Piano Update and a BIG Thank You!

This story finally comes to an end…or does it?

After ranting about this incident last week, I thought I'd share with you the conclusion of the story…

The piano was removed when a Palmetto Bay resident hired a salvage company to retrieve the piano after his 10-year-old son thought the piano needed to be rescued. He got there after the original culprit had FINALLY been served with a warning to remove the piano within 24 hours or face a fine.

So, the piano is gone, its 15 minutes of fame diminishing on the horizon,

but wait, what's this?

In his article, Authorities Warn Miami Sandbar Copycats, on ABCnews.com, Kevin Dolak reports,

"A day after a baby grand piano that mysteriously appeared on a Miami sandbar was removed, another odd batch of items has turned up at same location — and authorities are not happy.

A dinner setting for two — including a small table with two chairs, place settings, a bottle of wine and a chef statue — appeared on a Biscayne Bay sandbar on Friday morning.

Local authorities have responded to the pranks, warning that anyone caught leaving items at the sandbar would be arrested, as such activity is illegal.

'The bottom line is that this is completely against the law. People caught doing it will be arrested,' said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission."

This is the SAME Jorge Pino that I quoted last week as saying, "it would be highly unlikely that we would cite this young man for anything." The agency "would probably write him a warning and make sure that he understands that that could be construed as littering, obviously. It's not the right thing to do."

Well, Mr. Pino, if you had handled the original situation in this way last week, you would have sent the message loud and clear — Florida does not condone dumping trash in our ocean. You set the stage for copycats to express their "artistic" endeavors, all at the cost of our precious waterways. You are just as guilty as Nicolas Harrington, because you let him off scot-free.

Nicolas Harrington, and all those involved in this atrocity, should face the consequences of illegally dumping garbage AND YOU, Mr. Pino, should loose your job.


We had a glorious weekend here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the skies we blue and the clouds were billowy. Our afternoon temps were in the mid-70s and last night's sunset was spectacular.

I took full advantage of the nice weather and hit a local beach on both days. Yep, I did. I started out early on Saturday and again on Sunday to do a little shelling and to just enjoy being out in the sunshine. I was well-rewarded with some beautiful treasures, but to end todays post and to put this piano story to rest, I thought I would share my "artistic" finds from the shore.

There is a short stretch of beach just minutes from where I live, it has become my go-to place for some beachiness. This beach sits on Tampa Bay, instead of the Gulf of Mexico. There is a beautiful park, but it has gone largely undiscovered by most folks and for reasons I'll discuss in another post, I hope to keep it that way.

As you know, I carry a trash bag with me when I go to the beach to pick up liter left by others. On Saturday, I picked up three full bags of trash. Since the park is close by, trash cans are easily available. I emptied my bag twice, but thought I would show you what was in the third. Here's my "artistic" shot…

It still gets me riled up that Nicolas Harrington thought dumping that piano was an artistic move that would look great on his college application.

How's this for artistic…

Now, as I mentioned before this stretch of beach doesn't get many visitors and I can attest that the vast majority of them are in the park and not in the water. I believe that they throw their trash in the many bins located throughout the park and don't bother to walk down to dump it in the Bay. This leaves the question of where does this much garbage come from?

In this next photo, you can see who I think the culprits are…

Tampa Bay is very popular with boaters and there are several fishing piers in the area. Understand that I'm not saying every boater and fisherman is so thoughtless, I have friends who own boats and I love to fish, but I think this explains why I come upon scenes like this when I'm on this particular beach…

I don't know what it is about the tides and currents here that would cause so many tennis balls and golf balls to show up on this beach all clustered together, but I also don't understand where they originate from. There isn't a golf course or tennis club that backs up to the beach in the Bay. Another mystery to solve?

I google this kind of nonsense and believe I know where so many tennis balls come from. There are numerous websites that explain how to make a "Tennis Ball Fishing Float." The golf balls remain a mystery — are they being used for fishing weights or is someone hitting balls off their boats? I don't know, so if you think you have the answer, let me know.

For now, the piano story is over and this week I'll be returning with some really fun posts! I've received several goodies in the mail recently from other bloggers and I can't wait to share their generosity with you. I also want to tell you about my new secret shelling spot and tell you a story about the craziest place I've ever gone shelling — you won't believe it!

Last week I was obsessed with the piano story and I was working on a deadline, so I have a lot of reading to catch up on. I do want to thank each and everyone of you who commented or sent emails about my piano posts, especially those who put it on Facebook and Tweeted. That post had so many hits! You helped get the word out, enlightened many, and your support just does this old beach gal proud.

Thank you

from the

bottom of my heart

and from the

bottom of our precious oceans.

He thought it was cool and artistic…

Let me tell you first that you don't have to read my post today. If you're here looking for some pretty pictures of shells or the beach, maybe pick up a recipe or two, perhaps you landed here after doing a google search for "tiki hut" or possibly you just wanted to drop in to say hello — well, I hate to tell you that today I'm on a rant.

Quick,

look away,

run for the hills,

Shellbelle's about to explode!

Yesterday I wrote about my feelings on the grand piano that mysteriously ended up on a sandbar off the coast of Miami. If you read that post, you know I was not too happy, but I really didn't go into a full-blown rant.

Skip to today…

I am downright, unequivocally 

PISSED OFF!

Honestly, I am normally a pretty nice person. Sure I have my faults, don't we all? I have bad days just like you do and folks, today is a really, really bad day!

It's a doozy!

I'm finding it hard to put into words just how angry I am, so I turned to my thesaurus for a little help in expressing myself.

I am irritated, annoyed, cross, angry, vexed, displeased, disgruntled, indignant, exasperated, galled, irked, put out, aggrieved, offended, affronted, piqued, nettled, in high dudgeon, aggravated, miffed, riled, teed off, ticked off, sore.

Maybe I should try to calm down…

Heck no, I'm pissed!

So what has me all riled up?

Well, after many people had a good time laughing about the piano left on the sandbar and while it make good material for the reporters and jokesters — the "prankster" has stood up and claimed responsibility. He did this after someone else had already done the same thing, but this guy had proof — pictures and videos and he wasn't about to loose his fifteen minutes of fame to some wannabe. Who was he?

A 16-year-old Miami student. Oh, and his reason for dumping the piano on the sandbar? "Well…we did it just for…ah…because it was cool."

According to the Today Show website, "While his mother hoped the whole prank would 'wash away,' teenager Nicholas Harrington tells TODAY’s Ann Curry that ditching the instrument on a sandbar was 'the most artistic thing' we could come up with."

Yep, that's what he told Ann Curry this morning on the Today Show. Don't believe me? Here watch it for yourself:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Now the whole backstory involves a piano that was stored in his grandmother's garage, a New Year's Eve party (where said piano was set ablaze) and a need to get rid of the piano in some way.

There's a bit more to the story. This teenager decided that he could dump the piano on a sandbar, take photos and videos and then he could use them to beef up his college application where he plans to study art or engineering.

??????????????????????????

“Some people are angry,” he admitted. “If it comes to me taking the piano off, I guess I’ll just take it off.” But, he added, “I think it’ll be able to stay. It will wash away eventually.”

Eventually?

A story on CNN by Josh Levs, reports that, "Authorities have no immediate plans to charge the teenager who admitted to hauling a piano out onto a sandbar in Biscayne Bay in south Florida."

Levs goes on to write, "Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told CNN that for his agency "it would be highly unlikely that we would cite this young man for anything." The agency "would probably write him a warning and make sure that he understands that that could be construed as littering, obviously. It's not the right thing to do."

Again…??????????????????????

So, if you're wondering what to do with that old refrigerator that's been sitting on the back porch for the last five years, or if that entertainment center in the family room won't hold the new 72-inch flat screen you got for Christmas, you know what to do with it now. Bring it on down to Florida and throw it in the water. Obviously, we don't care.

Forget about our gorgeous beaches, forget about the wildlife that struggles to survive here — just think of all the space we'll save in our landfills by using the Atlantic Ocean as a dumping ground for all your unwanted items. Hey, it's all in the name of art, what's wrong with that? Your kids could use the experience on their college apps!

Don't worry, the authorities won't hold you accountable, heck what's a slap on the wrist when you can create something artistic?

The CNN article also quotes Luis Espinoza, spokesman for Miami-Dade County's Department of Environmental Resources Management, "We know of a car... that somebody years ago dumped into the water, and the vehicle stayed there. And, as it turns out, the vehicle is quite the habitat for lobster now."

There you go! Drive grandma's old Buick down here, you know the kids would never be caught driving the thing. Yep, just drive it right into the water and leave it there. Florida officials don't care about the quality of our environment, why should you?

This could spark a whole new campaign for the tourism industry here.

Come to Florida,

Bring your Trash and…

Leave It Behind!

If our residents can do it, why not the snowbirds?

Okay, one more excerpt from the CNN article, "Before Harrington stepped forward, authorities told CNN they had no plans to remove it. "What will probably happen is that the piano will just disintegrate because of the salt water and the salt air," Pino said Wednesday, adding that it "will not harm the wildlife."

You know what's coming don't you?

??????????????????????????????????????

Turtle Caught in Chair — Dead

Turtle Caught in Chair — Dead

Pelican Caught in Fishing Line

It takes up to 600 years for fishing line to decompose,

I wonder how long it takes piano wire to do the same thing?

More than 1/2 pound of plastic was found in the belly of a dead Albatross

Do you think the birds won't add ivory to their diets?

You can click on my mosaic below to see a larger version. It is comprised of more photos of what trash does to our oceans and wildlife. Do you honestly believe that as this piano breaks up it won't have a negative impact on our sea critters and our beaches? Each of these photos were the result of a google search, I can't acknowledge each and every photographer in this mosaic, but since they were all writing about the point I'm trying to make here today, I don't think they'll mind.

If you read through this entire post, thank you for listening to my rant. I usually try to bring awareness to the masses through a more subtle approach, but today I just don't have the heart or the patience. It's fairly simple — keep your trash to yourself or stay off my beach. 

I know that my readers feel the same way I do, you've proved it time and again. I love you for that, more than you'll ever know.

This is Shellbelle

climbing off my soapbox

(for now)

but I'll always be

Making Waves to Save our Oceans

Update: The Miami Herald reports that the piano has been "rescued" from Biscayne Bay  "by Carl Bentulan, a day trader and musician from Palmetto Bay, whose 10-year-old son, Liam, suggested that they rescue the beat-up and burned baby grand."

Thank you Liam!

The article also reports that, "A state wildlife officer showed up Thursday at the Miami Shores home of the family that had hauled the hefty instrument onto a small sandbar early this month with orders to remove it in 24 hours or risk a fine."

Well, I'm glad the officials finally stepped up and took action. Of course, I'm sure this was because of the outrage expressed by environmentally-conscious citizens.

So, the piano sandbar story is laid to rest with a happy ending, but the bigger picture still remains. I hope that the whole event will result in folks being more aware of the affects such stunts have on our oceans and the critters who live in and around them.

Thank you all for your comments, I do have the best readers!

What do you think?

In my lifetime as a beachcomber, I've come across many strange things washed up on the shore. Normally, this mainly consists of trash left behind by thoughtless beachgoers or tossed overboard from someone's boat. Just this past Sunday this is what I picked up to dispose of properly…

I just shake my head in disgust and pick this crap up. I do this to protect the wildlife I love and to keep the environment clean. I'm not the only one, there are many others like me, who do what little we can.

Then today I see this story on the news…

That's not the actual video I saw, I did a search on YouTube to share with you. Now I admit, I laughed when I first saw a piano sitting out on a sandbar, but then I needed to know more. I thought about what the end result would be when this piano gets hit by one of our storms, breaks to smithereens and puts our wildlife at risk. Just think of all the wires, tuning knobs, keys, etc. that make up a piano.

www.concertpitchpiano.com

In an article, New Piano (Sand)Bar in Biscayne Bay, NBC Miami reports that a 600-pound grand piano has turned up on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay.

NBC Miami

In the video above, in case you didn't watch it, the AP reporter says that it appears to have been strategically placed on the sandbar, possibly a publicity stunt or left after a video shoot.

Well duh, someone obviously placed this thing here.

This was the reaction of the people who read the article on ABC Miami. I'm definitely part of the 3% that is furious, but I'm equally furious at the folks who didn't stop laughing at this careless act long enough to think of the long term effect on our sea critters.

I'm even more furious at our local authorities. The ABC article goes on to report, "Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they don't plan on moving the piano unless it becomes a problem for animals or boaters."

"'We are not responsible for removing such items,' FWC spokesman Jorge Pino told the Miami Herald. 'Even a car can become a habitat for wildlife. Unless the item becomes a navigational hazard, the Coast Guard would not get involved.'"

Is it only me or does anyone else think it would be easier to remove the piano as it is, rather than finding another dead sea turtle or dolphin on shore?

Call me furious and disgusted today, I stopped laughing long ago.

Thrifting with Ms. Bake-it and Sweet Cheeks

On Saturday I got together with my friend Tracy from Ms. Bake-it and her adorable grandson, whom I shall call Sweet Cheeks — cuz he has the cutest little baby cheeks!

We had made plans a couple of weeks ago to go to the Saint Petersburg

first thing in the morning and then spend the afternoon thrifting. I've been asking her to take me with her, because she finds the most fabulous goodies and I wanted in.

Let me tell you first that it was cold here in Sunny Florida, maybe not as cold as where you live, but COLD for this old beach gal. I started out the door with a thin pullover sweater. This is typically all we need here in winter, but the last two years have proved to be cold by our standards and we run on beach standards in case you don't know — if it's too cold to wear shorts to the beach — it's too cold!

Anyway, I turned around and went back in for a cardigan to wear over my other sweater and thought that would be enough. Mornings have been in the mid 30s, but warming up in the afternoons. I thought I had all bases covered and headed over to Tracy's, from there we headed to the market. Here's the skies across from our destination…

Gray, gray and more gray. Oh, and it was cold! Tracy bundled up Sweet Cheeks as best as she could and we headed over to see if she could find a vendor selling blankets. Lots of vendors, but the only blankets were pure Alpaca with price tags of over a $100 — gorgeous, but not something you're going to pick up on a whim. Sweet Cheeks seemed happy and perfectly content…

so we wandered around for a while. This caught the attention of both of us…

Yummy baked goodies from the Bread Winners Bakery

Everything looked so good, but we each bought one of the Mozzarella Caprese Polenta Loaves, which are chock full of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil.

Here's a pic I took at home…

The slices were as delicious as they look — both cold and toasted. At $5.00 loaf, I'm going to try and duplicate this recipe for myself.

We looked at beautiful jewelry, soft fabric dog collars, gorgeous ceramic pieces and much more, but the next thing that caught my attention was, of course, more food!

A big slab of mozzarella grilled between two slices of polenta, yep, it was a polenta kind of day and this was my breakfast. Delizioso! Magnifico!

Moving on, Tracy took me to her favorite vendor and the busiest one by far.

Worden Farm is an 85-acre certified organic family farm in Southwest Florida. They grow over 50 different varieties of certified organic vegetable, fruits, herbs and flowers. Their sustainable, ecological techniques conserve resources and protect soil, water, wildlife and human health. What's not to love?

Did you know it's strawberry season here in Florida? Look at these beauties! 

This was a new veggie for both Tracy and myself. Romanesco is a cauliflower and is gorgeous, don't you think?

Tracy hit the nail on the head when she said it looks like coral and we decided a much better name for this unusual looking cauliflower variant would be coralflower.

Tracy picked one up and I can't wait to hear how it cooked up. In fact, Tracy filled her bag with all kinds of good stuff, I on the other hand, was only able to pick up a beautiful bunch of carrots. I knew the fridge at home was already bursting full with groceries, but I will be back in the near future for sure! I love local organic veggies, they taste like the veggies from my youth — packed full of flavor. Remember those days?

The bunch I did pick up though, had one very unusual shaped root, it reminded me of, well let's just say I've decided to let it be my new spokesperson for eating organically…

Visit the Worden Farm website to learn more about the farm and even if you're not lucky enough to live here, you'll find lots of useful information on their blog, Words from Worden Farm. Here you'll find posts on storing your produce if you're part of a farm share (or any produce for that matter), how to compost, planting tips, a day in the life of a farm apprentice and, of course, tasty recipes.

Farmer's market locations of Worden Farm, a certified organic family vegetable farm in Southwest Florida. Visit their website for addresses and days of operation.

As we left the market, it seemed as though the sun was finally going to warm up our day…

This didn't last long though, the wind started blowing and I mean blowing. As we made our way from thrift store to thrift store, we were chilled to the bone. This didn't deter us from our mission, but I will say that Tracy learned how to QUICKLY get Sweet Cheeks and his stroller in and out of the van. By the end of the day, she had the whole routine down to under a minute.

I did manage to find a few things to make braving the cold well worth it…

A set of four brand new, double-walled glasses for my daughter, who loves dolphins. At 76 cents a piece, these were a real bargain.

This 15-inch decorative wall shelf will soon be given a new coat of white paint — shabby chic style and the sink inside will be replaced with…can you guess?

Why a beautiful shell, of course, along with a few more small shells on the outside to spruce it up a bit. Price? A whopping $2.06.

This 2-foot carving had to come home with me. She reminds me of my vacation to Jamaica in 1985, where I believe she may have been carved; she is of the same style as some of my other pieces.  She was $3.06.

Tracy spotted this buffet and I have a feeling she'll be back to pick it up.

But the sweetest thing I saw all day long was this face…

Sweet Cheeks had us laughing all day making this face. I kept trying to get a pic of it, but the camera was never ready.

I finally did manage, so while the lighting and focus in this photo isn't perfect, it shows you why he had us in stitches…

Sweet Cheeks shopped with us from 9am until 4pm and except for the whole changing the diaper thing, he was full of smiles and cooing the whole time. What a delightful baby, oh, and a real ham. He loves having his picture taken!

Despite the cold, I had a great day hanging out with Tracy and her adorable grandson. I look forward to doing it again real soon!

So how was your weekend?

Baked Yamlettes and a history lesson

I have a recipe that a friend of mine from California (yes Marice, I finally made them) sent me last July that I'm going to share today. She loves this recipe and told me how easy they are to prepare. What are "they" you asked? Why Baked Yamlettes, of course.

Being the Southern gal I am, I used sweet potatoes, not yams. This, however, raises that age old question, "What's the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?" I know you've ask yourself this a million times, right? No? No matter, you're getting the answer today anyway.

My friend Google and I searched the web high and low to find the definitive answer. The best conclusion came from the Library of Congress of all places. (Who knew they have a section called, Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress?)

Now honestly, I always assumed the yam and the sweet potato were from the same family. If you thought the same thing, you would be wrong.

Sweet potato or yam with plant growing in the background

Created/Published: [between 1800 and 1860]

From the Japanese prints and drawings collection of the Library of Congress

According to the LOC, "Although yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms (flowering plants), they are not related botanically. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and are from the Dioscoreaceae or Yam family. Sweet Potatoes, often called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea or morning glory family."

My goodness, I love morning glories,

no wonder I love sweet potatoes!

"Why the confusion?
In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties."

Sweet potato planting, Hopkinson's Plantation 1862

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

"Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires labels with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.’ Unless you specifically search for yams, which are usually found in an international market, you are probably eating sweet potatoes!"

Preparing Sweet Potatoes 1938 — LOC Image

While sweet potatoes are common around our country, I do believe they are most associated with the South. We love our sweet taters in casseroles, simply baked and topped with lots of butter, in tater salad, as spicy fries and most of all — baked into a pie!

Let's get to today's recipe, which is quick, easy and delicious!

Baked Yamlettes

• 4 medium sized yams (sweet potatoes); peeled and cubed
• Olive oil
• Herbs, fresh or dried: rosemary, thyme, basil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Put yams in a baggie with olive oil and herbs; shake to make sure that each cube is covered.
2. Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake in a 400°F oven for 35-45 minutes or until browned; turning frequently to avoid burning.

Cube

Shake

Bake

Serve

Delicious!

Now you can see that I baked mine in a glass dish, so I didn't get that browned, crispy taste you would get from cooking on the foil, but I had sweet potatoes and no foil AND I was hungry, so there you go. Either way, these are so easy and so good, try them for yourself — you won't be disappointed!

I loved them, my daughter loved them and my granddaughter, who doesn't even like to be in the same room with a sweet potato, proclaimed they were "okay" and proceeded to clean her plate.

Now I mentioned above, we love sweet potato pie here in the South…

Image from the Southern Sweet Potato Pie Company in New Orleans

and while I was researching this post, I came across another interesting morsel as I searched the Library of Congress. I found this photo with the following information attached to it:

Mrs. Davis (left) and Dr. Bethune (right) Library of Congress Images

"Dr. Bethune and Mrs. Davis, a life-long friend, talking of the times when Dr. Bethune sold sweet potato pies to make a downpayment on the institution known now as Bethune-Cookman College."

I love the determination of this woman. Come on, she sold pies to open a school!

Partial History of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida

In 1904, a very determined young black woman, Mary McLeod Bethune, opened the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls with $1.50, faith in God and five little girls for students. Through Dr. Bethune’s lifetime the school underwent several stages of growth and development.  In 1923, it became a co-ed high school as a result of a merger with the Cookman Institute of Jacksonville, Florida.  A year later, the school became affiliated with The United Methodist Church; it evolved into a junior college by 1931 and became known as Bethune-Cookman College.

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune - Florida State Archives Photo

Born on a farm near Mayesville, South Carolina in 1875, Mary McLeod Bethune, the 15th child of former slaves, rose from humble beginnings to become a world-renowned educator, civil and human rights leader, champion for women and young people, and an advisor to five U.S. presidents.

Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial in Lincoln Park, Washington, D. C.

by J. J. Prats in 2007 - as part of The Historical Marker Database

To read more about this remarkable woman you can visit the Bethune-Cookman University website or visit countless other web pages from a Google search.

You can read her Last Will & Testament in its entirety here.

A remarkable, insightful document, I leave you today with just a few of her words from her will, written in 1953, two years before her death:

I leave you love

I leave you hope 

I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another

I leave you a thirst for education

I leave you respect for the uses of power

I leave you faith

I leave you racial dignity

I leave you a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow men

I leave you finally a responsibility to our young people

As I face tomorrow,

I am content,

for I think I have spent my life well.

I pray now that my philosophy

may be helpful to

those who share my vision

of a world of

Peace, Progress, Brotherhood, and Love.

—Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955)

The Biggest Shell in The World!

It was brought to my attention (thanks Julia) that the shell I had listed for Texas in a recent post was wrong. The official state shell of Texas is the Lightning Whelk Busycon perversum. This has now been corrected after extensive research. Well, basically I just googled Texas and some conchologists.

I found the Lightning Whelk listed as the official state shell in the Texas State Archives and on the website for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. So, I'm siding with the Texans and am happy to let the conchologists continue their discussion.

Now we all know that Texas prides itself with BIG things — BIG cars, BIG houses and BIG hair…

but did you know they also have the BIGGEST snail shell?

Not the biggest example, the actual biggest snail shell in the world!

Take a look at this baby…

This world record shell is an Australian Trumpet and measures 30 inches (72.6 cm) in length.

Holy moly, could you imagine finding this washed up on the shore?

 And that's not the only big shell they have on exhibit…

I just love how they exhibit them in a BIG way…

The record has been set straight, as far as I'm concerned…my daddy taught me to never argue with a Texan!
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History may house the world's largest shell collection, some 15 million specimens and the Bailey's Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida may be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks, but the display in Houston is AMAZING!
Here's a video tour with one of the curators and yes, he does say in the video that the Lightning Whelk Busycon perversum IS the state shell of Texas. Thanks David, for clearing this up for all of us.

Now for my fellow shellers, you might just want to watch this video for the information he gives on cones shells. Did you know that in other countries they are venomous? Whoa…I won't be looking for those on any dive trips. Not that I dive, but you know what I mean.