Last Day at Sanibel.....

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.  ~Carol Sobieski

Between errands, Jess, Brad and I went out to the causeway beach to see if there was anything new, we went to both islands and just found very few small shells, most of which seemed fossilized.  We had very little so opted to put it in a bag and clean it when we get home.  I can post pics then....that will make the trip seem a little longer....right?  After one more trip to Sanibel Fish house for our final dinner, we went out on the beach at about 8:00 and walked all the way down (nearly to Sundial) looking for the tidal pool, and had no luck. The Gulf was rough all day, and the low tide wasn't until very late so we didn't find even a single shell to keep.  We have decided we are becoming sort of 'Shell snobs' especially since we have gotten so much this trip.

I have enjoyed this trip more than most, probably because we all needed it so badly and we got to visit with Jess and Brad away from the caos that has been in our lives lately...(after all it took us almost a week to relax!).  I hope you all enjoyed it too...Hubby and I will be back hopefully pretty soon....at least to our new house in Ft. Myers.....remember, it's only 15 minutes and $6.00 from this beautiful place!!

It's a long two day trip back home to Virginia, then we are off to NC the next day for a big family reunion! Phew....life goes on!

::Hugs::

Cheri

Our trip is winding down....

“Sponges grow in the ocean. That just 'gets' me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.”~Stephen Wright

Today was a sad day, my underwater camera has got issues and won't turn on.  I have done everything suggested in the guide but alas, no luck.  Hopefully I can get it fixed when I get home!! I'm a little blue today, because of that, and of course our vacation is drawing to an end! We will be heading home for the two day drive on Thursday morn! :(

Since I couldn't take my underwater camera out to the beach, I went out with my other camera and snapped a couple of morning pics for you to enjoy.

An early morning Thunderstorm building up

Just after sunrise

We decided to head out to Jerry's this morning for breakfast and then Brad, Jess and I did a little shopping. We went to Pinocchios for some ice cream, it was our first time going there and we had the Sanibel Crunch. We really enjoyed it, though the place was so packed you could not move, inside and out!! It was worth it though!! We came back to the condo and picked up Hubby to go to an early dinner at Sanibel Grill again! 

When we got back from dinner we noticed all kinds of police boats along the beach so Jess and I went to 'investigate'.  There were also police cars on the beach next door at Casa Ybel because apparently a paddle boarder had seen a person far out who appeared to be swimming along and had some trouble and finally went under the surface. The search had to be called off because a tremendous storm came through, but we noticed that the Coast Guard began searching again just before dark while we were doing our 'digging' for shells.  Last word was that the search would resume this morning! Here is the local link  But I didn't see anyone out there this morning, prayers that this turns out okay!!

Shelling was okay last night, though the late low tides gives us much less time to get to digging.

Jess' finds....only 1 alphabet cone this time!! :) She did find some worm shells, pear whelks, and a small kings crown

Hubby found his trusty juvenile fighting conchs and of course a sharks eye 

Brad's persistance has paid off again!! He cleaned up with the most!

I picked up a few things myself,  A large paper fig, pear Whelk , of course lots of olives and a HUGE auger and tiny true tulip and a zebra turban :)

Check out this HUMONGOUS Sharks eye that Brad found! It is ridiculous how huge this is, and it is perfect!! He definitely wins the prize tonight!!

He got both ends of the spectrum and a few in between on the Sharks eyes tonight!

I forgot to mention last night that Jess and Brad invented Shell poker while we were out there digging.  It was a lot of fun to listen to them challenge the other for shells! One would find a shell (or something in their net), call it out, and the other had to "meet" that item and raise them another item from the same scoop! It was a lot of fun to watch, and was amazing the things that could stump the other!! They continued the game tonight!! A lot of fun was had by all of us!!

One last report tomorrow, or late tonight as we are heading out early tomorrow (Thursday).  We plan on having one more adventure today, though the pics won't be as plentiful as they have been :( I will keep you posted!!

::Hugs::

Cheri

Another Adventure!!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~Mark Twain

We took another adventure today, this time off island to Manasota key in search of shark's teeth!

A huge shell on the rotunda in Englewood, near Manasota Key

Thanks to one of my blogger buddies, Kim from Snug Harbor Bay who recently went and met another of our blogger buddies Karen from The Essential Beachcomber. Karen lives near Manasota Key and I have always enjoyed her posts about the shark's teeth.  Brad, Jess and I went a couple of years ago and wanted to go again, it's so different from regular shelling, I don't think I could do both!  You have to adjust your eyes to looking at the small black or brown bits to find the teeth in among all the other rocks and shells. 

An underwater shot, the waves are pretty powerful here so there is a lot of movement!

Do you see the sharks teeth in this pic? (I actually saw another after looking at it at home later!)

Here it is pulled out....it is just to the right of center in the above pic.

People use all kinds of devices to sift through the shells and rocks, they do it both in the water and on the shore in the shell debris piles.  We saw one group that actually used colanders  and sifted through like gold diggers, dropping the teeth into plastic bottles they carried. * Note to self, bring colanders next time....and small containers!!  We had a good time, and ended up with a good collection of teeth! One of these trips I want to meet Karen in person!!

Here are Jess' teeth...she found some sea glass too!

Here are my finds

Brad scooped in the deeper water the whole time and did very well!!

look how tiny some of the ones Brad got are!

We left there early afternoon and after picking up a few groceries got back to Sanibel for an early dinner buffet from our fridge just in time to hit the beach for another really low tide! Phew....this vacationing is hard work!! :D  We just go from one adventure into another!

Jess decided to let her photographer self take over and took a few pics before we got down to the serious shelling!

A live pear whelk (carefully put back after photo shoot)

A live mini sand dollar

Tulip shell egg casings

A live olive inside a pen shell

Brad and Hubby had already begun digging when we got there! We decided to go to Hubby's Honey hole tonight since he did so well last night! 

Jess found a Honey hole of her own, and she and Brad worked there until AFTER dark, Brad wore his 'miner's' light and we tried to shell after dark, but it made Jess and I too nervous so we gave it up well after dark!

The beach when we got there....clear water and cloudy, the storms had already passed!

This was our view of the gulf, the sandbar was stopping the rolling waves from getting to us! 

Brad's Bounty

Jess' shells 

Hubby and Mine, combined

Brad found some more of his favorite Nutmegs, some tulips, (notice the tiny true tulip just to the left of center....beautiful color!), and quite a supply of lace murex!

....and beautiful Alphabet and Florida cones

I found this cute scallop pair, they were so tiny!

Jess did well with the Alphabet cones and lace murex also!

I finally found my favorite the horse conch...beautiful color! They have been scarce this trip! We have made up for it though with my Dad's Favorite, the shark's eye!

We had a busy but enjoyable day today as our time winds down.  We will be leaving on Thursday to get home in time for the big family reunion in NC on Saturday! Will continue to keep you posted until then...

::Hugs::

Cheri

Super Moon and Super low tides!

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.”~Irish Blessing

It was too cloudy to get a good shot of the "Super Moon" but the tides still knew it was there! We had really low tides and the sandbars came out.

We started out the day with more relaxation, it seems we are all getting pretty good at it now! Jess and I went to the pool for a little while, then onto the beach under an umbrella.  

The pool must be salt water, all you have to do is lie back and float! No floats necessary!! Awwwww!

Low tide wasn't to be until 8:30 so we had lots of time to relax before an early dinner at Sanibel Grill. We started out digging with Brad where we ending last night but a storm was threatening and I wasn't getting anything so I decided to venture out and find another place 'closer to home.' Hubby had also decided to look for a new place. The 3 of us ended up in different places digging and Brad remained the victor with the original place. Hubby however came home with 3 alphabet cones!! I just found a few minis and wore holes in the end of my gloves!! Seems I got greedy too soon!! ;)

Brad's Finds

Most of an angel wing, paper figs, sharks eyes and a gaudy nautica! 

Olives, tulips and murex oh my!

Hubby's finds...3 Alphabet cones...REALLY?!

Hubby's Olive was HUGE....as big as a 'standard' sized paper fig!!

I did walk a little and found this HUGE sand dollar in the tidal pool, of course I carefully put him back after his photo shoot!

This sea star was taking a stroll through a tidal pool and was the subject of many pictures by passers by, he was only about 5 inches across and seemed to be in perfect shape!

Jess, Brad and I are going on another adventure on today, hopefully we will have a lot to post for tomorrow!

::Hugs::

Cheri