Twenty Years Ago....

Twenty years ago today I married my walking partner and best friend. For our Honeymoon, we came for the very first time to a little island we had heard of from a friend, called Sanibel. We stayed at Sundial Beach Resort, who would have ever guessed that today, twenty years later, we would walk in the same tidal pool in front of Sundial! How cool is that?

We actually started the day at Jerry's for breakfast, then headed to the lighthouse. It was so foggy, you couldn't see the lighthouse itself! If you really look, you can see it....just barely!

It was a nice low tide, and there was lots of life out there....See this BEAUTIFUL True Tulip?....

 Occupied by a Hermit Crab....

This Calico Crab was all snuggled down waiting for the tide to come back in....he was looking rather grumpy.....but Cozy!

These are squid eggs! They were just nonchalantly floating along the tidal pool....

We found very little, mostly minis, so we decided to go to another beach and check it out there, we still had plenty of time before low tide. On the way back the the sun had burned off the fog around the lighthouse...

But it was still looming over the Gulf...

Here is what I found....

We headed West down the beach a little further, and ended up in front of Sundial, the tidal pool had very little in it this time...Another pretty True Tulip

 Occupied by another Hermit Crab...I'm thinking he needs a bigger shell!

This Lightning Whelk had one of those Big Red Hermits in it, like I showed you the video of the other day....remember Sebastian? 

I scooped up an Apple Murex....that was also occupied and got this little guy too! He was not happy to be out of his comfort zone, so after a quick pic, back he went into the pool....

We didn't even see many live Lightning Whelks this trip, Hubby did find this one as we were headed back in....check out the points on this guy!

One scoop brought up this pair....they were having a serious discussion and did not want to be bothered, so they just stuck together....It's a Sharks Eye and an Oyster Drill, both occupied with hermit crabs.... 

I tried again to get a video of another live Scallop, they just will not act silly once you point the camera at them...kinda like kids, right? Notice his 'eyes' all along the edges of the shell! (click the pic to enlarge, then just click the 'x' in the top right corner to return)

I found this tiny Fighting Conch with what I believe is a Chiton on it?! Have never seen this before!

This is disturbing, I don't know what this is from, or why is was in the tidal pool, but I found this tail from something, on the bottom. It was beautiful, but It made me sad...

We had a great time, but didn't come home with large bags of shells, but we enjoyed ourselves and it was a beautiful day as always!

My finds.... (BTW, I boiled the sunray venus at the top, so it's orange now!)

Hubby's finds...

I hadn't thought about us spending the day in front of the place we spent our honeymoon until we got home.  I Thought it was a great way to start our Anniversary, even if it was and accident!

I fly back home to VA tomorrow, back to real life and cold, I have lots to do and catch up on but I hope to be back right after Thanksgiving. Hubby is staying here in Florida....such a lucky guy!!!

Stay tuned and thanks for coming along and your kind comments!

::Shelllady Hugs::

Feature Shell of the day

It seems lately like shelling everyday is so different, and each day there seems to be one or two types of shells that are abundant. Kind of like the Featured shell of the day....As I posted on Sunday, it was Banded tulips. Monday the feature Shell(s) of the day was Scallops, both sides, still connected.

and my goodness there were so many Paper figs!!!

I already have so many, so I passed on them this time, but it was very difficult!!

I went back to the tidal pools and saw lots of life...like this Thorny Starfish....

 and so many Live Lightning Whelks

And the Piece de resistance....This gorgeous True Tulip....

Look how Big he is!!!!...and YES he was alive, so I put him back in the tidal pool to live on and multiply!

Right next to this awesome Tulip was this Big Lightning Whelk with this HUGE Hermit crab in it. I'm going to call him Sebastian....

He was perusing the tidal pool. These guys fascinate me....

I did manage to find a few things to take home...ANOTHER Horse Conch....my favorite size... There is a small Florida Cone hidden beside him.

I also found a mini one, in a very rich orange!

And more Banded Tulips and a nice sized Apple Murex in the center....

Who could resist this beautiful Gaudy Nautica, I love these, especially when they have such rich colors...

Of course I have to show you the beautiful Sunrise.....

Today I headed to Blind Pass, I got there right as the sun rose, unfortunately because of the angle of the beach, I couldn't see the sunrise. I am still learning how and where to shell at Blind Pass....there have been so many changes lately due to the beach renourishment and the Storms, specifically Hurricane Irma. 

The first thing I saw was Sand art!!!! How awesome is this?....

 Look closely....right next to the front door is this Awesome Orange Flat Scallop...no I didn't take it, but I was tempted!! I did look closely and it is not complete, but the color is awesome!

Today's feature shell was Olives....SOOOO many Olives. I am not a huge fan of them, but I am collecting them for a friend of mine, Sheila.  Hubby and I fondly call them 'Sheila Shells'...I got a bunch for her today, all sizes and colors!!

 Yet another Olive and a pretty Lace Murex....

I also found a pretty little Rose Tellin...

 a Painted Egg Cockle...

An unusual bright orangey-red perfect Scallop

and a 'freaky' Orange Turban, and another Small Horse Conch....

and on the way back to the car, I found this Alphabet Cone....very light colors, but I'll take it!

It was a beautiful day, with lots and lots of Birds...like these two Snowy Egrets....the one on the stump has a fish, and the other clearly wanted it...this battle lasted for quite a while!

If you look closely, you can see a Cow nose ray along the edge of this drop off..... I saw many of these guys this morning.

There were also Millions of Minnows swimming out there....the birds were having a feast the entire time I was there!

<<Update>> For those of you not on Facebook, I wanted to update you on my Medium sized Horse Conch from the other day....Remember him?  Here is the BEFORE Cleaning....

 And here is the AFTER..... Isn't he a BEAUTY, I think he has become my Favorite Shell of all time....

One more shelling day, then I head back home... :(   

Stay Tuned.

::Shelllady Hugs::

Sunday Shelling With Hubby!

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Hubby wanted to go shelling with me this morning! We headed out a little later since it would be light sooner with the time change! Still early enough to catch a beautiful sunrise...

The first thing Hubby found, was a HUGE horse Conch buried in the tidal pool, we normally would take him home, our neighbor loves them, but this one had a broken tip, so we left him for someone else to find! Good way to start the day!

There was a nice tidal pool, and we got to see lots of life....

Bunches of Lighting Whelks were out for a morning stroll also...

Along with a Beautiful Kings Crown...

I love live Scallops, but as hard as I tried I could not catch their Hijinx on video...they are so silly, this guy was clacking his shell open and closed over and over again real fast....until I got the camera out....

This tiny Jellyfish was slowly coasting in the water, just relaxing as he moved down the tidal pool!!

There were lots of Sea Urchins hiding beneath the shells...

Every day is an adventure, and every day is something new...

Hubby picked up a pretty little Red True Tulip....

 Then I found one too!!!

I found a nice size Nutmeg....

Hubby found a small King's Crown...

I found an Alphabet Cone, right in front of Hubby!!!!....Not sure if it will clean up well, but we will see...

Hubby found these two, a few yards apart....both in bad shape, so they didn't come home with us....

There were LOTS of Paper Figs, I had to force myself not to pick them all up, but I couldn't resist this one because of it's pretty color!....also a Worm Shell and a tiny juvenile fighting Conch...

I came across and area that looked like there were bunches of shells just under the surface....I ran my hand through the area and came up with these guys....

Hubby found this Awesome King's Crown, but it was live, so he went back....

Then I found this...... A beautiful Florida Horse Conch, Great Size!!!

Please, Please, don't be alive......

Woohoo!! It wasn't, but it was very stinky.....so awesome, it will look great all cleaned up.....it looks like it may be an Albino (all white) with an orange tip, the little white dot is still on the tip!!

I can't wait to get it all cleaned up!!!

A few more checks in the area and I had all these....Lightning Whelk, More Banded Tulips, a Nutmeg and Olive....[sorry, I obviously put a finger print on the lens of my camera at this point] that is another Banded Tulip under the smudge....

When I was emptying our bags to start cleaning I found out Hubby got an Angel Wing! He says it was just laying there on the bottom of the tidal pool....

I'd say we had a pretty good day....here are the rest of his finds....

and here are mine.....

I can't complain!!! 

Tomorrow is Shellcrafter day, but I'm seriously considering hitting the beach early beforehand!! ;)

Stay Tuned....

::Shelllday Hugs::