BIG Clam Shrimp Collecting Trip Extravaganza!

So, for Spring Break, 2004, Steve had to go on a large collecting trip in the Southeastern U.S. looking for the elusive clam shrimp.  Since we were going some place warm, Claudia suggested making a family trip out of the deal, so we packed up a graduate student, and undergraduate, the girlies and Steve and Claudia and headed South!  Our first stop was in Tennessee to visit one of Claudia's friends and her new baby.  We then headed further south to New Orleans where Steve and his students headed to the swamps to look for clam shrimp.  After the big day of collecting, we headed into the city to hang out with a buddy of Steve's who is at the University of New Orleans.  The students had a good time on Bourbon St.  The next day we headed over to Pensacola to hang out on the beach (Fig. 1).  It was beautiful!

 

Fig. 1 – Steve, Sarah and Sophie checking out the cool waves at Pensacola

After a couple of days relaxing on the beach, we had to get back to work, so we drove out to Gainesville, FL to do more collecting.  Claudia hung out in town while Steve, his students and the girls went collecting.  The girls turned out to be helpful collectors (Fig. 2) and we ended up with quite a few samples, including live shrimp!

Fig. 2 –

The final leg of the trip was to Stone Mountain, GA, where clam shrimp had been reported from on top of the mountain (Fig. 3).  We all hiked up the mountain, although Sophie had to be carried 90% of the way in a backpack on Daddy's back (Daddy had to see a chiropractor about that one!).  It was a gorgeous day (Fig. 3) and we got lots of samples.

  

Fig. 3 - The triumphant mountain climbers on the top of Stone Mountain!

At the bottom of the mountain Steve and his students (Tom and Ryan) checked out the world's ONLY plastic clam shrimp (Fig. 4).  As you can see, all were thrilled (especially Tom!).

Fig. 4 – Steve, Tom (standing) and Ryan (kneeling) posing in front of the world's largest (and only) plastic clam shrimp!!!

We ended the trip by touring around the Stone Mountain theme park.  They had loads of stuff about the Civil War.  We had a nice lunch and saw a cool fireworks show.  However, once they found out that Sarah and Sophie were from Ohio, they threw them in jail (Fig. 5).  We had to do a jail break and then drive as fast as we could back to Ohio!

Fig. 5 - Sophie and Sarah in jail.  Clearly, Sarah feels put upon, but it sure looks like Sophie SHOULD be in jail; she's got that "I'm ready to kill someone" look on her face!

Last updated: 12-26-04

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