Al and Faith (and Tai & Bode): Big Shell/Little Shell

We had heard one of the best places to find shells was on the north end of South Padre Island, so we decided we would head down last week to see what all the fuss was about. They also said that you had to have a 4-wheel drive, a tow rope and should take two vehicles.

So we headed out with dogs in tow, Al's fishing gear, and brats for lunch. The actual beaches are inside the Padre Island National Seashore, a Federal Park, around 45 miles south. When we got in the park it really didn't look much different than the beaches of Port Aransas. At first we were wondering what the big deal was.

The further south we went, the more we could see why. The sand is super soft, and when the tide is up it goes all the way up to the dunes. You had to drive right along the water, then it wasn't too bad, but I can see how you could get into trouble. And there was no cell phone service at all, so if you did get stuck, you were stuck for a while. And hardly anyone else there. We saw a few fisherman, but that was it. It was really peaceful and a gorgeous sunny day to boot.

We went by Little Shell Beach (which was 10 miles down the beach) to Big Shell Beach (which was around mile marker 22). We kind of thought bigger is better, right? When we finally stopped it was amazing. There were shells absolutely everywhere.

And I mean everywhere. Every inch there was a shell from the water up to the dunes.

The disappointment though, was that all the shells were so battered and worn that they were unidentifiable. They all looked like they had been in a rock tumbler or something. (I guess they really were, it was just the "ocean waves tumbler") But they all had such a nice color that we had to take bags of them. I think they will look nice in a vase or something at least.

There were several birds along the way, but no other wildlife except this goofy lizard.

Al, of course, planned some more fishing. It was a bit slow at first, but then the Whiting started pretty good. They weren't big, but they are good fish for dinner.

Then he caught this:

This is a Bonnet Head Shark. It was strange to see a shark that looked just like a big scary shark except it was only 21 inches long and had a funky head! His skin felt so weird, it was smooth going one way, then it was rough going back up his body.

You can't keep them unless they are 24" long, so we didn't get to taste them, but he caught several and had to throw them all back. It's tiring to go in and out of the waves so each time he caught another one, mom would go out and help measure.