January of 2000 had finally arrived, and the JGMS now had its turn to sponsor a Dixie Mineral Council* field trip.  Charlie Broome knew that Honeymoon Island near Dunedin, Fl would make a good site for the DMC trip.  The gorgeous weather that Florida experiences in January would make collecting agatized coral, uninhabited shells and shark teeth a great winter getaway.
So on January 15 at 9:00am, 18 cars with 44 people from the DMC gathered in the parking lot near the northern most bathhouse.  Instead of warm weather, a cold front forced everyone in the lot to wear a coat, but Florida, the sunshine state, still lived up to its name.  Charlie's tailgate was lined with examples of shells and coral that could be found, Mary Chambliss was busy collecting names of the attendees, and I was busy passing out fliers for another trip scheduled for the next day.  As everyone scattered to the beach, seashells and sponges seemed to be the first finds of the day.  Horseshoe crabs littered the beach looking like creatures thrown there from ancient times.  Tidal pools among the rocks were teeming with all types of tiny sea life.  The tide was going out which left more of the beach to comb, but the weather conditions had caused large amounts of seaweed to be washed up on the beach and rocks.

Not to be discouraged, everyone started heading down the beach where the better agatized coral could be found. (Note: One must realize, as I have with experience, that you cannot collect seashells and rocks in the same bucket If you do this, all the rocks end up with little pieces of shells on them.) Collecting the dark black agate improved as we headed down the beach, and good cutting material was found by all.  However, the search continued for those exceptional specimen pieces that contain drusy and botryoidal pockets for which this coral is famous.  I was informed of several nice pieces that were found that day - especially one rather long coral finger covered with drusy quartz on all sides.  The Jacksonville Jags had their game won by the end of the first quarter, so continue collecting or going to the Tampa show were the options.  I continued on with the search while most of the others headed for the show.  Tulip and Stromb shells were the best of the day, but small whelk and conch shells were added to my collection.  Large clam, cockle, scallop and pen shells were common finds.  With some persistence, I did find some nice coral specimens.  One was a conglomerate of agatized coral fingers while another was a larger piece of agate with both drusy and botryoidal cavities.

Figuring that people would be heading north on Sunday, I scheduled an additional trip to the Florida Rock Industry Brooksville Quarry.  This is a limestone quarry where marine fossils are abundant and calcite, when found, is tossed into tailing piles.  As we gathered at the guardhouse near the front entrance, the makings of a great day had started.  The weather was warm, the sun was shining brightly and the guide for the day, Buck Scott, said, "Calcite- Oh, I know where you can fin a lot of that."

The quarry was inactive for the day, but Buck reminded us to drive on the left side of the road.  We drove by the office with its huge calcite boulder and by the large trucks with tires the size of our van, as Matthew put it.  We then drove down into the quarry and to the spot where we could find calcite; even though, it appeared to be a rather unimpressive pit in the quarry.  Buck said, "Most of the calcite is over there, but if this site isn't good, there is another place that we can try." The first piece that we noticed was a near waist high boulder of yellow calcite flow stone.  Barbara immediately said that she wanted it and Charlie graciously offered to help load it and haul it home for us.  However,, that chore would have to wait for later, so we proceeded on.  Massive straw, yellow and honey colored calcite seemed to be everywhere.  With so much massive calcite around, the search for nice crystal specimens became the goal.  Many crystal pieces and cave formations were found loose in the piles and in the boulders.  Charles Carter from the GMS found a boulder with calcite stalactites covered with crystals.  Jim Flora and Frank Decaminada were equally busy collecting specimens.

Charlie said, "Days like this will spoil us." I responded by saying that I didn't mind being spoiled. 

Needless to say, we stayed at this site for the three hours that we were allowed to collect.  Marine fossils were plentiful and several people were willing to take the time to collect these nicely calcified shells in the limestone matrix.  Time quickly ran out and boulder loading was next.  Charlie, Frank, Buck (our guide) and I loaded this truly beautiful and impressive work of art that now sits in my front yard, Thanks to all.  We ended the day with a total of 7 cars and 16 people on a weekend that I will truly remember as fun in the Florida sun.

(Published with permission - JAX GEMS, Vol. xxxx, No. 2, Page 6, February 2000)