shell island ROCKS!

Unless you've been here, you probably have NO idea what shell island is....so I'm going to tell you " ) Shell island is just what you would assume it to be....an island full of shells! Well, for the most part it is.....It is actually a long slender island that runs for probably 3-5 miles. On the island you will see lots of tall palm trees, dunes, small "ponds", and an occassional shell here and there.
If you remember my Mann'ee post, you may remember me talking about Shell Island...that is where we were headed before being playfully attacked by the great mannitees. We have attempted the travel to Shell Island a couple times now....the second time we actually made it over there. To our surprise we were welcomed by thousands of little crabs. It wasn't very pretty and the sand was icky and mucky. Although it was a bit of a biology adventure seeing the various species of crab, it still left lots to be desired.
So today I thought we might try Shell Island again, but we would go to a better spot. So we packed up Mann'ee in the back of the Bronco and headed to the Hanzel and Gretel beach (our little nick name for the beach). From this beach you can see the most Eastern tip of the island. From our side of the water, the beach looks beautiful and white and is surrounded by a gorgeous blue shoreline. It also doesn't look too far away " )
So we packed up the kids and a cooler on dependable ole Mann'ee (remember this is what we named our paddleboat) and headed across the bay..........it was a tiring trip for Jim and I, but we made it even though our legs felt like rubber by the time we got there " ) As soon as we did get there we noticed some other people on the island that had just caught a rather large fish (remember, I grew up in Michigan and I only fished out of lakes, so anything bigger than 18 inches is big to me " ) As soon as we docked Mann'ee I walked over to ask the couple what it was that they had caught (they had released it before we could see what it was). To my surprise they tell us it was a shark! "That is incredible!", I think to myself. All of a sudden a little further down the shore another guy fishing starts to get a tug on his line. Well, the nosey family that we are, we walked down to snoop on what's going on....sure enough, he pulls out another shark!! His shark is only about 2 1/2 feet long, but it's a shark still - teeth and all!
After our shark excitement we decided that we would walk the island and scope out shells. It was a typical beach walking experience for us. We came across some very unique shells and more sand dollars. And we even saw a sand stingray! For my Grand Rapids friends and family, these are the sting rays that you can see and "pet" at the John Ball Zoo. The one that we saw was much bigger than the ones you will see at the zoo, though. I would say he was about four or more feet long from his nose to the end of his tail. I was just surprised at how close to the shore he was. I saw him while walking in the sand....I mean he was that close!
I think I'm going to start a new tradition.....I am going to sign out of each of these type of blogs as, "The National Geographic Family". lol I think we are much better at sighting wildlife in Florida than I am at my stories!! If you've made it this far into the blog...God Bless you and thank for staying awake!

~The National Geographic Family