A Very Special Find Today While I Was Working On The Beach. I Feel Like Most Of You Do Not Know What

A very special find today while I was working on the beach. I feel like most of you do not know what the significance of this shell is (I know one of you might). This is the rare “Pawleys Island Shell” aka Imperial Venus Clam.

Like many things in Pawleys, this shell has a local legend attached to it. It’s rare to find and many people come to the island in search of these. Local jewelry and art is made in its likeness. Legend says you can only find these shells on Pawleys Island, and if you do, you’ll be blessed.

Growing up, my mom and grandpa was (and still is) an avid shell collector. I haven’t posted about that on here before. Many days of my life have been spent combing the beach for shells with them. They educated me on the many species that line the South Carolina coast. Often opening the big scientific shell book. Matching what we found at the end of the day to names in the book. We have years worth of conchs, whelks, augers, letters olives - the SC state shell, and more than I could ever count.

One shell that never made the collection was the rare Imperial Venus. Today I was the lucky one who got to find one. It was a really exciting moment as I was not necessarily looking for shells today. I guess home wanted to give me a Christmas Present. I am now one of the ones who has a Pawleys Island Shell.

Back in my home home town for Christmas. That means we’re hanging out in the swamp with the tupelos. We also got the company of a Red Tailed Hawk!

Tonight after a work Christmas party, I left a little drunk and wasn’t ready to drive. So I was driven out to the Pawleys Island Point. To my luck, there was some sort of meteor shower or something. I quit counting after 10 shooting starts flash across the ocean. The stars are so bright out there I was able to capture this image with just my phone. So with these being phone photos, you can only imagine how it really looked. You can get a pretty clear view of the Milky Way out there during a new moon too. The first photo is the stars spanning out over the ocean.

A foggy day along the Waccamaw Neck. The first picture was an incredible view. Driving above a thick cloud hovering over the Winyah Bay in Georgetown. Pictures can’t really describe how vast and strange this phenomenon felt.

Then a beautiful view of that fog over the marsh lands spanning from the Waccamaw. Crazy that I can casually grab lunch somewhere so beautiful.

Beautiful scallop shells I picked up on my walk earlier.