Yay for the weekend

If you are on my seashells & salty air fb page then you may have seen the picture I posted of my shelling the other day. Tomorrow I will take the time to blog about it. Let me just say- I'm so out of shape I was sore for 2 days! HAHAHA  Oh-well!

This was when I got home & dumped them on my lanai table- I had to use 2 beachmats.
 Happy Friday!
stephanie

Easter Shelling

We had a great Easter this year. We traded the Easter bonnets for visors & hit the beach. I took my husband, teenage son(Dustin) & almost 12 year old girl(Meredith) with me to Blind Pass. We got there around 9:30 and were happy to find the parking lot was almost empty! We started at the shell pile, although it was a little low, we still managed to find some keepers. Turns out 16 year old boys think this is really boring- hahaha. Meredith wanted to hang with Dustin so Jim & I headed over the bridge to the Sanibel side and did much better. It was a gorgeous day out.

looking over at Sanibel

When we got back this Blue Heron was hanging out by the kids.

I try and get to the beach as often as I can. Jim, on the other hand, goes every few months. So of course he's the one who finds a piece of a Junonia and a piece of a Scotch Bonnet! Which, by the way, he only knew what it was because he googled it the day before! augh!!

Scotch Bonnet
I've never found one, but I'm still looking!

I brought some peeps & props with me:

Next trip to the beach will be Barefoot Beach since I haven't been in a while-
Have a great weekend & Awesome Shelling!

Shelling Marathon

So mom & I headed to Little Hickory Island on Thursday. We had all day to be at the beach and planned on enjoying it until I had to pick up my daughter from school. We ended up staying for 7 hours! Which means we were non-stop shelling for 7 hours, with little breaks for snacks of course. We aren't those people who go to the beach to relax & read a book. (not that there's anything wrong with that :)

Mom hard at work :)

Beautiful as always

He sat here while I had lunch

Look at him! ewww

yep, they're all still here- hahaha

Gaudy Natica's

At the end of the day- this is what I had found

 The tide was coming in all day and bringing with it plenty of shells. I ended up finding 34 olive shells!

Lettered Olives

I got a really cool video of a fighting conch that I put on my facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/seashellsandsaltyair
so check that out if you have time.

We had a great day shelling but I have to tell you, I was exhausted! Shelling for 7 hours is rough on the back! However, I'm ready to do it again & can't wait to get back out there!

Hope you have a great 1st week of April!

stephanie

Do you need directions to 75 NORTH?

When I moved to Fort Myers in 2001 I saw a bumper sticker that said "We're not all on vacation"  I found it a little rude. Fast forward 11 years- I want/NEED that bumper sticker. We are busting at the seams here. The traffic feels like it did in Houston. With this awesome weather & all this area has to offer, we are at full capacity. Not to mention I live in the middle of the Red Sox & the Twins spring training parks.

 Near downtown Fort Myers are the winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. A great place to visit, by the way. Edison had it right when in 1914 he said   "There's only one Fort Myers and 90 million people are going to find it out."

The beaches are no exception to the crowds.

 Even my little slice of paradise Little Hickory Island is busy.

 Lucky for me this winter season is almost over. After Easter most will go home & we locals can have our town back. That is always a good day at the beach!

enjoy your day!

stephanie

Winter in SW Florida

There's nothing like winter in SW Florida! This year has been even better than average with our temps 5-10 degrees warmer than normal.  Being able to hang out at the beach in January is truly awesome!
I haven't been to Little Hickory in a few months but headed over there on Saturday- 80 degrees of paradise!

Variety of Shells found



Remains of a Shell Pile




Fighting Conchs







Low Tide



I must admit I was feeling a little (teeny bit) bad because my best buddy who lives in Mn. was going to be participating in a Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics. The temp was around 20 on Saturday. YIKES!

She ended up doing it and now has some major bragging rights!  I, on the other hand, am still waiting for the Gulf to warm up so I can search for more shells- it's 69 right now.  Since I don't even go in my pool until it's 86 or warmer, I think it'll be a while!

Have a great week & Happy Shelling!

Stephanie

Hey There!

And the award to the lamest  beach blogger is....... ME!   Unfortunately I haven't been able to get to the beach as much as I used to.  Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to catching up with you beach bloggers!
Here's a few pictures from Sanibel last week

I was really happy with my treasures last week!

 Happy Shelling!
Stephanie

Barefoot Beach: Learning Center

In the parking lot

Trip to Barefoot beach- awesome!! We actually took the time to stop and take a look around in the learning center. The friends of Barefoot Beach Preserve have got it going on!

I had to toss some in!

The pond is amazing- this picture doesn't do it justice