Crabs
After our first (abortive) attempt at getting hard crabs and the dance with the Calypso folk, we decided that the second attempt should go to the “pros” and we headed up river toward Sandgates/Sea Breeze (near Mechanicsville, MD). After a nice cruise up the river, we fetched into view of the place, and immediately became aware of sea of parked cars, more than we expected. It turned out that there was a concert of “Instant Impact”, a “cover band” that had amplifiers and speakers larger than the boat we arrive in. If you're within a mile, there is Instant Impact. There is now a little “Tiki Bar” with outside tables and a stage for the band. After successfully securing the boat, we gingerly picked our way through the fans, mostly dressed in black shirts and shorts with varying amounts of sleeves and lengths, revealing less or more skin. But nearly all with some type of Harley Davidson logo on them. Not to mention body art. Navigating (in keeping with the nautical theme) through the crowd we went into the Sea Breeze to see an equal amount of folks standing around waiting, watching and listening to many full tables cracking crabs. Whack-a-crab..
We checked in with the young hostess who (sign of the times) took our cell phone number for a call when our table was ready.. “probably an hour or so”. Ugh, but in for a nickel we decided to stick it out. All of this to the background of tunes in the genre of “Sweet Home Alabama” played so loud you could feel it. Yes, I’m too old. We garnered a draft at the bar and went back outside where you could really hear the music and milled about for a bit noticing the crowd, some watch worthy some definately not. After about 20 minutes of that (more than enough), we thought maybe we should go across the parking lot and see how long the wait at Sandgates was. Before leaving we checked in at the stand again, this time with a different lady who seemed more in charge. After giving our name she said, Oh, only two? Just a second. Three minutes later we were seated at a nice window seat. As I said, the place was full and all the waitstaff was zipping in and out of the kitchen more often than not with a beer tray full of the orange crabs draped over the side. So when we were approached we just said we wanted a dozen crabs and a pitcher of beer. Good. Off she went. While waiting at our brown paper covered table we again could watch the parade outside.
After a bit our tray of the little crustaceans arrived and we went to work. Picking crabs is an art, one which I have never mastered. The absolutely best I have ever seen was the wife of one of the F-18 test conductors, who grew up in the area. While others got surrounded by piles of bits and pieces, looking for slivers of meat in the mess, she would produce beautiful lumps of pure crab meat. In about half the time. Amazing. It’s been so long I forgot her technique, but we did pretty well, occasionally getting a nice lump. As we remarked at the time, it’s about a zero sum game with crabs in that calories in about equals calories expended. Finally finished our dozen and with ringing ears went back to the boat and successfully left the pier while the concert raged on.
How nice it was getting out on the water away from the din, and cruise home, taking our time looking at stars, and sipping some beverages on the way. A nice Southern Maryland experience..
Cheese
Oh dear, here he goes again! Won’t this ever stop? No. Every time I eat cheese I remark how wonderful it is..We had some friends over and had a little Cheese Tasting
of the cheeses we brought back from Wisconsin. Another nice feature of (most types of) cheese is that with a little care they will last for a while. The Pleasant Ridge just over the cheese lady’s book was excellent and rated her evaluation of it as being “one of the best cheeses in America”. I don’t think I’d go that far but it was damn good. As were the (from top left) the 3 year aged cheddar, the Gouda, and the Smoked Cheddar. Again, all of these are not Artisanal, but rather “Block Cheeses” made in large quantities for general consumption. All had great texture and felt good in the mouth. Sigh. Speaking of cheese, I noted that Woodburn’s has improved their cheese selections, and you can get some pretty good ones there. Or, you can climb in the car and drive a thousand miles to Wisconsin…
Lunch
I wasn’t going to mention this, but I have to do it. I met a friend yesterday at Courtney’s for lunch. We had the whole experience: painfully slow service, this time with a forgotten order for a coke that took another 20 minutes to show up, a “how can it possibly take this long?” period to get the food, flat pressed silverware wrapped in a napkin, a bottle of malt vinegar on the table with the little paper placemats advertising everything under the sun, the fading pictures on the wall of forgotten people and places, the whole deal. We were surrounded by “locals” of all generations, mostly known by name to Mr. Courtney who works the room at his own pace. I doubt that I’ll ever achieve that status, and maybe that’s okay. Let’s keep it that way. It all works. Just right. And the fried rockfish platter? Heavenly. Arrives with a coating that crunches, but the fish inside is soft and sweet and actually tastes. It’s worth doing. Pick a day when schedule doesn’t matter and experience it while it’s still there. Nothing is forever..
so always
DFD
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