Annapolis Crab Fest

With crab season on the Chesapeake Bay comes the inexplicable desire to go to a lot of effort cracking, pulling, and prying for a small reward - a little bit of freshly steamed Maryland Blue Crab meat. And the best place to do that is Cantler's, a well-known restaurant in Annapolis. The Seldens gathered from our various corners on the east coast to enjoy the experience together. The day started with a little bit of a drive for everyone and then a long wait for a table. It's a pretty popular place & when you sit down to eat crab, it's a time commitment. We spent our time waiting checking out the menu...

My brother, Brian & I enjoyed the wafting scent of seafood near the water. (Brian doesn't like crab, or seafood really, so he wasn't necessarily there for the food. The smell didn't really help.)

With a good hour to look at the menu, guess who still wasn't sure what she wanted to order when the server came around...? That's right, I was a little indecisive.

Mia just likes being outside & being held, so she didn't mind the wait.

Mike and Mary

Mike was dressed and ready to go straight to a DC United game on the way back from Annapolis. LA was in town & Beckham was playing. He almost got me to go to the game with him with the comment, "Come on, Anne, Beckham takes his shirt off at the end!" It was pouring rain when we dropped him off at the stadium, but his spirits weren't dampened! Mike's a true fan. We promise to really go to a game with you one of these days.

Lacey & Mia

The crabs came in these big cardboard boxes. These guys were sorting them and putting them into plastic bins. The crabs were all pinching each other, so they would have to pry them apart. It was cool to watch, especially for the kids, but I think it would have been more entertaining if they weren't wearing any gloves.

Once sorted, the good crabs were then put into tanks to await their fate.

The rejects

Ali and Parker spent a little time in the water searching for treasures and fish.

...and Parker found... something...?

Just kidding, if you look closely, you can see the little brown bag attached to his belt loop. That's where he keeps his treasure & THAT is what he was going for. I think he found a shell he wanted to add to his booty. : )

We finally got seated & got ready for our crab. Parker was really ready to "smash some crab". He had a little monopoly on the mallets, which, incidentally, you don't use unless you want to look like a tourist.

I'm a little embarassed to admit it, but none of us really knew what we were doing. It had been a while for Mike and I & no one else had ever really cracked crab for themselves. I thought I had a good handle on things from my refresher course courtesy of YouTube, but I know I probably left way too much meat in the crab & I didn't get it done as quickly as I would have liked. I don't think it helps that I don't like getting my hands really dirty.

Even so, we had a great time at Cantler's and followed it up with a trip to the Ice Cream Factory in downtown Annapolis. Even with the rain and traffic we encountered on the way out, we had a great day. We even came away with souvenirs... I found Old Bay seasoning everywhere (under nails, on my pants, on my shirt, in my hair, on Mia) the rest of the day until I could get home to shower and change clothes. Old Bay is so good, I just wanted to save it for later.