Author: cyphoma

Due to the popularity of the Sanibel Show trip AND by request the club is going to have a trip on Saturday, June 11^th to see the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel. Director Jose Leal will be on hand to give us a special tour.

As per the Show trip we will meet at the Coral Ridge Mall (beneath the AMC Theater sign which fronts on Federal Highway).  Be there by 7:15 AM so we can get on the road.  We will return about 9PM.  The cost will be as before – $30 per person.  Cash is preferred or checks are acceptable, made out to me, Richard Sedlak, seeing as how the initial rental will come out of my account and not the shell club.  The admission to the museum is $7 per person which you can either pay in advance or at the door. We will do the museum, have lunch (most likely at Doc Fords) and then do some shelling and stop at a shell shop – or two. Bring a snack or drink if you wish, and probably some shelling gear. All that is asked is that once you commit, don’t cancel unless it is an emergency.  Sign up at the April and May meetings or call me at 954-296-5633 / sedlaki1@comcast.net.

This past March 5^th a van full of our Broward members and other friends descended upon the hapless and unsuspecting population of Sanibel.  The weather was perfect (just a few passing showers…with a rainbow) and the itinerary kept everyone busy.  Our intrepid group included Tom Ball, Juan Marrero, myself (Richard Sedlak who drove everyone – literally and figuratively), Nancy Galdo, new members Kathie Bishop and Linda Laurin who were both like kids in a candy shop and also former member Ed Sossen and guest Mike Sposito, and Lorenzo D’Oria (whose truck always saves the day at Shell Show set-up).  Violet Mass was the first to sign up and was so eager to go, but ended up in the hospital with a pneumonia condition.  Hope you are feeling better!

We hit the beach (so-to-speak) running,  by arriving at their wonderful show – the 74^th one this time.  One outstanding feature of their show is the craft section which is phenomenal.  The Sailors’ Valentines leave you breathless.  Also of note is the small area just outside where they have 6^th grade students from Sanibel, oversee tanks with live shells and they explain the shells and their living habits to the visitors.  A nice educational touch from the Sanibel elementary school.  Of course like all the rest of us food is always an “option” so we (along with other Broward members who were already there) attacked the Island Cow located a one-minute walk right next door (I have dubbed it “The Mad Cow”).  They are efficient; the food is great – and tons of it!  We then waddled across the street, got back into the van and headed for Showcase Shells, Larry Strange’s shop and Anne Joffe’s “She Sells Sea Shells”.  All that shopping makes one thirsty so we hit the Dairy Queen ….on the way to our final destination, the beach at the Sanibel lighthouse.  We all found some shells though the weather conditions had not been conducive to allowing the piles of shells one could usually find on the beach at other times.

Of course the day did have to come to an end so we all piled in the van with our various treasures and discussed the day’s events.  One thing that was discussed was another trip back to Sanibel for seeing the museum. Soooooo…..