I think it was in 2002 that hubby and I found an entire beach in Washington scattered with them. A lot of them had been pecked by birds, so we only gathered the "good" ones.
I wish I had photos of the beach that day, but I had a new Advantix camera on that trip, and it destroyed an entire roll of film.
I remember that day like it was yesterday! How could I not? It was one of those 'finds of a lifetime'. How often do you come upon an entire beach covered for miles with literally hundreds, if not thousands of sand dollars?!
We were wearing our matching windbreakers with several big pockets in them. We spent hours on the beach gathering unbroken, and unpecked sand dollars. Not only were our pockets chock full, but our arms were totally loaded, too. We brought home 128 awesome sand dollars!
This old acrylic ice bucket made a perfect container to house my collection.
I have even painted a few, and made them into magnets!
I love having mementos of the places, and beaches we've been to!
When we went to Oregon in 2006 for Lace's wedding, we took the scenic route and visited Carlsbad Caverns, The Painted Desert, The Grand Canyon, and The Petrified Forest. In a gift shop I found an awesome sand dollar fossil, and you know I had to have it!
Did you know that area, and Wyoming too, used to be TROPICAL? and had PALM TREES?
I love visiting the wonderful places our beloved states have tucked away within their forests, mountains, canyons, valleys, and coastlines!
I have another prehistoric type of sand dollar, too!
This is a Eupatagus Antillarium. Josh (Laci's hubby) found this snorkeling out in the Gulf one day while fishing! I couldn't believe he gave it to me! I did a blog post about it here. It looks like a sand dollar, but is actually an ancient sea urchin!
So, even though they aren't seashells, they are something special in my collection, that have a lot of meaning, and fond memories to me. And they came from the sea! :D
Have a Wonderful Summer Saturday!
Love,
Del
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8 comments:
I love the back story to all your shells! It is amazing tht something as fragile as a sand dollar could even be petrified like that - the boys would be fascinated by this! Have a Great weekend Della!
Cool!! Sand dollars are fun to have around. One year I painted little Santa Clauses in the center of some I had. The little "star" in the center makes a perfect template. Ribbon threaded through the slits and it was the perfect Christmas ornament.
I love it when I find sand dollars! I also like your idea of painting them and making a magnet out of them. Go here: http://www.qualityshells.com/legend-of-the-sand-dollar.html to read about the legend of the sand dollar - kinda interesting!
Being rather inland, I have to read your posts to feel the sand between my toes! Love the way the sand dollars look in your ice bucket!
I love your story about the sand dollars I think that's the reason I love a touch of vintage for the history behind them...seems to give them such a different feel when you know where something has been in the past.
A find of a lifetime for sure!! That is truly amazing. It would take me weeks to recover from the excitement!!
Happy 4th!!!!!
What a great post! So informative and inspiring. I wish I could find a real sand dollar here in Connecticut.
You have a wonderful collection...and such wonderful memories! We went to Jekyll Island last year for my birthday (it was a BIG one!lol ) and we found several. We saw LOTS that were alive, too and that was a thrill! ♥
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