Florida native

     I was born in Florida in 1965 and spent my first 5 years here, soaking up the beach lifestyle in Bradenton.  Then my parents took me and the siblings back to their home state of Missouri where I spent the next 35 years.  THEN on the eve of my 40th birthday, in the middle of 3 hurricanes, I returned to my homeland, Florida...difficult, bitch-goddess state of Florida.  I love it!

     My mom loved the shells and fossilized shark teeth that she found on the beaches and elsewhere, and took us on forays armed with sun hats and gallon milk jugs with a hole cut in the side for a bucket.

She shipped all her finds to Missouri where I grew up, sorting through them when it was too cold to fathom playing outside.  There was always a little part of my imagination that never left the beach.
   

     I started vacationing in Florida in my 30's even though we didn't have any family or friends still living there; I just wanted to go to Florida.  And I started finding my own fossilized shark teeth on the beaches.

     Even though I ultimately moved to central Florida, I began visiting Venice Beach, a 4 hour drive, to comb Manasota Key for tiny fossils and, of course, to enjoy the inviting beaches and water.  

     The fossils of Venice Beach are worn to a beautiful shine and exhibit warm hues of red and amber.  Each fossil looks like a tiny jewel.  I was hooked and ignorant of the rest of Florida's fossil wealth so I burned up the interstates for years to visit Venice Beach and Englewood.

     I was kayaking on the Suwannee River about 3 years ago when I found a fossilized shark tooth that changed everything.  It was far bigger than any shark tooth I had found in the past and I was so excited about it that when some women at the boat ramp wanted to see it, my OCD self wouldn't let them actually hold it, lol.

    I started Googling Florida fossils and one location came up repeatedly:  Peace River.

    I had to get to the Peace River but even that would be a journey in itself.