Shellzam! Shellabaloo 6 at the Island Inn Sanibel Beachfront Resort has been awesome…
Everybody found some abshellutely beautiful shells…
We have had sooooooo much fun together!
We’ve been stooping for shells in the water…
Stooping for shells on the beach…
Scooping for shells with nets and shelling backhoes…
Sifting for shells…
We’ve seen live shells…
We’ve seen live starfish and other bling…
But there are the special moments each and every time I gather Shellabaloo groups together… This time it was when Katherine (from Virginia) found a shellicious honey hole and wanted to share it with the rest of our group.
I peeked inside her shell bag (after I saw her working one little spot for a while) to see GAUDY NATICAS, KINGS CROWNS, BANDED TULIPS, LIGHTNING WHELKS, FIGHTING CONCHS, WORM ROCK and CHESTNUT TURBANS. She said “Can you go tell the other Shellabalooers?” Shell yaya!
This is the moment everybody saw how she was scooping in the soft sand that had just been covered by the tide. It was an awesome bonding experience as we sifted, sorted and scooped as a group then oohed and aaahed when somebody found a treasure. Shellabaloo Shellove.
Then a shellebration!
Shelling Sisters Christy (from Texas) and Janet (from Washington) had their cutie shellootie iLS gear on and showing some of their exshellent shell loot.
Cathy traveled from Nova Scotia to join us and have sweet success finding shell pickins…. but she was espeshelly happy to be in Sanibel since Canada is practically frozen over right now!
Cathy’s brother Travis (Ottawa) found a bucket load of shells. Errrrr….. is this the same guy that told me at the beginning of Shellabaloo that he “wasn’t that in to shelling” but was just here for his sister? Yup. And… he also told me he wasn’t going to get in the water because he didnt like to get wet. Ahem…. would you look back at Cathy’s photo above? Uh huh! Yessiree. Just over Cathy’s shoulder on the left? That is Travis working another honey hole filled with shells … he’s practically UNDER water. LOL Look at his smile!
Speaking of smiles, check out the happy faces of Karen and her daughter Katy who traveled from Maryland to be with us in the beautiful sunshine.
Elaine who shared the love of the mini shells with me, traveled from Washington state to be with us as well.
We all climbed aboard Sight Sea-R Cruises to take a shelling adventure to Big Hickory and had a blast.
Yep, we found more shells…
Kristen (from New Jersey) was celebrating after finding a LEAL’S WENTLETRAP as we all had lunch together.
She was able to show it to this WENTLETRAP’S name sake… Dr Jose Leal at the shell museum to have it verified. Cool!
Happy birthday Robin! We got to celebrate Robin from Maryland’s birthday with her mom Bobbie (Pennsylvania) during Shellabaloo too. We feel honored to have been able to help you shellebrate, Robin!
Every single moment we had at our iLoveShelling Shellabaloo at the Island Inn Resort was spectacsheller.
Oh, but we had more fun that I have to show you with more shell pictures… so until our Shellabaloo exshellaganza has completely unwound from all of the excitement…
Thank you Island Inn for hosting this Shellabaloo shellowship again!
Dont forget, you can join us on another iLoveShelling Shell Adventure… CLICK HERE
Brings back memories of Shellabaloo 3 that Jim and I were on. Soooo much fun.
Hi annette- i thought about yall all week! Hi to jim
Wow. That all looks like so much fun!!! Shellers are the best!
Yep! Shellers- a beautiful community like no other
I am salivating at all those glorious shells everyone found!!! How wonderful it must’ve been!
It was kaye, and i hope u find something special whenever u get to sanibel too :)
Love seeing that you are having another Shellabaloo. Everyone looks so happy with their beautiful finds, and WARM! Looks like the weather was more normal this year than last year’s cold blast for Shellabaloo 4, although that didn’t stop us from shelling. :) Can’t wait to get back down to Sanibel again!!
Haha i remember- i told them how cold it was last year- it was crazy! I thought about ALL of our shellabalooers this week. Yall know how special it is.
Can’t wait until I retire so I can join in the fun…not enough vacation days to do it all. We spend 11 days on Sanibel in April…but never coincides with shellabaloo.
Can’t wait until I retire so I can join in the fun…not enough vacation days to do it all. We spend 11 days on Sanibel in April…but never coincides with shellabaloo. By the way..we are having a blizzard in Iowa today…not fun!!!
Stay warm julie- april will be here before u know it. :)
That looks like so much fun! We were in Captiva Dec. 20-27 and founds some great shells…and only discovered your site after I came home! I would love to come to Shellabaloo next year.
Hey Pam! I’ve noticed the extra low tide in the morning while watching the Island Inns webcam. Had this full moon been a good one for you?
Last year when we were at Sanibel, I didn’t know to go way out in the water to look for shells. Apparently that’s where I need to go. Looking forward to shelling with Pam in February and learning from her.
Thanks for sharing all these lovely pictures. Makes me so anxious to get down there.
Pam – you are sooo stinkin cute! Thank you for wonderful memories and a
shell-of-a-time!
Looks like everyone had a wonderful time, per usual. I am gettting my stuff ready to got to Sanibel in two weeks. I am missing my shelling bag and thinking about buying a “backhoe” like Clark’s. Where can I get a backhoe and a good shelling bag? (I think last year I brought mine home wet and smelly and the dog ate it – to punish me for leaving her!)
Sounds like Shellaballoo (not sure I spelled it right) was fabulous! I want to try to come to the next one if I’m walking by then. (had some foot surgery last week). Whoever said in one of the recent comments that “it is a sickness” was right, but I don’t want to be cured! Can’t wait. DeeTee (aka Debbie Taylor from Ohio).
My daughter and I are wanting to come down there in March during her Spring Break. Any tips or help on how and where to get started with booking hotel room and any of these trips would be much appreciated!! I have no idea where to even start!! I looked at the Island Inn and thought that would be a great place to stay because it seems that they beach you guys comb is only private property with the Island Inn. Am I correct??
Thanks so much!!
Kristin Dewey and Kira
From freezing cold Colorado!!
We stayed at the Island Inn last Spring. I highly recommend it! The grounds of the Island Inn are private of course but once you walk out to the actual beach you can go anywhere up and down the beach looking for shells. There are several places that are public beach access. The Lighthouse beach, Bowman’s Beach and a few others. Forgive me, I’m sick so I’m having a hard time remembering the other names. Each one has a pay station to park that takes cash or cards. Very easy to use. And don’t forget Captiva. There’s another Beach access just over the Bridge. I found the most variety by the Lighthouse last year. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your response! We just didn’t know where to start, and this helps out a lot! I’ve never been to Florida, but I’ve been to Oceanside, CA so I’m excited to get some shelling on!!