We made a trip to the beach yesterday. Boy was it a GOOD day. As soon as we left the highway, I had Ron let me out so I could walk. Armed with my hat, camera, cell phone and plastic bag, I started down the beach. Ron drove down probably 1/4 to 1/2 mile, parked and started fishing. I walked and saw a huge amount of shells. I didn't pick up very many because I just can't bring them all home. I picked up a few shells and I did find several pieces of barnacles. There was a camper on the beach and the lady told me the shells would get better as I headed down the beach. She didn't tell me I only had to go 10 feet for them to get better. WOW! I found probably 15 to 20 lightning whelks and a lot of sharks eyes (shells). I stopped for a couple of minutes to talk with Ron. He was having good luck with his fishing - a lot of catfish, croakers, and trout. I also took pictures of his new friend, an egret. This bird kind of looked young. He was not at all bothered by us. As a matter of fact, he followed Ron when he walked down the beach a little way. I walked on down the beach, scanning the beach from top to water's edge for shells or pieces. THERE IT WAS! Laying in the surf! My find of the day. It was a lightning whelk that was 9 inches long! With the other shells, my sack was getting heavy, so I turned around and headed back to the truck. Then my cell phone ran. Ron said, "I caught the big one. Hurry back with the camera." He had caught a drum (fish). This guy was over three feet long. We don't know how much it weighed, but Ron couldn't hold it all the way up. I took a couple of pictures of the fish before Ron sent it back into the water. Being so big, it needed a lot of water to swim in. Ron got the hoe out of the truck and herded him back into the deeper water. As soon as he found enough depth, off he swam. The day was perfect. Mid-seventies for a temp, sunny with a light breeze. Couldn't ask for anything better.