My name is Melissa Hamilton, and I'm new to this group (just joined today).
 
I grew up in Alabama and began collecting shells as a child along the Alabama
coast, but I saw my first really amazing shells on Botany Island in South
Carolina,  when I was 19.   I don't know if any of you know that area (near
Edisto Island, close to Charleston), but it's pretty spectacular, I think, for
shelling.
 
I'm 31 now and living in Los Angeles, and I've continued to collect - very
much an amateur, as I've only begun learning the names of various shells in
the past few years, but I do love it - I usually plan my vacations around
shelling.  I didn't know anyone else did this until I read some of this
group's old messages this morning.:)   How nice to know I'm not alone.