Wow! Thanks for all the tips. What a learning experience yesterday was. Such a bummer to do the work, feel the excitement of actually finding clams just to have them die (or in my case, just to kill them).

We'll be going again and hopefully will have better luck. So to recap:

Salt water soak (preferably ocean water) no corn meal - check
Keep cool and stir the clams/kick the bucket every so often - check
Change water every 24 hours if soaking longer than 24 hrs - check
Refrigerate w/damp towel on top after that, use within 2 days - check
Split, spray w/ hose, clean the gunk out of their tummies - check
Fry, saute, grind, make patties, enjoy! - check

Thanks again for all your help!