We love to discover new things, especially when it is something new at a place that we’ve been to a bunch of times. Over the years we’ve always loved going to the beach. Sometimes for laying out in the sun, but more for going on walks, collecting shells, and enjoying Florida’s amazing sunsets. Clearwater Beach has always been the easiest to get to, and we love to stop at Frenchy’s for some coconut shrimp and a drink before going on a walk.

We recently had a kid-free evening and decided to take a little trip over to the beach. We weren’t terribly hungry, so we just grabbed a quick drink at the bar at Frenchy’s and as we were leaving, the waitress asked where we were headed. We told her that we were just planning on going for a walk and she mentioned that if you walked far enough to the north, you’d find mangroves that people hang shells on. We didn’t have a destination in mind, so we headed in the direction she recommended. We’ve walked Clearwater Beach a hundred times over the last 25 years. North, south, in good weather, in iffy weather. We’ve been there a lot, but we had never heard of, or noticed, shells hanging in mangroves.

Sure enough, about one and a half to two miles up the beach, we came to mangroves and there were shells hung all over them. Our understanding is that people hang them in memory of someone. There were even a few wooden plaques and a little bench left in memory of loved ones. We also didn’t know that the northern end of the barrier island that Clearwater Beach is on was part of Caladesi Island State Park. We made it all the way up there on the beach, walked through a few mangrove mazes, and hung our own shells in the mangroves to remember some of the important people in our lives.

It was a fun evening, but I think the best part of it was the discovery. We really had no idea that there were mangroves filled with memory shells. We were just planning to walk as far as we could. It’s amazing what exists around us without us realizing it. I wonder what we’ll discover tomorrow.