Shelling on Sanibel Island

Just call me Shellin' Ellen!

Last week Mr. Wonderful and I celebrated our

25th Wedding Anniversary.  I wanted to do 

something special to mark the occasion and  at

first I thought we would go out for a nice dinner.

The more I thought about it though, that didn't

seem to be special enough to mark such a big

milestone.  As I was travelling all over the world

earlier this summer, I would fall into bed exhausted

and talk to Wonderful on the phone each night and

ask him to take me to the beach for our next trip.

Something relaxing and laid back.  A big anniversary

seemed like a good reason to head to Sanibel Island.

Well, it was laid back... I'm not sure if you would call

 it relaxing.

I'd have that poor guy out on the beach at dawn 

each day so I could have an early look at what 

washed up overnight.

We got up close and personal with the local

wildlife.  We saw dolphins and manatees and

all sorts of shore birds and an eagle flew right

over us one morning.

I would walk for hours down the nearly deserted

beaches.  I was lost in my thoughts listening to the

waves crash on the shore and the tinkling of the 

shells as the waves went back out to sea that sounded

like the most beautiful wind chimes you have ever

heard.

The best reason to come to Sanibel is for the

shells.  This is what I found in just the first day

and a half.  I especially love the beautifully 

colored calico scallops.  While most teenagers

were rebelling against their parents, I was traveling

with mine.  My Mum and I would spend weeks

collecting those beautiful scallops and finding so 

many now makes me miss her even more but at

least I have happy memories of times gone by.

On our third day at Blind Pass Sanibel beach, we

arrived early and I was noticing the shell line was

being pulled out onto the sand bar,  I worried that

maybe the sand bar was weakening and there could

be a rip current.  I went for a walk for a few hours

 and when I got back the area that looked strange

that morning had become a mountain of shells.  It

was as if it was a volcano and the lava was shells.

The really odd thing about this was it happened

right in front of where we had set up camp for the

day.  I think the mermaids got together and said

Ellen has come here for a big celebration, let's 

give her a present from the sea.  And by the next

day it was gone, all washed back out to sea.

(I'm so sorry I didn't get a photo of the mountain!

We had a great time on our little getaway.  Oh, how

I miss living near the beach.  We also got to catch a

few terrific sunsets.

Too often I see people watch the sun set into the

water and then they take off.  Then they miss the 

after show, always wait for the after show!  That's

when you can often see the best color.