Thank you to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum for providing complimentary tickets for my family. All opinions are my own.
Guest Author: Our kid blogger, Messi Jr., is an eleven year old fifth grader who loves travel and soccer.
My family recently took a really fun trip to Sanibel, Florida. Sanibel is known as one of best shelling beaches in the world. Over my trip, I went shelling many times and learned a lot about shells. Today, I will share to you all the best ways of finding and learning about shells in Sanibel, Florida.
Shelling at sunrise
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
At the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, my family and I learned about all the shells we were finding on the beach. We went to the Tank Talk where a professional naturalist and sheller talked about the shells and what could be inside. An important thing to know is that if you find something living in a shell, it should be carefully placed in the water and not thrown into the water as this could harm the creature living inside. After going to the National Shell Museum, I now have a clearer understanding of shells and could name almost all of the shells we collected. With all that we learned there, I only wish we had gone to the National Shell Museum at the beginning of our weekend in Sanibel.
World Record Shells
Shelling at the Beach
On our trip, I tried different ways of shelling. On our first morning, we went to the beach at sunrise and looked in the water and on the shoreline. We had our best result by far when went in the water early in the morning. A good tip is to wade into the water and dig through the sand with your feet until you feel a shell. Then, scoop it up with your hands. When shelling in the water or on the beach, it is always a good idea to bring a mesh bag to keep all the shells you want to keep.
Some of the many shells we found
Shelling After a Storm
Although there weren’t any storms during our trip, we learned at the Tank Talk that the best time to shell is early in the morning after a storm. During a storm, all the big shells from farther into the ocean will wash up onto shore. Some of these may include the rarest shell in Sanibel called junonia, which is a shell found extremely far and low in the ocean. This shell is so rare that when someone finds one, it is often reported in the local news.
Our path to the beach
Conclusion
I had a really fun trip to Sanibel, Florida. I liked shelling and learning about all the shells at the National Shell Museum. The best time to find shells is early in the morning after a storm or by wading a few feet into the ocean. My family and I found such great shells. I hope we go back to Sanibel soon.
Thank you to the Sanibel Island Beach Resort for providing a media rate for our stay. All opinions are my own.
We recently spent a lovely family weekend at the Sanibel Island Beach Resort. When selecting a hotel in Sanibel for our family of five, our main criteria was that we wanted to stay at a beach-front property with an updated pool area. Sanibel Island Beach Resort definitely ticked those boxes. We arrived on Friday afternoon and checked out Sunday morning. We wished our weekend was longer (or didn’t include the Spring Forward time change that made us miss an hour of precious beach time) and would definitely return to the Sanibel Island Beach Resort.
Review of Sanibel Island Beach Resort Rooms
Our room was large and comfortable with old world Florida charm and a beachy-feel. It included two queen-sized beds, a small table and chairs, a big flat-screen television, dual sinks, a mini refrigerator, a microwave and plenty of options to hang wet clothes.
We loved that our room was beach-front and overlooked the pool area. Our proximity to the beach and pool was ideal. Our goal was to spend as much time outdoors as possible during our weekend, and we really didn’t spend much time in the room itself other than showering and sleeping.
The toiletries were Tommy Bahama brand, and the shower had wonderful pressure and unlimited hot water.
Sanibel Island Beach Resort also featured a sink for guests to use specifically to wash shells, a business center and the Sandollar Kitchen & Bar.
Review of Sanibel Island Beach Resort Pool
Our family really enjoyed Sanibel Island Beach Resort’s pool area. There were many inflatable rafts and rings, boogie boards and noodles for guests to enjoy. The pool was large enough to accommodate at least 10-12 swimmers at one time comfortably. The pool deck was updated with several different seating areas. Even though the Resort was fully booked, we never had difficulty finding chairs. The Tiki Bar was particularly popular with the Resort’s guests, and I enjoyed a Happy Hour rum runner while sitting on the edge of the pool. Although we visited during Spring break time, the pool area was very relaxed and family-friendly with no college revelers.
Our daughter was really hoping to make a friend on our trip, and she hit the jackpot on Saturday morning when she met another 4.5 year old girl with long brown hair who just happened to have the same first name. Our daughter has never met another little girl who shares her name, so this discovery was very exciting. This little girl also happened to be super sweet and asked her dad to take her to the beach to find a shell for my daughter. The two girls became fast friends.
Review of Sanibel Island Beach Resort Beach
The beach at the Sanibel Island Beach Resort was unquestionably the highlight of the property. Our room had a beach view, and we reached the sand by taking a short walk down a path past the pool. After we dropped off our bags in our room and changed into beach attire, we grabbed towels from the pool and headed straight to the beach. The Resort provided comfortable lounge chairs for its guests, and even at full capacity, we never had an issue finding chairs for our family. There were no umbrellas, but we were able to purchase one from the Resort’s gift shop for $19.99. Considering we had to rent chairs and an umbrella for about that amount each day at the beaches in Clearwater and Treasure Island last year, we thought the cost was extremely reasonable. As an added bonus, the umbrella folded down and fit in our car seat bag, so we were able to bring it home with us. Our summer beach trips to Lake Erie are going to be so much more comfortable….
My shaded view of Sanibel Beach
Our kids really enjoy playing in the sand on the beach. They put the two buckets and a shovel that we brought with us to heavy use, often working in the shade of our umbrella. They built a sand castle that survived overnight.
The water temperature of the Gulf of Mexico was still pretty chilly in early March, but my husband and sons ventured into the water on Saturday morning in search of unique shells. As part of the resort fee, the Sanibel Island Beach Resort provides guests with their own mesh shell bag upon check in. This came in handy – at least until the weight of the shells made a hole. My daughter and I preferred to relax in the shade, search for shells in the sand and just dip our toes into the water to fill our buckets.
We woke up early both Saturday and Sunday mornings to watch the sunrise over the Gulf. Even my first view of the ocean definitely made the early morning wake up worthwhile.
The beach was quiet as the sun rose, but there were a few other shellers and walkers on the beach. Sunrise over the Gulf was particularly stunning as the sky turned beautiful shades of orange and red.
No one asked to go back to bed as the sun rose into the sky. We brought out granola bars, squeezable yogurt pouches and water bottles to eat breakfast on the beach. It was the perfect place to sip my morning coffee.
My daughter met her new friend on the beach on Sunday morning, and the two girls discovered they also each had blue buckets and yellow shovels. What else could possibly cement a new friendship between two girls who seemed destined to meet? The two girls excitedly played in the sand together and decided to be pen pals before we each set off in separate directions for the day. They have already sent each other some of the cutest notes through the mail. I have to admit that it’s fun to use stamps for something other than Christmas cards and love that my daughter has a new understanding of how the mail works.
While Sanibel Island Beach Resort’s beach is a wonderful sunrise location, it isn’t ideal for viewing sunset. The sky may turn brilliant shades at dusk, but the sunset itself is out of view from the south end of Sanibel Island. On Saturday night, we headed to Blind Pass Beach, which is on the western end of Sanibel Island right next to the short bridge to Captiva Island. Sunset at Blind Pass Beach was breathtakingly beautiful.
Sunset at Blind Pass Beach
Restaurants Near Sanibel Island Beach Resort
We did not eat at the Resort’s on site restaurants, Sandollar Kitchen & Bar or Tiki Bar, but we did have a number of great meals nearby. Periwinkle Way is the main street through Sanibel and where all of the restaurants we dined at are located. The fact that all the restaurants we chose had animal-themed names was completely coincidental. Here are our Sanibel dining recommendations:
#1: The Island Cow
We had dinner at the Island Cow on Friday night. We heard this cute diner regularly seats 1,000 customers per day, and we believe it. I think there is almost always a line for tables, and the Island Cow offers Adirondack chairs, corn hole and even a random skeleton to help pass the inevitable wait comfortably. The hostess also handed us the extensive menu (including kids’ meals) upon our arrival so that we could make our selections before we were seated and expedite the service.
My husband and I ordered drinks from the bar while we were waiting to be seated. The drinks were unfortunately not so great. My strawberry daiquiri was not well mixed, and I wasn’t sure if there was actually any alcohol in it. My husband’s drink was also sub par and almost offensively strong. The festive atmosphere made up for the unappealing drinks, and we were seated much faster than we expected.
The interior décor at the Island Cow is a bright eclectic kitsch. While knickknacks can be overwhelming, this collection was carefully curated, and we enjoyed looking at all the pictures and the cows on the walls and shelves throughout the restaurant.
Fish is a specialty at the Island Cow, and we all enjoyed our meals. We ordered the alligator appetizer, which was breaded like chicken fingers and tasty. Our oldest is always adventurous when it comes to trying local specialties and thought it tasted very similar to chicken. Our youngest spent the rest of the weekend slightly worried that the alligators might somehow know that we ate one of their friends.
A live karaoke singer accompanied our dinner, and there seemed to be one birthday celebration after another in which the whole restaurant sang the birthday song to the special guest. Over the course of these celebrations, my boys kept reminding us that the trip fell right between our sons’ birthdays and tried to claim birthday priority, mostly because of the large sundae that accompanied each celebration. When our server came with our check, she overheard the conversation and brought out a sundae for the kids to share (no singing).
We heard great things about the Island Cow’s breakfast service and decided to come back on Sunday morning for a hearty brunch. The mimosas on the menu were tempting, but after our experience with the drinks on Friday night, I stuck with coffee. The Island Cow’s brunch definitely lived up to our expectations and was a favorite for all.
My breakfast burrito
#2: The Blue Giraffe
On Saturday, we wanted a quick and tasty sit-down lunch. We called ahead to the Blue Giraffe in Periwinkle Place Shopping Center to make sure that they could accommodate our family with no wait for a late lunch and were thrilled to walk right in and sit down at our table.
Blue Giraffe prominently features giraffe décor, but not all of the giraffes are blue!
Blue Giraffe features typical American fare and kids’ menus, and we all enjoyed our sandwiches and hot dogs. My kids actually chose fruit over French fries as well.
Hot dog kids’ meal at the Blue Giraffe
#3: MudBugs Cajun Kitchen
We had dinner on Saturday night at MudBugs Cajun Kitchen. MudBugs just opened its Sanibel location in December 2018, and the airy, two-story building is exquisite with exposed bricks, outdoor patios and classic New Orleans architecture. I noticed the Chihuly-style blown glass chandelier as soon as we walked in. Later, my sons asked if it was a Chihuly, and knowing how expensive an original Chihuly might be suggested that it likely a “knockoff.” Later, our server confirmed that the chandelier was an original Chihuly! I wonder if the renovated building or the chandelier has a higher value.
MudBugs offers kids’ meals, but our three kids split an adult-sized jambalaya and gumbo. My husband and I each enjoyed a superb cocktail. We all loved our meals, and now I can’t wait for our next trip to New Orleans for more crawfish etoufee and hurricanes.
#4: Pinocchio’s
As our last stop in Sanibel before heading to the airport, we enjoyed Pinocchio’s original Italian ice cream. Pinocchio’s has been a Sanibel staple since 1980 and features bright green walls and endless options of ice cream and gelato. My daughter remembered Pinocchio from our trip to Italy and greeted the large namesake as an old friend. We enjoyed our sweet treat on the store’s large front patio before bidding farewell to our island weekend.
Planning a family trip to Florida? Be sure to check out our entire category of blog posts on things to do and places to visit in Florida, including Sanibel.
Thank you to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum for providing complimentary tickets for my family. All opinions are my own.
Our visit to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel Island was the perfect end to our family’s long weekend in Florida. Sanibel Island is regularly designated as the best shelling beach in the world, and honestly, shelling was a main draw for us when deciding where to spend the weekend on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Hunting for shells on the beach in Treasure Island and Clearwater was a highlight of our trip last winter. At the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, we learned about different species of mollusks and the wide variety of shells that they make. This educational opportunity provided the context we needed to better understand the shells we found in Sanibel.
Sanibel Shelling
We woke up at sunrise on both of our mornings in Sanibel and headed straight to the beach. This gave us the chance to watch the sunrise over the ocean during prime shelling time as the beach was covered with shells that had washed up into the sand overnight. My husband found more unusual shells a few feet into the water. Serious shellers had nets, but because we weren’t that savvy, he used his hands and found some very interesting shells.
Our visit to Sanibel Island coincided with the Annual Shell Festival. Our family visited the Festival and scoped out all the shell varieties that were available for sale along with shell art. We also had a preview of the National Shell Museum by visiting their mobile tank unit, which was staffed by middle school experts practicing their presentation skills.
History of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
The National Shell Museum was incorporated in 1986 and was originally housed in a shack. Early supporters and donors included Raymond Burr of Perry Mason fame. Burr helped with the Museum’s first capital campaign and donated his collection of cowries from Fiji to the National Shell Museum. Burr died before the Museum’s current building opened in 1995 on land donated by the Bailey and Matthews families, and the circular garden in front of the Museum was dedicated in his honor.
Raymond Burr’s collection of Fijian cowries
The “National” designation was added to the Museum’s title in 2014 because it is the only professional museum in the U.S. devoted to shells. The Museum began a $6 million renovation project in January 2019. The project includes a new aquarium that is expected to open in 2020.
Visiting the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel Island is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The National Shell Museum’s operations are fully funded by admissions fees and charitable contributions. Admission costs $15 for adults, $9 for children ages 5-13 and seniors. There is no admissions fee for children under 5.
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum – Scavenger Hunt
We visited the National Shell Museum on our last afternoon in Sanibel. Our kids each received a scavenger hunt when we arrived, and we started our tour in the main exhibition space. The kids found many of the shells featured on the scavenger hunt in the Children’s Learning Lab. Our eight and eleven year old sons completed the hunt independently. Our four year old needed some assistance but quickly matched the shell pictures on the scavenger hunt to those in the display cases. The Museum brilliantly utilized tear strips on the scavenger hunt worksheets so kids didn’t need to carry around writing instruments. It was a great activity to help kids investigate the main exhibition space, and they received a shell and a wrist band or coloring book when they turned in their completed worksheet at the main desk.
Completing the National Shell Museum’s scavenger hunt
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum – Record Breaking Sized Shells
The exhibit of world-record shells was another hit. My kids are fascinated with world records. Each year, we purchase the updated copy of Guinness Book of World Records, and my boys spend hours reading the pages. My boys checked out the entries on mollusks in the recent editions but did not find any of the Museum’s shells featured. The Museum’s world record shells include the goliath conch, the lightning whelk, the Atlantic trumpet triton, and the horse conch. The horse conch is two feet long!
The world’s largest horse conch
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum – Mollusks in Action
The Museum rotates two, 30-minute educational films on shells every half hour. We watched Mollusks in Action, which was filmed locally. Our four year old was so exhausted from her morning at the beach and pool and found the dark room to be a perfect place to nap, and so my husband stayed with her for the second presentation while I headed to the art room with two enthusiastic boys ready to create some shell animal art.
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum – Shell Animal Art
Shell animals were available for purchase at the Shell Festival, but the kids were itching to make their own. The National Shell Museum made an otherwise messy and complicated art project super fun and easy, so I was all for it. The art room includes thousands of shells separated by type into clear plastic bins, hot glue guns, covered tables and a wrapping station. Each guest is permitted to make one animal with 12 or fewer shells. There are a number of examples to copy, but my eight year old chose to create a dolphin on his own and then became super creative and placed the dolphin on top of a decorative shell “stand.” My eleven year old made a starfish and then placed it inside a large shell. They each asked for my advice in their shell selection but were able to work the hot glue guns and create their animals with minimal assistance.
At the end of our visit, our well rested daughter woke up and wanted her turn to make shell art. She chose to make a butterfly. I had to take the lead on most of the gluing, but she selected and placed the shells. After each creation was complete, we wrapped them in newspaper and carried them home in small brown paper bags.
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum – Tank Talk
The Tank Talk is definitely not to be missed during any visit to the National Shell Museum. Tank Talks are offered four times each day at 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The standing room only crowd for the 2:30 p.m. presentation listened intently to Bubby, a Florida master naturalist and general shell expert. Bubby was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic and held the attention of the whole audience for the duration of her 30-minute presentation. The Museum reports that 90% of the visitors to the National Shell Museum are not aware that shells come from living animals, but no one can leave Bubby’s presentation without a clear understanding that shells are the exoskeletons of mollusks such as snails, clams, oysters and many others.
The presentation included some scientific shelling terms, but Bubby defined each in kid-friendly jargon. We learned that gastropod means “stomach foot” because these mollusks with whirl around shells use what looks like a stomach to move. The horse conch, which is the Florida state shell, is the largest gastropod in the Atlantic Ocean and therefore the top mollusk predator. We also learned that most mollusks use calcium and carbon from the ocean to form calcium carbonate shells.
I particularly enjoyed Bubby’s discussion of lightning whelks. Female lightening whelks are larger than the males because they hold the eggs. Each of their egg castings hold 300-1,000 eggs. We got to see tiny eggs under a magnifying glass. The eggs were tiny versions of the full-sized shells.
Lightning whelk eggs under a magnifying glass
We also learned that the most coveted shell in Sanibel is the junonia. Junonia shells are so rare because junonia live in the Western Atlantic at depths of 100 feet to 400 feet. Because of the junonia’s deep water habitat, few shells wash up on Sanibel’s shores, and shellers who find a junonia shell are often featured in the local paper. The shells have spots that remind me of a giraffe, and I thought the shell was particularly beautiful before I knew it was so rare. In over 40 years of shelling, Bubby has never found one on her own, but a casual sheller next to her on the beach picked up two a few years ago. Before leaving the Museum, we checked out the junonia exhibit in the main exhibition space with a new understanding of the precious shell.
Bubby told us that different winds, tides and currents effect what shells come up on the beach on any given day. The best shelling is often right after a big storm. We also learned that the collection of live shells is strictly prohibited in Sanibel, and any living shells found marooned on the beach should be carefully placed into the Ocean. Too often, tourists find a living mollusk and throw it back into the Atlantic, which could seriously injure the animal.
Our Review of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
We spent about 2.5 hours at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. Our kids were engaged throughout the visit and gained a deeper understanding of shells. We definitely recommend a trip to the National Shell Museum to any family visiting Sanibel Island. This unique educational opportunity truly deepened our knowledge of mollusks, and we will never look at a beach the same. We only wish we went to the Museum at the beginning of our time in Sanibel.
Fish is a specialty at the Island Cow, and we all enjoyed our meals. We ordered the alligator appetizer, which was breaded like chicken fingers and tasty. Our oldest is always adventurous when it comes to trying local specialties and thought it tasted very similar to chicken. Our youngest spent the rest of the weekend slightly worried that the alligators might somehow know that we ate one of their friends.
A live karaoke singer accompanied our dinner, and there seemed to be one birthday celebration after another in which the whole restaurant sang the birthday song to the special guest. Over the course of these celebrations, my boys kept reminding us that the trip fell right between our sons’ birthdays and tried to claim birthday priority, mostly because of the large sundae that accompanied each celebration. When our server came with our check, she overheard the conversation and brought out a sundae for the kids to share (no singing).
We had dinner on Saturday night at MudBugs Cajun Kitchen. MudBugs just opened its Sanibel location in December 2018, and the airy, two-story building is exquisite with exposed bricks, outdoor patios and classic New Orleans architecture. I noticed the Chihuly-style blown glass chandelier as soon as we walked in. Later, my sons asked if it was a Chihuly, and knowing how expensive an original Chihuly might be suggested that it likely a “knockoff.” Later, our server confirmed that the chandelier was an original Chihuly! I wonder if the renovated building or the chandelier has a higher value.
MudBugs offers kids’ meals, but our three kids split an adult-sized jambalaya and gumbo. My husband and I each enjoyed a superb cocktail. We all loved our meals, and now I can’t wait for our next trip to New Orleans for more crawfish etoufee and hurricanes.
