pools, which used to be my general go-to. We have had some success with our new shelling method! (Photos to follow in a day or two)
Thanks again, Pam, and I would highly recommend this trip, even if you are a non- shelling partner, Cayo Costa has a delightful deserted island feeling to it, and Valy certainly enjoyed himself, although I have to say he’s not a non-shelled anymore!
;-D
That was non-sheller! Silly spell check….
Looks heavenly! I needed to see these photos. I think Florida is the only warm place in the U.S. right now! Love the picture of those “ornaments” on the driftwood branches. Oh and that baby’s ear–I want one!
Hope we have great shelling and weather in Febuary. Love the babys ears-esp the maculated one. We’re expecting snow later today, so it’s nice to see some nice sunny pictures. Have a good weekend. Pat
Nice finds! It is great to be in beautiful Sanibel when so much of the country including NYC has snow and wintery temperatures. All of us who are here are so fortunate! I went shelling early this am, and now I am sitting in the sun listening to the waves, and eating a banana off of the banana tree!!!
The shelling is good here still, thanks to the waves on the Gulf that bring new shells in all the time.
Mary Janet, who was features on the blog last year at this time, found a lovely scotch bonnet yesterday before dawn and also a gorgeous lemon scallop, in perfect condition and a good size. She found a coupe of nice alphabet cones over the last few days too! :)
Had a great time on the shelling cruise! Unfortunately we had to go back home the next day and wow was that extra awful! Very cold and snow, it took us 4 hours to get home instead of the usual hour and 45 min. All lanes of interstate closed due to accident and many vehicles in the ditches. I just kept thinking about shelling and tried to ignore the mess around me. Thanks Pam!
The weather is very cold here in Ohio, so I really enjoyed seeing Cayo Costa again, it warmed me up just thinking about our trip with you back in June. I also loved seeing the decorated branches with the shells, a little bit of Christmas greetings. Oh how I miss the beaches of Sanibel. So….. Yesterday I set up a table in front of the fireplace, plut on a CD that had ocean sounds and instrumental music and then I made clear glass tree ornaments. I spent hours looking through my minis I found from Sanibel. I filled each glass ball with a little white sand, shells and 1-2 pieces of sea glass they turned out great, I tied a llittle piece of jute and hung them on my tree. I had so much fun reliving the days spent finding these shells. A Perfect Afternoon.. L-O-R-E-E
Oh LOREE, that does sound like the perfect day. You got to sit n sift through shells while decorating for Christmas. Best of both worlds. Stay warm sweetie and thank u for your lovely note.