The Sea Hagg is a place my mother would have adored. I guess the love of kitsch, tchotchkes, schlock, “bad” art, curiosities, and the odd flotsam and jetsam of life is an inherited trait, because I know I’ve got the same affliction: the total inability to pass a seashell store without stopping!

That’s why, when driving around Cortez, Florida, with a friend, when I saw The Sea Hagg out of the corner of my eye, I asked my friend to stop. He did so gladly because he’d found a place he’d never seen before and he’s lived down there for 20 years (his wife and kids knew about the place but he didn’t; as he says, “they go shopping, I goes swimming”). We both enjoyed this place. My friend said to the owner, “this is a labor of love.” It is indeed.

You’re only allowed to take photographs in the Salvage Garden, the area outside the actual shop. All the pictures in this post are of that outside area. Each of the tiny thumbnails below opens to a much larger image. If you find that too tedious, you might want to just watch a slideshow of the same thing. The images in the slideshow are large, so it may take each image a few seconds to load.

The Sea Hagg (12304 Cortez Rd. W., Bradenton, FL 34209; 941-795-5756; map) is open Monday-Friday 9:30-5:30, Saturday 10-5, and Sunday By Appointment. If you’re interested in souvenirs and collectables of a nautical sort, this place is for you.