3/23/25 Report - Conch Washout. A Surprise Unboxing and Some of the Treasures Found.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Broken Pieces of Conch Shell at a Washout.

A couple days ago, I think it was, I mentioned a couple washouts.  I talked about one that I thought could have exposed material from an old mound.  I went back to get a photo of the spot, but I couldn't find any conch shells.  Some probably got covered with sand again, and some washed away.  After looking around a while, I found a few pieces of conch shell in the area of the washout (shown above).

I looked in the nearby water and quickly found one complete shell that was covered by seaweed.  I turned it over so you can see it (below).

Conch Shell From Washout.

I thought that maybe somebody was picking them up.  That suspicion was confirmed when I found a pile of shells just down the beach a very short distance.

I still don't know the source of the conch shells and whether they came from a mound that was originally in the area when the road was made, or if they came with fill dirt or if the old timers were harvesting conch at some point.

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I was cleaning out my garage yesterday and came to a couple boxes that hadn't been opened since I first moved to Florida nearly fifty years ago.  I had some idea of what was in them but never guessed what all I was about to find.  There were two big boxes that my parents packed and sent to my new home when I moved to Florida.

I was pleased to find a variety of items from the model train sets that my dad bought for me when I was only a few years old.  I don't remember that Christmas at all.  I was too young at the time.   

I still wonder how my dad could afford it but remember being told he bought the pre-war Lionel sets for a bargain price from someone he knew.  Still, I would guess that it cost him a week's wages.  And that was a lot of money for a man with a new family trying to get a loan to build a house after coming home from the war.  

I opened the first box and the first item I saw brought a big smile to my face.  It was the bascule bridge.  I always really liked that bridge and wondered what happened to it.  I thought it got left behind somewhere and never expected to see it again.  They made good stuff in those days.  It is metal and has a working motor.  The bridge would go up and connect the track again when it went down so the train could pass over it.

Lionel O Guage Bascule Bridge.

My model trains were my favorite toys all through my childhood and beyond.  I thought a lot of my Lionel stuff was gone for good.  Then out of the box came another bridge, and the gateman's house that operated when the train went by, the log loader, and the crane.  

The crane was the neatest of all.  It was an electromagnetic crane that would pick up metal.  It could be controlled to load and unload metal items from waiting cars.  That was fun.

Lionel Crane.

When I took the crane out of the box I didn't find the boom but was still glad to see the crane.  Later I found the boom and other parts when I opened a second box.  Another big smile.  

I found some of my slot car sets too, as well as other things too numerous to mention.  There were also small clothes tucked in the box.  Many of those items seemed to be about the right size for a two or three-year old.  \

Children's Shoes.

I didn't know I had so many shoes, and certainly never expected to see them.

One little shirt had a picture of Dale Long - Home Run King of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  And there was a Pirates pennant (copyrighted by Bazooka) that once hung on the wall of my childhood bedroom.  it reminded me of the 1960 World Series and seeing a baseball game at Forbes Field with my grandma and mother.  Forbes Field, like my grandmother and mother, are now gone.

Old Bazooka Pittsburgh Pirates Pennant.

My favorite shoe still has caked mud on the bottom - hard as a rock.  I couldn't believe it.  

Little Shoe Complete with Caked Mud.

How that takes me home!  Seventy some years ago, a small child played in the mud in grandma's front yard.   When I looked at that shoe, I didn't recognize the shoe but felt like I recognized that mud.  I feel like I know where it came from.  Like Adam, country kids come from mud.  They remain rooted in it.

I'm probably going to throw away those little shoes - but not today.  My mom kept them, and that means something to me.  They were special to her, and that makes them special tome. 

All those newly unboxed items carry memories.  There are too many items and memories to mention. They take me back through time.  I can sit here and at the same time see myself walking down the slippery, muddy slope under the thick green canopy of grandma's front yard.  But now I realize, like I didn't and couldn't realize back then, how my young parents and grandparents loved, protected and took care of me.  I can realize it now.  And I wish it came sooner. 

The first thing I saw in the box was a bridge.  How fitting!  But everything I took out of those boxes was a bridge. They connected me to other times and places.  That is what artifacts do and that is the beauty of artifacts and finds of all types.

These items took me back to my younger days.  They are part of the story of who I am and remind me of where I've been and where I came from.  I'm convinced that is the thing all treasure hunters really seek.

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Source: Surfguru.com.

The surf is calm and the weather is beautiful for being our and about.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net