Since it's Labor Day weekend, and a breather from work, thought
I'd share a bit about my self-designed shelling adventure from
late July thru mid- August.  Also in response to those who say
they enjoy reading about trips ( I know I do) and those who specifically
have asked that I decribe where I went and what I found.  I'll keep it
brief and anyone who wants a longer account can contact me separately.

A lot of the trip was actually on land - before it was over I drove
1700 miles - as far North as Cumberland, GA and as far South as
Naples, FL - as well as East to Ft. Lauderale and up the coast, and
West as far as Cedar Key.  So....

A quick nip to Cedar Key - the Beach Front Motel which yielded
two Venus species and a little beachlet not far from the airpot
strip: 2 gorgeous, huge live melongena corona. They looked so
peaceful alone there in the water that, fighting temptation, I left 'em.

On to Jacksonville for the Shell Show - my thoroughly enjoyable
experience there is a story in itself.  Suffice it to say when not
enjoying the incredible exhibits and chatting with hospitable people,
I was down prowling the beach in front of the hotel.  Finds (over several
days) - dozens of beautiful pecten gibbus single valves, pink, dark red,
purple.  6 wentletraps (in little wash-out areas) a live policines
duplicata, and several dead oliva sayana.

Following an excellent suggestion from Jacksonville Shell Club members
that Cumberland Island would be a good place to continue shelling, I
took the ferry out to the beach. Following suggestions as well to take
lots of water I did and drank all four quarts by the time I got back.
Getting out to the beach, I saw on an emerging flat a shape like a beacon:
Just what I had come for - it was a busycon carica eliceans.  I found
another later on the beach, along with tellina alternata (1), several
policines and oliva, dosinia, and arcas everywhere. All of the shells
were dead. The two busycon look as if they were fresh dead - in
essentially perfect condition.

The next leg of the trip was diving.  From two dives on the EAst
Coast, off Palm Beach and Pompano, one pair of tellina magna
from the valve graveyard in front of an old wreck, (I picked up
about 20 valves and matched them up on top ). And so what if
the pair is  paler than a Pittsburgher in February and has a drill hole ?
Also  a few cones of undeterminable species, a conus spurious atlanticus,
2 cymatium species, a small colubraria.

A Gulf of Mexico dive off New Port Richey.  We were asked not to
take live shells and I was praying therefore not to be confronted with a
mound of live junonias and lion's paws.  No problem  - not a live
shell (except milk conchs)to be seen on three dives the furtherest 26
miles out. But lots of interesting finds:  a marginella roosevelti (it's
orangey red. almost an inch long and has the two identifying brown spots)
A latirus carniferous, large and colorful (when I picked it up it
was just a latirus shaped crusty thing ). Murex florifer. Beautiful
orangey semele purpurascens and papyridea soleniformis. Another
diver found a cassis madagascarensis doornail dead and in perfect
condition.

Then on to Peggy William's trip to Bimini - wonderful shelling, shells
and company the whole way, and again, the details are another story.
(being written up for a shell club newsletter) The highlights of numerous
finds - for me, typhis triangularis, enaeta cylleniformis, latirus infundibulum, tellina laevigata,
purpura patula ( how I almost didn't get these is a story), and a reddish,
white blotched scallop - (what I think is) pecten antillarum. Also
calliostoma jujubinum, conus regius and mus, and cyprae cinerea and
spurca.
One of my favorite finds is a strombus raninus. Having several of these
already I left what I saw until there was one whose shell was bright
orange and  brown, rather than the usual grayish white and brown. Other of
many special finds ( not mine ) were Monika's spectacular cymatium pileare
aquatile, and Peggy's McGinty's Oyster ( I think). Others on the trip
enjoyed finding helmets, queen's conchs from the graveyards (one was just
dumped) and there were a number of gorgeous ones), and raninus.

I've only been back a little more than two weeks - now it seems like
a wonderful dream.

If you've gotten this far- thanks for your interest and perhaps
forebearance..

- Karen